Kiwifruit and Other Jobs

There is not much to say about working in the packhouse.

Like the wine bottling factory in Blenheim, the kiwifruit packhouse is essentially a steel building, full of backpackers and the din of machinery. My job (along with maybe thirty others) was to stand beside a conveyor belt which emptied fruit into a box. I didn't even have to count the fruit: the machine did it for me. All I had to do was close the box.

John's job was more difficult, and involved stickering the boxes and loading them onto a pallet.

We worked from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. - thirteen hours - unless it rained, when there would be no picking going on, and hence no work for us either.

We ended up with a weekday off (thanks to the weather), so we headed into town, where I printed off ten resumes and went door-to-door looking for work. I mostly tried restaurants, but also the local movie theatre (you never know).

After three shifts in the packhouse, I got my first call - Starbucks.

Days later, I'd had four or five phone calls and as many interviews. I was offered 20 hours a week in a kitchen, or 20 hours a week bar-tending and serving at a pub (the hours were the same, so I couldn't do both). Surprisingly, the movie theater called too. I am heading out to an interview this afternoon.

Annoyingly, everyone wants me to "trial" before hiring me, which is basically like a job tryout where I work for free. The kitchen has "trialed" me and has decided to start paying me, but the pub wants to "try" me on Saturday. I'm beginning to feel a little anxious - like I'm juggling, and trying not to drop anything. The kitchen will want me to work on Saturday too, and I'll have to make some excuse.

John has decided to head down to Wellington for about a month while I stay here and work. That way, we can make the optimum use of our time, and save up funds for our last adventure in the South Pacific - in the Cook Islands, in August.

At the moment, I am about to watch the final hockey game of the season, streaming live on the internet. The Bruins have already scored the first goal.

The game is now, the cinema interview is later, and my first paid kitchen shift is tonight. Tomorrow is the last day of work at the packhouse, and Saturday I am essentially double-booked, but will try to win hearts at the pub (I think pouring beer would be a fun job for my last few months).

We have less than eight weeks left in New Zealand.