Advertisement
Published: February 27th 2006
Edit Blog Post
I got me a tractor
You ever take it off any sweet jumps? Is this really possible? Do I really have a job picking apples on a farm in New Zealand? Do I really know how to operate not one, but several different types of tractors? Am I really working for a guy who regularly takes his dogs on pig hunts and told me that "living in the country is about being able to wake up in the morning and take a piss on your front lawn with nobody around for more than a kilometer in any direction"? Apparently, it is really happening. I am now the New Zealand equivalent of cheap Mexican labor in the U.S.
Picking apples is pretty much self explanatory. But somehow, I suck at it. The problem is that you don't just pick them all. You have to pick only the ones with the right color, and I have been repeatedly told that my "color selection" is not very good. They'll hold out 2 apples that I would swear under oath are the same, and tell me how this one I'd keep and that one I wouldn't. I don't really care either way because no matter what I always fuck up and apple picking is stupid.
Other
Last night in Wellington
Night view from the deck of the hostel. than that, there are plenty of good things about it and overall it's been a really cool experience. First of all, they give us each our own personal tractor. I never in my life thought I would have a job that required tractor skills. We use them to carry around our bins as we fill them with apples, and you get paid for every bin you fill. Too bad each bin holds about half a TON of apples. Absurd. But the very best part about the tractors was that Alan crashed his into a ditch and it had to get towed out. That was maybe the funniest thing ever.
So I'm not making very much money, but it does feel good to be doing some tough physical activity. Also we work with some cool people. And, in spite of being anal about apple color, our bosses are actually really nice. They call the 3 of us "Team America". We pitched our tents in the orchard next to some kiwi fruit plants and they are only charging us $10 per week, so it's basically free. And there are hot showers and a kitchen and all that. So far we've worked
Loading the van onto the ferry
They made us park way in the back away from everyone. We were kind of insulted. every day since we started, including the weekend. They promise us a day off "as soon as we catch up with the fruit".
But anyway, let's discuss what else I've done since Wellington. The ferry landed in Picton which was lame so we left and went to Nelson. We stayed at the Paradiso Hostel which was among the craziest places we've stayed. Very young party crowd, and always packed. The town itself is fun too, there are a bunch of bars and a Starbucks also. We stayed there for a whole bunch of nights while looking for apple picking jobs and had a sick time.
After that, Alan and I went to to Abel Tasman National Park for a 3 day hike along the coastline. Bryan opted for a different hike to do some more mountain oriented stuff. Abel Tasman was awesome, except I had a sandal disaster, they did not fare well with the terrain and weight of my pack and I was in much pain by the time it was over. But of course it was worth it.
We stayed in Motueka for a couple nights after that and found out that our job fell
Another dumb sign
That means Alan could only get served one drink. through. This was the start of a very bad day. Relatively speaking. We decided to head back to Nelson and I got a flat tire because I crashed into the curb as I was pulling over so we could use a payphone to try and find another job. It made the loudest sound, I thought I must have broken the entire axle but we were fortunate that all we had was a flat. So we threw on our spare and continued on our way. But this time, the Paradiso was booked and so was every other place in town. We wound up going to the Paradiso anyway, just to hang out, and had no clue where we'd stay. We were referred to an open field down the road a bit where some of the people we were hanging out with had crashed a few times. So later that night we just went there and put up our tents for the night. Then we went back to Motueka to stop by the unemployment office, camped by the beach for the night, and the next day found our current jobs.
See ya later.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.13s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 20; qc: 69; dbt: 0.0922s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
JJ
non-member comment
Team America World Police
America...Fuck Yeah! Picking Apples to save the motherfucking day! You guys are living the life - keep up the posts