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Life of a fruitpicker/packer
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I will never look at an apple the same way as I did before. We are packing apples such as Royal Gala, Cox Orange, Fuji, Pacific Rose, Braeburn, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and pears such as Doyenne du Comice and Taylors Gold. The work schedule is very different from what I had come to known the past 8 years. We work from 8 to 5 and sometimes until 8PM. There are two 10 minute breaks called "smoko" which are paid and a 1/2 hour lunch which is unpaid. If machinery breaks down or we do not have enough apples we have a stand down which is also unpaid. If possible, I go apple picking which I enjoy as long as the weather is nice. Accommodation is in a company owned house and I share the house with Corinne and Steffen from Australia and Nils from Belgium. Nils was kind and patient enough to teach my chess. It's great to have our won place with living room and kitchen. I made apple crumble and lost of apple sauce. The company owners are friendly and helpful, my boss gave me her bike so i can explore the area. With my co-worker Fii from japan, I hiked in some of the surrounding area such as Flat top hill park and the Bulloch trail. I also found lots of mushrooms here and have been eating and cocking up mushrooms for the last 2 weeks. Unfortunately, the people here do not know about mushrooms and believe they are poisonous but i have found huge birch and stone mushrooms which are delicious. It brings back lots of childhood memories because as a child, we collected mushrooms every fall. I also met John and Shirley; John is a beekeeper who has supplied me with honey, has sharpened our kitchen knifes and has fashioned a leash for me so I can take the neighbors dog Copper for a walk.
And while we foreigners sip our tea with honey, we ponder the question what is typical NZ? We think it's the 40 million sheep, pavlova cake, marmite, Kiwi bird and Kiwi fruit, the All Blacks rugby team, the silver fern, speights beer, maori culture, the northerly and southerly winds. Maybe we should start a questionnaire? Feedback is welcome.;-)
After 2 months of using only minimal motorskills, eating comfort food pretty much every day and restricting exercise to daily walks with the dog and a bike ride to and from work and to Miller's Flat or Roxburgh the time has come to leave this boring and fattening lifestyle behind and move on to new adventures. My body is screaming for exercise and leaner food. I think that's what I miss most (besides friends and family), the healthy and active lifestyle I led in San Diego. I miss my running buddies of the UCSD masters running program, the long bike rides, the mountain bike races and rides in Big Bear (hi Rich) the early morning swims at la Jolla Beach, the occasional adventure race and the long training runs for marathons. I can't wait to start moving again and hike some of the tracks in the South Island before heading north.
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