The day started off like any other day. Charlotte had work at the motel but, due to the half marathon the previous day, she started at 10 instead of 9. As she headed off, I headed out into the Pinot Gris vines to continue the plucking. I'd been going for about 2 and a half hours when I was beckoned by John who was standing at the end of my aisle. He'd told me he needed to show me some things as he was popping to Jersey (if that's even possible to do from New Zealand) for the week. Because of that, I ran down in anticipation that that would be what he was wanting. How wrong I was though. “Do you fancy doing some washing up at the café?”. I couldn't really say no, so acted keen and agreed to it, after all, it was extra money in the bank. I was quickly introduced to the staff,who seemed nice, and left to the task. It was pretty simple, rinsing and washing dishes before placing them in a tray, putting them in a steriliser and returning them to their places. It was easy, apart from not being told where any of it goes. I managed though and it was just yet another thing to add to the cv. By the time I'd finished 2 hours after starting, Charlotte still hadn't appeared. As I'd lost out on time plucking, I rounded my time up to 3’hours for the day and knocked off for lunch. Fabian, the chef at the café had very kindly given me some leftover food for my lunch, which John gave to me as I was heading back to the bus. I'd timed finishing well, as Charlotte had just pulled up. Despite it being nearly 4 o'clock, we both sat down for our lunch. My leftover food was a huge portion of beef casserole, some roast potatoes and a light pastry roll sort of thing. It could have probably done 2 lunches but I was so hungry, I wolfed it all down and had it cold too. Charlotte did pick at a few bits of it whilst eating her sandwiches, we considered doing some more plucking after lunch but we're very full and rather tired, instead we just relaxed in the sun/shade for the rest of the day. Another reason for doing nothing was because we were waiting to see whether the person would turn up to pick up and pay for the camping equipment we'd sold on Trade Me. We were fairly convinced they wouldn't and we're ready to re-list it. The agreed time of just after half 3 came and went but eventually, a car flew up the vineyard driveway at around 18:30. He seemed a pretty laid back guy with a very thick South African accent and he told us he wanted it for camping around the South Island. We assured him it would suit him perfectly, as we'd camped through winter and had been pretty comfortable most of the time, so summer would be a breeze. We shifted everything from our boot to his and he handed over the $250 cold hard cash. We were pleased to be rid of the equipment, not just for the monetary aspect but also for the room it would make in the car for when we leave Ake Ake and pick up 2 extra passengers.
Monday 21st November
We were starting to really see signs of summer. The past few days had been warm and sunny and by the looks of it, it was really going to ramp up over the coming days. In fact, it was so warm when I got out to the vines, that I donned my vest in an attempt to get rid of my pale shoulders that give me away as an Englishman. For the first 4 vines or so, it was a pretty good place to be. It took a turn for the worse though when I pulled a nest out of one of the vines. We'd been asked to do this by John, as the birds would hatch and then eat the grapes. They try to counteract the threat of bits by netting the vines in late January, so netting a vine with a nest in it would be pointless. The first 3 nests we'd found during the first week had either been empty or had unhatched eggs in it, which wasn't too bad. I didn't notice that the one I'd just pulled out, had hatched chicks in it, squawking up at me as though I was their mother arriving home with a beak full of freshly caught worms. I wouldn't call myself a softy and have never considered being a vegetarian but this did upset me a little bit and made me feel bad. I popped the nest amongst some long grass behind me but knew that their mother wouldn't touch them now that the nest had been moved. It was also a very hot day, so in the full sun they wouldn't have lasted any time at all. The kind thing to do would have been to put them out of the misery but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I continued with my plucking and tried to put the poor little things to the back of my head. Compared to usual, Charlotte finished pretty early, and had to call me from the vines when she got back. After lunch, we both headed out for some more plucking. We checked on the chicks and found they were still alive but covered them back up with some grass. When we got back, despite my best efforts to keep from burning, the strong Southern Hemisphere sun had caught me in a couple of usually unexposed spots on my back. It was sore but I'd learned to be more careful. Dinner turned out to be a bit of disaster. Our poor excuse of an oven made an absolute meal (no pun intended) of baking a few potatoes. When Charlotte cut one open, there was a brown mark where a fork prong had cut through it. We had been hoping to have jacket potato, tuna, baked beans and cheese, which we did but with only one small potato each. We had to eat the rest of our tuna and beans using leftover pittas.
This was just a normal day. We were both plucking amongst the vines and cooking in the hot sun. Despite the heat, it was still a wonderful place to be. The vineyard is located adjacent to the airport, so every now and again, we'd see a small prop plane take off followed by the rush of air as numerous parachutes open above us. If the wind is blowing right, we could also hear their screams as they plummet towards the earth. It's a welcome distraction from the sometimes tedious task of plucking leaves from the vines. As well as the parachutes and birds nests, we also sometime encounter a small wasps nest, with a pretty angry looking Paper Wasp sitting on it. We'd been told by John to just knock them off but have tended to just leave them be as we don't want to incur the wrath of an angry wasp. Charlotte whipped up a cracking dinner of rice, passata, 4 beans and a few veg. There was a huge pan full but we waded through it as we had some mince sitting in the fridge ready to be cooked up into a chilli.
I understand this is probably getting a wee bit boring now but this was just another day spent plucking vines in the hot spring sunshine. We were thrown a bit of a curveball when a lady called Jo came up to us and introduced herself to us as another worker on the vineyard. It seemed strange that John and Aynsley had not mentioned her to us at all but we greeted her nicely before she headed off to pluck the Chardonnay. She didn't last long though. She turned up at 11, by which time we'd been working for 3 hours and then left about an hour and a half later, whilst we were sat on our bench eating our lunch in the shade. To get ourselves out of the heat of the day, Charlotte cooked up a humongous chilli whilst I caught up with blog writing. We did have every intention of returning to the vines and continuing the plucking but it was the hottest day so far, so we procrastinated, with Charlotte catching the rays outside and me sticking to the shade of the bus. We weren't the only part of New Zealand sweltering as it happened. Charlotte read whilst looking up the weather that Hawke’s Bay was currently experiencing its highest Spring temperatures since records began back in the late 1800’s. With Summer still ahead of us, we were definitely in for a hot one. Having made so much chilli, we asked to store some at the café for the time being, as our tiny freezer, was not only too small but tends not to freeze anything that goes inside it. They were happy to help and we could retrieve them whenever we wanted. We had a slightly dramatic evening when we lost the power to half the bus, including the fridge. After half an hour of smoking out the culprit, we found it was the prehistoric kettle that was making the electricity cut. Aynsley bought hers down to see if it was any better and it worked fine, so the drama was fixed. We just needed a new kettle. We had our first lot of chilli for dinner before joining the army of Daddy Longlegs that seemed to be massing in the bedroom. Wednesday night should have been quiz night but with John half a world away in Jersey, Hamish and the crazy lady evidently didn't want to go with just us in the end and they texted to say they wouldn't be able to make it. To be fair to them, we did find out that Hamish was working at the café that evening.
Thursday 24th November
The days were all starting to melt into one now with endless plucking, as far as the day could see. On the bright side though, Charlotte had met with the manager of the motel and had pretty much been offered endless hours, which she was happy to take. On top of cleaning rooms, she was also asked to do general maintenance around the place, such as gardening and cleaning lighting. Charlotte had looked for jobs endlessly for the previous 4 months, so it was really good to see that the search had paid off. It certainly seemed to be a right place at the right time situation though. I'd intended to do some work with Charlotte when she got back from the motel but she contacted me to tell me about her new found fortunes. Unfortunately, I've put off writing the blog for slightly too long and im getting my days mixed up, so this will just have to apply to Friday too.
Saturday 26th November
After a slight miscalculation, I left myself with 4 hours to do on the Saturday. It wasn't a problem, as it was a pleasant evening but I was annoyed that I'd managed to get the hours I'd worked mixed up. I headed out plucking while Charlotte headed in to the motel for maintenance/cleaning duty. She'd come home one day and was very chuffed to say that she had cleaned Ronald McDonald’s room. Apparently there was make up everywhere in the bathroom and old McDonald’s wrappers and cartons everywhere. Someone clearly got free food as part of the job. Once my 4 hours were up, I knocked off and relaxed around the bus for the afternoon. In the meantime, Charlotte had been contacted by the staff at the café and had been asked to work that evening. With me having already worked there, we agreed she could take it this time. Although, we came up with a different solution later on that would mean her taking the hours when asked before hand and me taking them when they were desperate, like on the previous Sunday. We managed to fit an unusual dinner in before she left for the café. We had cheese and marmite on toast, with tomatoes and onion. It was the marmite that made it slightly interesting, as it's just not the same as our marmite back home. When Charlotte got back, she told me about her time at the café (I don't know why I keep calling it a café, it's a restaurant) and how much quieter it had been than the time I'd worked there. Still, it was 3 more hours pay and she came back with 2 huge slices of frangipan cake that we had for a belated dessert. She also spilled some gossip she had picked up from the kitchen. We had asked Aynsley at the house to store our excess chillis in her freezer but she had declined us, stating that her freezer was too full. The restaurant had taken them in for us instead and they'd told Charlotte that it was because it was meat that she wouldn't store it for us. We didn't really know who to believe and Charlotte had just sort of gone along with.
There's no rest for the wicked, even on a Sunday. Charlotte headed into the motel for 9, slightly baffled by a text from her manger asking if I wanted any hours. As much as I'd have loved them, 40 hours plucking leaves off of vines is about as much as my mind could take in a week. She said I may be interested if I could find the time though. What he wanted me for, was what he deemed “a man’s job”, which was climb up a ladder and clean the lights outside the rooms. Charlotte had tried to phone me but I was too busy singing along to my music and plucking leaves to realise she’d rung. It was a shame as we were after all the money we could get. We were sure it wouldn't be the last time he'd ask though. I managed to clock up 5 hours in the first day of the weeks, which I was pretty happy about. It had been the plan to get out with Charlotte in the afternoon but she got home from work later than she had expected. The weather was also touch and go, so we just relaxed in the bus for the evening, tucking in to a slightly better dinner than the night before, a rather substantial rice and veg stir fry.
We were both up fairly early as we were both keen to get some hours under our belts for the day. Charlotte started at the motel at 8 whilst I hit the vines at 8:30. I was still ploughing through the Pinot Gris but only had around 4 rows left, which I guessed would take me the weeks. The weather wasn't quite reaching the heady heights it had done the previous week but that made it slightly easier to work in. Rather than cooking in the sun, I just got a face full of wind most of the day. When Charlotte returned from her days work around 5, I'd clocked up 7 hours for the day and she wasn't far off full time for the week, so we felt we were doing pretty well. On top of that, Charlotte had received a text from the restaurant owner asking her to work Monday, Thursday and Friday evenings. The money would soon start to roll in. Earlier I'd received my first payment for the plucking, so my bank balance was starting to look a little more healthy. While Charlotte toiled away in the restaurant kitchen, I caught up with the blog as I'd fallen behind considerably since we both got more work. Aside from the extra money, the other perk of working at the restaurant is they always seem to give us food when we leave. Charlotte returned to the bus around 9 with a pot containing a chicken breast and a whole steak. Rather than ration it, we chopped up the chicken and added it to our spaghetti with veg dinner and had the steak on the side. After so long without meat (other than mince) it was delicious. If only Charlotte could work there every night!
Tuesday 29th November
John had returned from his jolly in Jersey the previous night, so Tuesday morning was the first time I'd got to see him. He said he'd had a good time and a catch up but just didn't appreciate all the flying. We had a catch up, with him telling me I was still doing fine (I got the impression I was going slightly slow but plucking leaves is hardly something that motivates me) and he said that as the vines are going crazy at the moment with all the rain and sun, I can work as many hours as I want over the week, rather than the originally agreed 40. He also said that Charlotte can work extra on top of that if she is available. I was hardly going to tell him no, so I got down to it. Charlotte got home earlier than usual, so helped me with plucking until the manager of the restaurant came up to ask if she could work that night and Saturday. It seemed my dream of every night at the restaurant was coming to fruition. Again, she wasn't exactly going to say no, so headed of for a few hours, while I finished my plucking for the day with the sun setting in the distance. Unfortunately, she had no food offerings when she returned, so we just had to settle with one of our boring, standard dinners.
Wednesday 30th November
The end of the Pinot Gris was finally starting to swing into view, although I was fairly sure I wouldn't be able to make it until at least the following day. Seeing as time was passing whilst I was plucking and the sun was out, the vines were growing rapidly, so every new one I got to was 10 bigger and bushier than when Charlotte and I had first started the job almost 3 weeks earlier. The day passed without much incident until Charlotte returned from worked and was slightly down. She told me that she was having trouble with a member of staff there, the manager, who was concerned that Charlotte was working too many hours. The owner (a different person from the manager) was giving Charlotte all the hours under the sun and Charlotte was happy with it. With the mangers boyfriend being the former gardener, it emerged that this was the cause of the jealousy towards Charlotte. Charlotte was simply following orders with what she was doing in the gardens, yet the manger seemed to criticise the work she was doing. We also found out that the mangers boyfriend had been dismissed for not following orders. It was all a bit petty and it led on to what I mentioned earlier about the manager being annoyed at the owner giving Charlotte loads of hours. She'd approached Charlotte and told her that it was illegal to work 7 days on the trot (which is an utter load of tripe) and then when the owner returns to Rotorua (he owns a few places), she won't be getting as many hours. Anyway, it was off to the pub quiz that evening to take her mind off the situation. The quiz seemed much harder than the previous one we'd been to but we still amazed to come a respectable 3rd out of 15 teams.
Thursday 1st December
Where on earth had December come from?! It only seemed like a few weeks ago that we were tucking into our Christmas dinner in sunny Siem Reap but already, almost an entire year had passed us by. We were up bright and early, which we normally are but I was out plucking by half 7. I wanted to get an hour in before listening to a bit of football on the radio and afterwards, was back out sunning myself. Despite my best efforts, I still couldn't get the Pinot Gris wrapped up. I even had Charlotte helping me for an hour and a half before she had to head to the restaurant for another shift there. I finished at 8, just before the sun set beyond the airport. The generous manger of the motel Charlotte worked had given her an extra $1.50 an hour as a thank you for working 50 hours over the week, so she was being appreciated by one member of staff there. When she got back from the restaurant, unfortunately light in edible goods once again, we contemplated whether it actually was illegal to work 7 days a weeks but quickly quashed the idea. Overnight, Charlotte received a text from the owner (the good guy) requesting she bring in her visa to work, which sounded slightly ominous.
Friday 2nd December
To start the day off, John had a slightly different task for me than leaf plucking, which was slightly annoying, as I was so close to finishing. It was just a quick job of moving white cardboard slips from beneath newly planted vines. There was only a couple of rows and got it ticked off in no time. I returned to the plucking of the Pinot Gris and, although it still took me longer than I'd planned, finally got it wrapped up once and for all. I would have to return to it in a few weeks but for now, I could forget about it. After lunch, John gave me a new job which was a welcome relief from plucking. It was still pretty boring though. I had to go along one side of Chambourcin vines and weave their very long limbs up through 3 or 4 wires. It was pretty easy and I got an aisle done in an hour. By the time I'd done 2, I needed a break from the sun, although it was just starting to rain (it tends to do both here at the same time), so I headed to the bus for cover. Charlotte got home at exactly the same time I finished and we both lazed around until it was time for her to earn yet more money at the restaurant. By this time, I didn't fancy returning to the vines, so called it a day and spent the evening catching up with blog writing. I'd already surpassed my 40 hours for the week and would be adding to that the following day, so I was pretty happy. Whilst I was writing, I had my fingers firmly crossed that Charlotte would return with a handful of goodies to go with our dinner. It turned out to only be a salad. It was nice though and went well with our pasta and beans.
Saturday 3rd December
While Charlotte ventured off to the motel for what was God knows how many consecutive days, I headed out in to the sunshine to pop up some more vines. It took me 2 and a half hours to do the final 2 rows in the block I was on. I'd started slightly late and wasn't sure where I was needed next, so I called it lunch. Unfortunately, lunch took it out of me on what was a very humid day. I did try and find John after lunch to find out what was needed of me but it was all quiet up the household. Charlotte got back at a fairly decent time for once and had a nice long rest before it was time for her to head off to the restaurant for a few hours work. Unfortunately, she came back pretty light handed with regards to food, with only a small pot of beef stew, so we wolfed that down between us before cooking up a pizza each.
James and Charlotte
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