Then...basically, I'm gonna walk the earth.: Work and Life in Central Otago

Hmmm... Where to start all these promised posts? I think this one will be about work and my daily life here in Central Otago. I almost worked a full week last week. 3.5/5 days. It was because of the rain. For an area that averages around 500mm of rain a year (~19.5in for all you nonmetrics. McMinnville, OR where I was last living gets ~42in/yr in comparison), it's rained a lot. Locals have been saying it hadn't rained for 4d since 2000 and there was flooding. On top of this, the summer hasn't been summer here from what everyone says.

When it rains, I don't work. If it's raining when I get up at 545am, I keep my mobile close in anticipation of a text message from my supervisor telling me I'm on standby. For the 2d I didn't work at all I was on standby from about 615am until 115pm. Yes. It blows. But that's farm work I suppose. It makes me laugh because even with the precipitation we've been having (nothing torrential–just like I described before), Hispanics would still be sent out. I'm on course to work a full week this week, but rain is predicted for Friday.

Last week, when I did work, I was out in the vineyards at 7am. This week we've been starting at 730am to have more light.

Snip. Thud. Snip. Snip. Thud. Thud. Snip. Thud.

I hear this all day long. We're dropping fruit, aka bunch thinning. We start at one end of a row and work our way to the other. The rows are massive. Some definitely longer than a football field. So far I've worked on Pinot noir, Riesling and this week Pinot Gris vines. The method of thinning hasn't been the same for each varietal. I'm not sure if it's due to the varietal or the desired crop for that varietal. These may actually be one in the same.

I work for Grape Vision who is owned by the Dicey family...well I should say 'is operated by the Dicey family.' There may be shareholders involved. It's a vineyard management and development company in Central Otago. They manage something like 45-50 vineyards in Central. Roughly 20-25 of these vineyards are for the winery, Mt. Difficulty, which is also owned/operated by the Diceys. The remainder are random owners or investor groups that either make wine from their grapes or sell their grapes to someone else. Robin Dicey (the until recently head hancho) came over to NZ from South Africa in 1977 and did various orchard and vineyard related things until he came to Central in 1992 (in 1996 there were only 92 hectares planted in Central vs. 1062 planted up through 2004. Robin was an integral part in starting many of these new vineyards). His sons James and Matt run the vineyard operations and make the wine for Mt. Difficulty, respectively. I was in contact with James prior to coming over and his offer for work was basically the green light I needed to have faith in putting the rest of this entire adventure in motion.

Last week work started at 7 and went 'til 315pm (now 730-345) with lunch and one "smoko" (break where everyone drinks tea, maybe coffee. Dunno. They all come with their thermoses and folding chairs and we break for 15min). My team of about 7-12 is mostly semi-retireds with travelers mixed in. Snip. Thud. Snip. Thud. All day with conversations mixed in.

Initially, while I was concentrating on getting the right snips down, my speed was pretty bad. It's still not great, but I'm keeping up. I didn't think much of it at first, but then Lynne's (my supervisor) 3 bosses came around one day to check on her (meaning our progress). It quickly dawned on me that while I'm out there amongst the vines having moments of reflection, contemplation, zen; snipping and tanning; that there's still an s–load of work to be done. The process quickly became evident. The rows get machine trimmed; then the bunch thinning; followed by setting nets (birds are a problem for vineyards and orchards in New Zealand so nets are set up to prevent the birds from getting to the fruit while it ripens. The effectiveness is debatable depending on the type of nets set). I've had a day of setting nets now, which is a job completely dependent on the quality of nets (uh... hay bailing nets only to be used one season, now on their 4th or 5th season make for a lot of stops and starts). I could go all into the process I did last Thursday but I've got other things to cover. Let's just say it's better than bottling.

After nets, the grapes ripen until harvest begins. Since the varietals will generally ripen at different rates (however slight). We move around a bit, especially since there's so much to do. I have no idea of the size of the 4 vineyards I've worked in but they seem massive. The Target Gully Vineyard off of Felton Rd takes about 3-5min to walk from one end to the other. It amazes me everytime I see it. What's funny is when I come across a varietal that's not supposed to be there, like Savigon blanc in Pinot noir. Man, does the capsicum come through on those grapes!

It's quite a juxtaposition growing plants for commercial purposes. At the end of the day, it's still about money. I try not to think about that but instead about Matt, Mt. D's winemaker and giving him the best materials to do his job. I think about the vine who I'm stressing out so it keeps putting all it's best effort in the fruit that gets left behind. I find myself wondering if plants/vines have short attention spans like goldfish. Do they forget what happens to them from one season to the next? One year to the next? I think about the smaller bunches that I leave behind because they look great and I want them to grow as well as they can. Then I stop and look around. I smell sunscreen and dirt that cover my exposed skin. I smell the vines and grapes (they have distinct smell) and I watch the clouds move around over the hilltops through the pristine blue sky. And I smile.

Don't get me wrong, it's not all lollipops and rainbows. I'm still bustin' my ass. Like James said, there's plenty of work to do. Also, I spend the majority of my day at half my height from either bending at the waste or squatting. My boots suck too and are killing my knees. I have a new found respect for B's soreness from the vineyard. Respect.

After work, I either run errands or go to a local winery to try their wines. Sometimes I drive around looking for places to go swimming but usually don't because it's too windy or I think about something else I should be doing. Then I go back to Chad and Catherine's (my hosts in Cromwell.... Oh yeah, Cromwell is an old gold mining town turned suburbish I suppose. Something like 3000 people live here. It's pretty sleepy and family oriented. Maybe Brunswick, MD is an equivalent??) house in Pisa Moorings (a subdivision about 10km from Cromwell center) where I run through some sort of modified CrossFit workout. Then I eat, shower and repeat the day over. I've been playing touch rugby (uh, that's a story in of itself) with Chad and Catherine's team on Wednesdays but that'll end next week. It's been pretty ho hum during the week and I don't foresee it changing. I'll do this until just before harvest starts at Gibbston Valley Wines where I'll be working for harvest. Enjoy the photos. Make sure you click on the last 2 so you can better see the pictures. I see a lot of images like them on a daily basis.

Sunrise on the way to work