Picture Trip to Mahia

Mar 26, 2015 | Photos, The Great Journey, Trips

There was no apple left to pick. They are not quite ripe enough yet, we were told. What doesn’t mean any good to your bank account, delights your tired bones. Those 2 days off I will use to travel a little, I told myself and gathered information on what the area offers.

Many would go straight to a travel guide or the internet, but New Zealand teaches otherwise. I asked a native, who by the way is our merciful supervisor and whose Maori roots reach back to the very beginnings of Aotearoa. His culture is all about the environment and the historic backgrounds. He proposed Mahia as destination, next to many others. It is a peninsula on the northern end of the Hawkes Bay coastal line.

He had spent his childhood there and his ancestors set foot on New Zealand grounds in that place, too. So far, so promising… 😊

My flatmates confirmed the place as a popular (amongst Kiwis, not so much tourists) holiday destination and thus I packed my sleeping bag and camera and went.

In New Zealand you can’t go above 100 kph. For Germans, this sounds like punishment, but if you look closely, it is well justified: The Highways (outside of bigger cities) are at best compared to our country roads (Roads named L123 in Germany) and for 90% not to be mastered on (allowed) top speed. The corners always carry recommended speeds, so that you don’t miscalculate. For tourists, this is very helpful. 😉

Enjoying the Grand Liberty, I stopped at every place I deemed to fit my wellbeing and shot my pictures. First stop was Lake Tutira.

Lakeside House

The Mohaka Viadukt (built 1936, now a railway bridge), standing 95 meters tall, is the biggest structure of its category in all of Australasia.

In the forest it smelled like goats and I even saw some from afar. So, next to the State Highway 2 there are some Goats in the woods. Good to know.

In Mahia I checked in at a, thanks to the off-season very cheap, Holiday Park and parked my car in one of the few spaces looking towards the sea. A Holiday Park basically is a Hostel without rooms, as you carry your own housing (car, tent, caravan).

But arriving was only part of my plan…

That’s how I picture a welcome.

I relocated myself, so I could get a clear lookout west. Because even though the sun rises north down here, it still sets west…

By the way, that’s me minus the beard. 😉

Clouds can project shadows upon the underside of other clouds.

After having dismissed the sun properly, I drove back and spent my first night inside the car. It was quite cold, but some things you can’t miss in life… 😀

It wasn’t hard then, to interrupt the sleep and go some way to see the sun rise. The good thing about this peninsula is that you have a clear view of the sea, both to the east and to the west. Let me tell you, it is so worth it! Get out of bed, go to a nice place and watch this overwhelming spectacle of nature. Whether you press the shutter release of the camera, or someone else close to you, is up to you. 😊

Finally, the sun announces itself…

…and the sky burns.

New Zealand is getting the light. Even only the change from dark to bright is majestical.

I went this and that way on the peninsula, before making my way home.

Even though some sights are looking pretty in the picture; when you stand in that place, it is much more beautiful…

Tadaa! Again, something for the first time: My first portion fish and chips. One of the nation’s signature dishes… 😊

My supervisor did also mention the ‘White Pine Bush’, which I only passed on the way there. This time I stopped and immersed myself (a passionate fan of Tarzan) in the realms of the jungle.

Again, just next to the highway, the ‘White Pine Bush’-retreat is a stunning contrast to its environment. It was being made fit for tourists, but you feel not less embraced by nature…

Jungle vines are real! 😀 Pity I didn’t bring my loincloth, otherwise I would have swung away on one of those vines and would disappear into the thicket for some days and would hunt leopards, looked for gorillas and only lived off fruit and termites… 😀

The roots of those Kahitea trees are massive.

I better get the laundry in now, later it is a baking dish with some tomato sauce out of a jar (fell into my shopping basket), chicken breast and pasta. 😊

Tomorrow I am back at work and it is the everyday life again… But soon. Soon the last apple will be picked and a whole new chapter will begin…

All as planned

Mar 13, 2015 | Photos, The Great Journey, Trips, Updates

In 33 days, I will open a door. A door that belongs to my home of the next months.

My plan to spend the 12 mandatory weeks in the apple orchard, in order to extend my visa, works out. Only I will go back to Hawke’s Bay after one week with my host family to use April’s last two weeks for work. Cause theoretically you have to work only one day per week, to make it count for the extension.

After all bureaucratic and also physically exhausting efforts I can settle in my (in the beginning planned as the only station) host family.

When I really think about it (Attention, try this for yourself. Sorry to all parents.), I am giving myself an outstanding package of New Zealand…

Firstly, one (out of max. 3) months a tourist, no work, just ‘being’ here. In that time, I looked for a host family. The advantage of having the applicant sitting in front of you is that huge, you can actually go for the perfect family. Also, that they most likely will accept. Skype is nothing compared to a talk facing each other over a table…

Then I applied for the working holiday visa. Disadvantage: For stays longer than a year you need a health certificate. They cost, but that’s just the way things work. For an extended stay I am more than happy to go through that.

Holding the working visa, you can dive into the life as work-and-traveler. You can spend long days picking apples in screaming heat and think about life, the meaning of education and a qualified job. You learn what saving money means. You learn that work clothes begin to smell quicker. Also, you learn that life is not all fun and games.

So, when you are either sick of it or you completed you 12 weeks for the extension, you can ignite the second stage. You go out to your host family and..well, I will report when time has come.

The calculation in months is easy. My case shows as follows:

1 month on the tourist visa

12 months on the working holiday visa

3 months in extension of the WHV

When I arrive in my family, I will have spent 5 months in New Zealand already. Effectively, 11 months remain. The last of them I would like to spend traveling the South Island, so that I have 9-10 months with the family.

 The other disadvantage is the rebooking of my flight ticket. On arrival as a tourist you must show a ticket homebound. It is no problem to extend a flight ticket (doesn’t cost the world). But flight tickets are only extendable over the span of one year. For my stay lasts longer than a year, I had to let the booked flight go and will have to look for a new one. Maybe this could’ve gone smoother, so make sure to speak early enough with your travel agent…

Anyhow, even this circumstance is fully worth the additional time I have here at the end of the world.

Amongst others because of this:

Most Au Pairs arrive at their host family directly and leave them directly for home. 1 year as an Au Pair, some traveling on the side, the end. In the beginning that was my plan, too. But it has changed dramatically.

When arriving at my family, I will be familiar with the Kiwi way of life. Then I have already seen streets, supermarkets, gas stations and mannerisms, food and the slang. Within my stay, being an Au Pair is on the one hand the biggest part, on the other hand not the only one.

And after traveling the South Island, I can have a little ‘reunion’ with the family before I return home. I travel, work, be an Au Pair, travel again and then I go home. After 16 months worth New Zealand…

On a road trip it went up as it often does and this time again, I was not disappointed. New Zealand is SO beautiful!

Remember: For trips with your camera, sunset hours are the best. 😉

In the end of my road trip, I found this place. A world record, only 100km from my current stay! 😀 (The name describes a hill and actually is a full sentence.)

Small Interim Report

Mar 5, 2015 | Photos, The Great Journey, Updates

Stretching out the white cloth, collecting the white cloth, that’s how every day goes. On some days I even picked some apples and I have gotten quicker at it. 😊

One day my supervisor noticed a fact: I have become much skinnier working on the orchard. I am happy that next to my bags, I have put myself on the scale as well. Otherwise I couldn’t surely say that I already have lost 10kg! 😀

A daily routine has formed as well. Getting up, eating a bit, packing a bit, off to work, driving home in the 70 degrees hot car, conducting a shower, having dinner, cultivating contacts, some entertainment, scooping ice cream, off to bed, dream straight garbage, alarm goes off, and from the top…

Being on this journey I have learned a lot about myself. For example, that you can be the friendliest person, but that not everyone appreciates that equally.

Less and less I can imagine driving on the right-hand side of the road. I clean the trash for the (obviously very fussy) garbage collection und do the dishes with this despicable brush. I live amongst real Kiwis, eat meat pies and the flat still is fantastic…

Hakuna Matata

Mar 2, 2015 | The Great Journey, Thoughts

I want to thank Susi, who suggested this article. 😊

Here and there I have mentioned that I like the ways of the people here. After spending 3 months here (seems like 3 weeks however) I would like to put it into more binding words. Those relate to the New Zealanders rather than to travelers.
If you were looking for that mass of friendly people that await you upon arrival and welcome you straight to their hearts, you must realize, soberingly, that they are still human over here.

There is the quiet businessman striving past you in his wafting suit, there is the strict mother who impatiently tries to teach ‘Pardon?’ to her daughter, there are shady people that you wouldn’t like to cross.
There is the Work-o-holic who makes for a not to be underrated danger on top of his tractor, there is the scruffy and whacky looking lady who zips through the supermarket beyond any speed limit, there are also people who don’t respond to your hearty greeting.
BUT there IS a substantial shift in the ways of these people. A shift which lets the Kiwis outstand.

It is the relaxed and always positive attitude towards life and the utterly small barrier to engage in a conversation.

The latter often happened. Whether you only ask for the way and get a lift to your hostel as an effect and gain lovely friends by the way, or you get talked to in a random place, have a nice talk and never see each other again.
You learn in utmost comfort that anybody likes to communicate and that there ought to be no unnecessary boundaries.
Besides, the most knowledge, the most tips and the best bargains are given away by trivial asking.
The interest in the other seems to be greater. You care for one another, you always ask how one is.

When asked something, it is put in the most discrete and friendly way, always estimating the best. To my sorrow this waters down the clear and direct commanding tone and misconceptions arise. But it’s nothing that isn’t solved easily after asking a second time… 😊

The most shining feature are all the phrases, or maybe all those saying used redundantly.
Everything is ‘sweet as’ (yup, one S), ‘good as gold’, ‘cool’ or plain ‘sweet’ with a thumbs up, you become anybody’s ‘mate’ or ‘bro’. Trifles or the ‘sorry’ when passing someone is being answered with a smile. You can shout out a friendly salute to the leaf-blowing-specialist over there and it come back as hearty.

Not one traveler can miss the most recognizable saying regarding the Kiwi Way of Life. It is often used after a ‘Thank you!’ and in any situation, that makes the other person look caring. It plays a crucial role in the daily life. It is: ‘No worries!’ (for the rest of your days)

 

Oliver and the Fruit Trees

Feb 21, 2015 | Photos, The Great Journey, Thoughts

Chapter 1:

Mercilessly the sun blasts down through the ozone hole right on to of my cap. She delivers her performance at preventing my scalp from burning, as well as keeping the sweat from running down my face. Even despite that a drop comes off my brow and leaves a thick smudge on the glasses. Nevermind, as in this moment some soothing thoughts come to me. It is the moment I received this cap from my brother last christmas back in Germany. As a matter of prudence that there would be colder days I packed it and now it serves as sun protection. Well, my reflection looks a little more stylish now. So..win-win-win.

Utterances of spontaneous distress remain unspoken and are pursed out of the lips as I crawl from the tree like Gollum (not important, grandma). I don’t want to hit branches and halfway ripe apples, but I don’t want to rest on my knees, either. They are not used to this labour and that’s why I intensely feel them stumbling through the heat towards the next tree.
Down, aching muscles, install the bungee-cords-construction between tree and the white sheet, all tight: Yes. Onwards. My due to little variety mostly black-ish working clothes combined with the white cloth and blazing sun create some certain thermal environment that is hard on the circulatory. But I am strong and tell myself I lose weight this way. You guys have your sauna, I have mine. Evidently, out of three liters of water hardly any reaches my bladder throughout a whole work day…

The row is finished. An apple kind-heartedly smiles at me with his red cheeks. How can one resist that… As my teeth dig through the sun-warmed fruit I revisit what I have learned about the white cloth. It not only reflects the sunlight in order to redden the apples down below. It makes for a major temperature rise that gives the apples a ripening boost paired with the cold of the night. Well, the temperature part I verify, as nobody who walks on them for hours could deny it.

The pieces of cloth are up to 250m long and are made out of tent ground sheet material. That gives you nice scarf skin over time. They are being stretched out in long rows where needed and collected before harvesting. For this I am standing in the back inside a bin, as it is carried along the row of trees by an seemingly almost antique tractor using its forklift. Stuffing is the mission, never mind the pieces of mud pie in your mouth because of the dust or the cloth being soaking wet. Then, when the second end of the cloth lies on top the funny part begins: You rest yourself on top of the soft nest (only to secure it, of course) until the bin is put on the side. Half a minute airstream and hundreds of ripe apples passing by temptingly…

Chapter 2:

I always liked to wash my hands after gardening. I looked like hard work as the water turned brown-ish in the sink.
Now I stand in the shower and I am sweaty as and try to apply the code (left, right, left, right, right). Finally, my temperature. I direct the handle towards my arms and notice the phenomenon mentioned above at the ground of the shower. Wow, that’s some serious dirt. Looking back on my rather less physically engaged career these moments leave me somewhat proud to have done something. Maybe even to really have ‘worked’ some deal.

I leave my shower gel and shampoo in the shower and walk over to my room. No one would do this at the hostel, but in a flat you do. Here you know the people and you trust each other. And determining guilt is much easier should it come to that… My room offers comfortable space and I made myself at home already. Since a few days back I live here, at the other end of Hastings, closer to where I work.
The life at the hostel I left behind and some dear travel companions also. And you can still meet up in the time of day not at work… I will go on some other time about how much advantages a flat offers.

After a relaxed meal I turn to my duties. E-Mails, credit card invoices, laundry, shopping, some music, a chilled drink and with a spring in the step I go.

Chapter 3:

Day 1. On a shabby harness I carry a big picking bag in front of me and pick my first apples. It is important that they are red. No orange or brown tones, no. We want the nice, red ones. The bag can carry about 20 kilos of apples. The apples are to be taken care of, they can’t suffer any bruises. It means that you want to lay them into the bag (never thrown) and transfer them to the bin applying utmost care. The bag has a neat appliance for that on its bottom. These so-called bins contain 400kg of apples when full… The goal is to fill up as many as you can a day. I couldn’t manage more than two yet… The pros around fill 5-12 ones depending on the apple.
The trees are young, so no ladder needed. On my first day I left the earphones and had to put trust in the voices inside my head. Quickly it gets insanely boring and the image of the individual fruit picked fades. “In New Zealand cherries are gigantic, feel like radish and taste like apple juice.” Needless to say, that was the only day without external entertainment on the ears.

Soon we added the ladder and went to pick the apples that go to the bin with the stems removed due to their vulnerability. Meaning: Only pick the bright red ripe apples, carefully remove the stem with the wire cutter (stirred memories of my apprenticeship) and cautiously put them into the bag. Up the ladder, find your balance with the heavy bag and on goes the game of finding the red ones, clip the stem, bag gets heavier, no apples missed, down, further.
The praise of my supervisor motivates, only it is about the choice of colour. Not so much about my picking speed. My priorities are not adjusted well. And you don’t get paid by quality, but quantity. No one’s born a master and I will get there eventually. The others somehow get it done, too…
Only that the current job on the cloth is much more to my satisfaction. An hourly rate and the continuity of the work fit my brain much better. We’ll see how the supervisor sees that…

To reward you for reading you get some pictures I shot on a sunny morning at work.

250 meters don’t quite fit inside one bin.

Sights like these promise easy pickings, though rather for the skilled hands…

Before it looks like this…

…and after like this. 😀

Wherever you look, millions and billions of apples…