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Published: November 25th 2009
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My Blenheim house share So my first blog of New Zealand has arrived, unfortunately it will not have been worth the wait and is more of a prelude to the proper blogging that will begin shortly. The reason for this is that since landing in Christchurch on 19th October i have simply been looking for work and then working, so nothing particularly exciting for you all to read about. However, i thought that as i come to the end of my first stint of work (ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!) i would do a quick blog to fill you in with a brief overview of my last 5 weeks.
I managed to get a lift with a friend from my previous travels in australia who lived in Christchurch and happened to be heading to Blenheim a couple of days after i arrived which was very lucky. I had heard that Blenheim was the main area in New Zealand for vineyard work so headed here with the idea that it would be easier to get work if i was actually here rather than on a phone in Christchurch. The journey was only 4 hours and was a good laugh as the car was full. On
arrival i made a couple of phone calls after seeing some adverts and managed to land a job with a company called Vincon. I was told i would be working 8 or 9 hour days Mon-Sat which sounded tough but good for saving some pennies. Unfortunately this is not how it worked out and in the 5 weeks i have been here most weeks have been 3 1/2 days maximum, and one week was a mere 2 days! This has meant i will be cutting my first working period short as it is just not worth my while to be sitting around here not saving much money and just wasting valuable travel time.
The work that I did get whilst here however has been the most difficult work i have ever done, and indeed ever hope to do. The initial work was all 'bud rubbing', basically involving a pair of gloves covered in rough pimples and some alone time with a vine.....Effectively you go along rubbing all the trunks of the vines from top to bottom. To earn minimum wage you had to be doing atleast 3500 vines, so in essence you are bending over and touching the floor
that many times. As you can imagine your back feels it, as do your hamstrings. It was HARD! However, fortunately we were breaking that work up with shoot thinning which involved taking out some of the shoots from the vines branches to prevent over crowding when the grapes begin to grow. Most recently i spent a day lifting ridiculously heavy pots full of diesel (240 to be precise) which are lit in the winter months to keep the frost of the vines, hence the name 'frost pots'.
Whilst in Blenheim i have pretty much been desperately trying to save anything that i can, so haven't been doing a great deal outside of work. However, one of my housemates (a local Kiwi) offered to take me out sea fishing and as i had never actually done this before i obliged. It turned out to be great fun and although i didn't catch anything, others did so the fish were prepared and eaten that night too, it was delicious! I also spent a day going hiking in Wither Hills which is an area that surrounds Blenheim and although it isn't particularly interesting scenery it was very pleasant all the same.
The weather has been getting steadily warmer as time goes on with two days recently hitting 27 'C which is very nice indeed, i even got a little sunburnt which is a strange thing to experience seeing as it is November!!
Blenheim has been far from a waste of time, although i may not have saved a great deal of money i have met some great people. One of the supervisors i work with is a Maori chap and he has been enthusiastically filling me in on their cultures and history which has been very interesting. In particular for once England has been kind to another country's people, or atleast tried, as Queen Victoria apparently tried to ensure that the Maori people/land was protected, although unfortunately the person she sent here to carry this out felt differently and made an independent government that went the other way. But still, the initial kindness was there and this is rarely foun din our history so i am going to hold on to it! Another painfully interesting piece of information for you is that the tattoos on the faces of the Maori was done by literally cutting their faces with a sharp
bone and rubbing ink into the wound, and these tattoos can actually be used to identify the tribe, the position within that tribe and a persons achievements.
One of the best things that has come out of Blenheim however, is that i have met a couple of Canadian guys with a car who were planning to spend 8-10 weeks travelling around the south island hiking/camping all the way. I will now be joining them which is going to be absolutely brilliant as i will be able to see the incredible beauty of New Zealand in the best way, out in the middle of it!! Our first stop is Picton where we will be hiking the 4 day Queen Charlotte Track starting on Sunday this week. It is quite a popular track which is good as none of us have really done any proper multi-day hiking so it will be nice to know there will be lots of other people doing similar things.
I will attempt to keep the blog up to date from here on out, as we are planning to have a stop in a town after each hike to be able to jump on the internet
at the library for free, but we will have to see how it goes. It is safe to say however, that i will certainly have a lot more to write about in the blogs to come.
So i shall say goodbye for now, and will hopefully have another blog up in a week or so. Oh and i am hoping to take my camera out with me to the vineyards over the next couple of days so will upload a couple more photos on this blog then.
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Dad
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Blenheim Blog
Found the info about vines, and also the history of the locals great. Sorry to hear the work hours were a bit deficient. At least the work you were doing sould have kept you fit for your forthcoming hikes. Have been staying at Matts since sunday as I gave him a lift home ( Alternator car F..ked).Have a ship in Avonmouth tomorrow and three more next week so might be staying with him some more. His house ok but very untidy/cramped and as you know there is no place like home. I will be working this weekend so will not be available for skyping, however lets hope we can keep in tuch during your hikes. Keep the blog going . Cheers dad.