just after i posted my previous entry last thursday, cindy gave me a phone number of a contractor which might have a job available. i rang it at once, and asked sussie (the contractor) if she has any job for me, to which she answered immediately, “how many are you?”, and so early the next day was my first day at work. sussie picked us up (i work with some backpackers from the hostel), and then transfered me to another contractor, lita. the work is at a vineyard, and it’s simply trimming the excessive leaves of grapes. it’s not yet picking time, but there’s a plethora of tiny green fruits already. these are actually red grapes when matured and will be use by wineries. the work is not really hard, imagine plucking kangkong (swamp cabbage?) for sinigang. that’s more like the job. however, the line of kangkong could reach as long as half a kilometer! my first day was paid on an hourly basis, so there was no pressure to do the job as speedy as i can, but still, i did work very hard for almost 10 hours. we have a 30-minute break for lunch, and since i only knew that i have a job the night before my first day, i did not prepared my lunch box at all. all i have is a can of baked beans! and a pity 600-ml of water, which is totally not enough with the heat of the sun (it’s summer here).
i swear they must have jinxed the vineyard as it never ends. i hate and avoided to look on my right side (i’m working my lane from left to right) as the distance remaining to trim seems not to decrease no matter how fast i pluck, and without a garden gloves, it’s even harder to have a good grip. i work my lane with chris, a young kiwi working for the season. one lane is normally done by 2 persons, 1 on each side. so after a very long day, i made about $115 NZD (before taxes) which is not bad i guess.
the next day is the same work but the contractor suddenly decided to the compensation by contract. 40c per plant. the vineyard is a long lane of plants, about 5 plants per block, and there could be as much as 40 blocks per lane. the sun was less striking which is a bit helpful, but with the new rule on salary, i’m not sure how much i get that day.
today, even sunday, i worked at the vineyard. last night after dinner, helen (of sweden) walked to pack and save to get some garden gloves as we believe it could give us better grip. we transferred to a different vineyard since yesterday afternoon as the first vineyard was done. you couldn’t just imagine how many and expansive the land they have for agriculture here. along the highway, hectares and hectares of farmlands with valleys dotted by sheeps, apple plantation, cherry, blue berries, and infinite lanes of vineyards. with the magic gloves, helen and myself (we teamed up for the lanes) plucked as much as 360 trees, but dividing by 2, we only get $72 each, which is even below nz’s minimum wage of $12.50! all of us got around the same rate save for the bloody fast samoans, who get as much as $200+ in a day!! they are so fast, we tried to watch and copy how they do the trick. it was just so graciously done that when they move their hands in between the stems, leaves seem to follow and obey at their command, falling one after the other! meanwhile, us, we have to go on one by one to remove them! none of us could do the trick, that today, helen complained that if this is the way we get paid, then we can’t get much money. sarah (of manchester) rung the contractor just awhile ago and asked if it’s possible to have hourly rate tomorrow. so we’ll see for that, we do hope they would agree.
and so, that’s it for my first paying-job here in nz. the job itself is not hard, but it becomes heavy when it’s so hot, and when you realize that your lane is simply so long it’s almost impossible to finish. say for example this afternoon after lunch. for about 4.5 hours, helen and i just did a grand total of 1 row!!!
i’m not sure how long i’ll do this, but i’ll probably stay in this town for a while now. the hostel i’m staying (A1 Backpacker) is amazing, the best hostel i’ve been yet. since this will be my base for a couple of weeks, i pay by weekly so it’s cheaper, and done some real grocery and cooking. i cook every dinner, and prepare my lunch box as well, so the food for dinner is the same as my lunch at work the next day. cooked menudo, adobo already, and tonight was pork steak.
plan to sleep early tonight as i very much needed to energy for tomorrow. cheers!
