february 25, 2009
this morning, the grapes welcomed me back, but in younger fashion. today’s was back at the same vineyard where i worked before the orchard but the task is training the young vines. we have to straighten them up, and tie them up to the wires, and rearrange the way they crawl, which is always going to the right (i work from right to left on my lane). an analogy given by the fijian supervisor this morning is that these vines are like children and they don’t know what they’re doing. we, as caretakers, would have to make sure they straighten up, and grow in the right manner. funny analogy, but to be honest, it was an easy relaxing job, which is really a sudden nice change from the chaotic and exhausting apple picking work. we get paid hourly, minimum wage of course at $13 an hour, a 30-minute unpaid lunch break, and 2 15-minute paid short breaks (1 in the morning, and another afternoon). work is boring, but listening to music helped a bit. arms could get sprains from untwisting and retwisting vines, and untying and retying knots, but still, this is nothing compared to the gruelling effort i had in picking apples. today, i almost finished 2 lanes of young vines (10 more meters left for my second lane). not really bad as i worked almost as fast as yoko, who never left the grapes.
although not really tired, i didn’t cook any meal for this dinner. just reheat some rice from the fridge, opened a can of sardines, and boiled a sweet corn for more carbo. lunch tomorrow i’ve yet to prepare, which probably would be just sandwich as we don’t have microwave in the vineyard (we do at the orchard).
today i paid my weeklyx rent in this hostel for the last time ($110/week), i’m leaving by the next weekend so will have to pay for each night starting thursday next week at $25 a night. this hostel has been my home for 2 months, and have met really nice people. i enjoyed my time here, and genuinely felt at home. 
february 26, 2009
second day back at the vineyard was the same work in the morning, i’m kind of enjoying training the young vines, and entangling the vine twists and putting them back in the right place. it is done hourly paid so i have all the time to solve the craziest tangles there is. after 2 hours of boring work (sometimes i even think i’m in trance!), the supervisor came and said we go to block 24 for harvesting.
between harvesting apples and grapes, i’m very much looking forward for the grapes because i’ve had a lot of other work in the vineyard apart from getting the fruits, as compared to the orchard where my involvement was nothing more than fruit picking itself. in the vineyard, i did leaf plucking, fruit thinning, rolling nets, clipping nets, and a bit of training the vines, so today was really good i had the chance to pick the fruit i have most worked for, and tasted as well. we picked green grapes to be used for white wines, and they are just so sweet, sugary sweet. however, they are really small compared to table grapes. unluckily, the boss was always around to be found so we were not able to sneak in a bunch for take home. 
i just had some taste while working.
we worked until 5.30pm, and since it’s thursday, it means take away night. we had fish and chips again, but next week will probably indian and it will be my last take away night with the group in hastings. after eating, i had shower, and some vanilla ice cream and hokey pokey cookies for dessert. then feeling stuffed, i’m too lazy to prepare tomorrow’s lunch, so ‘will probably have the leftover chips, some bread, and tuna, plus an apple.
i really really have to make a definite plan on my leaving by next weekend. i need to get final things for the hike, get a bus ticket outbound from hastings, and visit DOC (department of conservation) to check on the tongariro national park, because truth is, i don’t even know how to get to the place!
february 27, 2009
today’s work was back at training the young vines, so it was so boring i have nothing really to tell about. news is, there’s going to be some heavy raining tomorrow and saturday so it’s going to be a long weekend unexpectedly. i am really looking forward for work as these remaining few days are my last chances on getting extra cash. 2 days of supposedly work days were gone, that i have only remaining 5 days of work in the vineyard. today was yoko’s last day at work in hastings, and she’ll be leaving tomorrow. now, there’s no more japanese in the house, it had as much as 4 japanese girls at the same time. the biggest population around still has to be the ubiquitous germans, followed by the swedish.
if the weather is not really that bad tomorrow, i might go again to napier, or do my laundry, or plan on my leaving. i have to book bus going to taupo for next week, and right now, i’m still having a mental struggle if i should do skydive or not. we will see to that…
for those of you from the philippines who thought of wanting a slight change in living for a few months (alright, just like what i’m doing!!), read on!
the visa i have at the moment is work to residence visa (WTR), and the reason why i got this is because the much-easier-to-get working holiday visa (WHV) is not applicable to philippine residents, and citizens of other nations. WHV is the most common visa of backpackers and seasonal workers around here. only citizens of few countries can get this, and there is almost nothing to pay or wait for it. it usually allows the bearer to work and travel in nz for a year. in comparison, WTR , usually, is a long wait to get, and costly too. however, the good thing about it is that you are a big step ahead on getting new zealand residency.
now, i had a roomate from turkey, gokce, and i found out from him that there’s another way of getting down here apart from WTR for those people who are NOT applicable on the WHV scheme, and this is by getting to kiwiland on visitor’s pass, and then getting TRSE visa (can be obtained very easily) from PickNZ. TRSE visa then will allow you to work for selected seasonal jobs that are TRSE-accredited. if i’m not wrong, getting a visitor’s visa from the philippines is free of charge so that is even better!
believe me, there’s so much travelers here arriving with so little money that they work first in farms, and then after saving enough money, continue on travelling. most of the people even don’t have return ticket back home that they even had to earn for it! (like me for example)
the promo closed a few days ago, february 15, 2009, and it is with deepest regret that i announce there is no winner. nobody was able to guess the perfect combination which is (from left to right): Korean (Lucio), Japanese (Nao), Japanese (Kayo), and Chinese (Horae).
watch out for the next contest soon!
P.S.
thanks to everyone who joined the promo nonetheless! nave, renco, jong, pao, lyelle, einah, and glai!
realizing that vineyard put in more weight in my bank account, today was my last day with the apples. my last 2 days at the orchard were not so bad after having 3,040 kilos in total, which gives around $190 after taxes. i’m going to join helen and yoko with the grapes again for tomorrow, and i hope to get more money for the few days i still have left in hastings. i’m thinking of continuing my travel by the first weekend of march. still going north, i have decided to do the tongariro circuit, a 4 to 5-day hike near turinga, south of taupo, and from there continue north to auckland.
however, i still have to get things for the hike, and a hiking boots is on my top list (expensive too). i have to get sleeping mat and poncho as well. i’ve emailed HR of the previous company i was working for back home to check on my last pay, and i guess it is still under processing (currently after 2 months now!). i just don’t get it why people can’t get their last pay as immediate as possible. i worked for it, and i should get paid for it not too long after leaving the company. it just doesn’t make any sense that the final thing holding an employee and the corporation tied is the minuscule amount of money that the giant moneymaker owes the entrapped middle-class.
i.ph’s downtime has been longer than expected so i’m still typing these from a textpad. i normally work on saturday, but i have 2-day rest period this weekend as the apples are not yet ready to be picked (needless to say, i’m ever ready to pick them). the sky was so clear today that it was too different from the murky atmosphere yesterday. nothing really special today apart from having been to the center to use some internet because it is cheaper there at $3 an hour. then going back, passed by pack and save to get some condensed milk. kayo is leaving this coming tuesday and she was asking me about the yema. so, ‘cooked another one today.
one major comment i get from people reading this blog is that it is lengthy. i’m not trying to say things more than what is needed, but pardon me for the prolixity in any case. if you know me well, i am a really talkative person and since it’s a shame i can’t talk to everyone at the moment, i’m doing my storytellings here.
tonight is party night at havelock north. i haven’t been there but i heard partying there is not bad. for practicality sake, we will be drinking a couple here in the hostel and then continue getting intoxicated in bars.
on other things, i am also proud to announce that i’ve finished reading the first decent read (i’ve been only reading lonely planet and rough guides in a while) i had since landing in new zealand, and it was J.R.R. Tolkien’s (the lord of the rings, the hobbit) “Children of Hurin”. i also watch films during free time (in case you are wondering what i do when i’m out of touch with the apples or grapes), and the most enjoyable film i had recently is “Amelie”, a french movie. it was so brilliant, with story line so simple yet the way it was presented is outstanding. i recommend watching this film if you could get a copy. my copy came from gokce (of turkey), a movie-buff/backpacker with a whole portable harddisk dedicated for his films. i copied several films from him, so that would be good to kill some lazy times.
that’s it for now, later!
