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Published: September 25th 2013
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2013-05-25 Kiwifruit picking in the orchard
Yes, some parts of the orchard were a bit low. In fact, at the start of some rows I was picking kiwifruit on my knees. So, about 3 months ago I promised a blog entry about my time in Tauranga working, right? Maybe it's time I got around to describing that chapter :P
(looking at the dates on the pictures...damn that was back in june!)
After Hamilton I headed for Tauranga, in the famous Bay of Plenty area, known for there being plenty of fruit, and plenty of work. In my usual style, I didn't reserve a hostel in advance, and when I finally got close around 19.00 (remember, this was my first solo drive longer than an hour, and driving in NZ still scared me at this point) I looked up hostels known for organising work according to my guidebooks..the first one didn't pick up the phone, so Harborside Hostel in central Tauranga it is! Prices of 27 a night, or 155 a week were..ok I guess, they organised kiwifruit picking, and promised to have good views.
And the second morning after I arrived I was already getting up early (aka ready at 8.00) to....wait. That's the thing with kiwifruit picking: you have to wait till the fruit is dry to pick them. Otherwise the Zespri-labels in the packhouse won't stick to them..and
it probably has something to do with the
PSA disease that oozes out of the plants and spreads that way when it rains as well. PSA has destroyed most of the gold kiwifruit harvest this year, and basically all of the
red kiwifruit (which are being phased out right after their introduction because of their susceptibility).
Oh yeah: about 30%!o(MISSING)f the Bay of Plenty's GDP stems from the kiwifruit industry, and it has taken a 10%!h(MISSING)it thanks to PSA.
So everybody in the hostel was waiting and getting depressed because it's raining half the week and the days it's not you might still have showers causing people to wait around for hours on the orchard till it's dry again. And then after the 155 dollars for the hostel and food costs are substracted...most people have little left.
The hostel was supplying labour for 2 'gangs' of workers and they were quite happy I had a 7-seater. I guess people with cars don't like to stay in a hostel with only paid parking around. :P
As for the work itself: big sacks attached to one's belly, with 2 holes at the top through which you dropped the
Tauranga map
Just to give people a picture. We worked west of Bethlehem so 20 mins by car usually. kiwis. Once you got about 60-90(?) kiwis in there you walked over to the nearest wooden bin, and dropped your load through a flap at the bottom.
We got paid between 12.50-16.50 per bin depending on size, divided by the number of people. Since nobody could make a real living out of this with all the rainy days, and hey, sometimes there was a party at the hostel the night before in spite of the night watch lady acting like a nana and yelling at us to keep it down or go outside at 23.00, attendance varied A LOT. Our foreman was an older guy from Tasmania, and having the worst year ever (with the longest driest summer in half a century, all the rain during harvest season, lack of stable attendance, and the PSA infection) didn't work well for his mood. After there was a lot of confusion and lack of clarity over the refunding of gas money, and repetitive strain injury coming up in my right shoulder, I decided to go for a job at a packhouse instead like some friends at the hostel did.
And boy, once I got in..imagine working 13 hours a day,
2013-05-26 Fish n Chips
The extended gang eating fish and chips near the hostel. The FnC shop was pretty good! (in that the baking oil wasn't stale for a change) of which 12 are paid (rest are breaks) at minimum wage. And doing this 6 days a week (unless you didn't take your day off). If you're grading, you're staring at a conveyorbelt checking for spots on kiwis all day; gets paid slightly higher. If you're packing, you're waiting for kiwifruit to drop into a box, you shuffle them so they fit, and pass it to the stackers. And the stackers...move about 7-10 tonnes of 5/10 kg boxes onto pallets a day. Preferably in 20 kg stacks at a time, though some of the Argentinians/Chileans that were at the packhouse for 2-3 months did stacks of 30 kg at a time.
On the first day I got temporarily transferred to the most hectic packing-line EVAR, but for the rest I did stacking.
My medium-size belt became too big.
Funny thing: the packhouse was run by kiwis (as in: NZers), but filled with Argentinians/Chileans with some Uruguayans thrown in. And then there were me and Kam Chuan, Malaysian guy from the hostel, and some other assorted backpackers. The good thing about the packhouse was that the hours added up. It wasn't always 13 hours a day, and sometimes
DSCN0004
View from Mt Maunganui (literally: Mount Big Hill) a day off, because if rain prevented kiwifruit picking, the supply of kiwifruit to pack dried up. It was more stable regardless, and I was earning 1000 dollars (=600 euro) a week instead of just 200-300. Good stuff.
Oh, before the packing I did some other things. The hostel was involved with AWF, an organisation you ring up if you're a man short that day or just need any fit person to do something for you. They'd ring the hostel, and some hostel lady would walk around asking people: "Hey, you want to work today?". This is how I got a one-day job at a fish-factory, where fishing vessels come in, fish gets sucked up into a machine, and then a couple of people grade them: not a bluefin: chuck in this bin. Damaged: chuck in that (garbage)bin. Under 500 grams: that bin, and between 500-1000 grams: another bin. Everything over a kilo just passes through, but to check, there was a scale. Sometimes we were pushing fish on that scale and pushing them off in a rapid-fire pace while juggling several in our arms, and sometimes you're just waiting for fish to pass. After a while one becomes
IMG_1181
The room I stayed in with Kam Chuan, including hobbit sized sink. It was much nicer staying in a 2 person room; it was worth the 15 extra for replacing 4 people I never talk to with a friend. good at estimating fish weight just by looks or by lifting them up briefly. Interesting to do...for one day. Oh and despite the protective coverings, my shirt smelled of fish.
When after 1.5 weeks of kiwifruit picking I was taking two days off to let my shoulder recover, I also got recruited (like before) to...move heavy furniture at the local newspaper! :D
Me and Kam Chuan were moving cabinets and chairs from floor to floor, in preparation of the newspaper moving to a smaller building: sign of the times. But it was fun to explore the labyrinthine rooms and hallways, imagining what it must've been like in busier, bustling days. Also had fun discussing pay/subscription models for the website with one of the managers; she looked pleasantly surprised.
So my time in Tauranga summarised: 2 weeks of kiwifruit picking, 1 day of fish grading, 2 days of moving furniture, 2 weeks at the packhouse before the kiwifruit season ended (one day off on Queen's Day, one day off for lack of fruit), before I was off to Wellington...and then the Coromandel in the opposite direction. And then looking for work again. But next time, I'll cover Hobbiton
IMG_1563
A typical day at Harbour Side hostel: loading people into cars to ship them off to the orchards. Of course I had to walk 10 minutes first briefly 😉
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