Weary (coming home)

We survived!

Currently, we are in Christchurch, which is where this whole thing began.

As we drove in, Kristin turned to me and said, "I feel better just being here... I have been feeling very unsettled. This is my New Zealand home, more or less."

Ditto.

And now, everything needs a good clean and scrub. All our clothes will be cleaned, everything packed away. Anything we cannot take with us is getting sold or given away (hopefully car will be sold!).

On Friday we head to the airport, car-less and carrying everything we own here. I will have a backpack, my laptop, and a box of wine. Kristin will have two backpacks, and her laptop.

It has been a crazy trip... learned a lot, experienced a lot. Kristin and I even still like each other after the blisters, sandflies, howling winds and blowing rain. After the tiny car, and long days and longer hikes... It has been a great trip.

Although, really, I think it will be years before I have fully worked through and digested all my experiences here, which is how it is, I suppose. Such is life...

But for now...

I am coming home!

~ matt

Stewart Island (lots of pics)

Stewart Island is the kind of place where birthdays are posted outside the grocery store. The town library is a hole in the wall that is open one hour every other day... the kind of library where you can rent a DVD for $2, even if you are clearly not from the township, if you promise you will return it. Serious. We actually did this.

"We can borrow a DVD even if we are not from here?"

"Sure... Just try to remember to drop it in the slot before you leave the Island, since the library will likely not be open. If you forget, just give it to the crew that runs the flights and they will drop it by. Or mail it, if you get back to the South Island with it... as long as we get it back."

Day one was spent exploring the tiny little town of Oban, which took about an hour to visit nearly every inch of it. Day two was spent walking around the bays nearby, and stopping every couple minutes to look at some aspect of nature. Day three, however, was the big day. On the third day, we rented a sea kayak for the day!

The plan was to paddle to Ulva Island, a little island in the Inlet that was predator free, and a wonderful bird sanctuary. We were greeted by a weka, a funny little chicken like flightless bird.

The island was amazing. There were birds everywhere! What is really sad is that they say that this island is what all of New Zealand was like before humans introduced all the many predators that have dramatically reduced bird populations (being a tiny little island in the middle of no where allowed NZ to develop for thousands of years human and mammal free). The air was so full of bird songs, and tiny little robins, tui, and saddlebacks came to explore and say hello. It was really striking, mostly just because it made you realize just how changed NZ was.

I even managed to use all my horticultural knowledge to spot a tiny little orchid growing there!

From Ulva, we paddled around the rest of the inlet. Kristin even saw dolphins (I missed them) and I saw a penguin (Kristin missed him). Towards the end of the day, the wind picked up, and Kristin and I had a hell of a time getting back to the dock, which was both against the wind and waves, but also the tide. But we made it exhausted and soaked, and though we are sore today, it was one hell of an adventure. :)

In case you are wondering, we are in Dunedin on the east coast of the South Island now, feeling much relaxed. We have a couple of days here, then into Central Otago once more before heading to Christchurch to sell everything we can and come home... just 9 days left!

~ matt

Needing Rest

Five days of being rained on in gale force winds takes a toll. Kristin and I found that out first hand. The funny thing is that it was not until a couple of days ago, when two hours of driving on silly little back roads and pothole strewn gravel roads took us to the sign that notified us that the road was washed out a few km from our campsite for the night.

I stopped the car, turned off the engine and took out the map. The map notified me that we could take another route, which would take us another hour and relied on other gravel back roads not being washed out. Kristin sat silent in the passenger seat, exhausted and hungry. The wind is so strong that it is rocking the car violently.

It became clear that after seven days of camping, three being trekking, we were worn a bit thin. (And although we had stayed in a hostel for Thanksgiving, it was far too short, not really restful, and, as much as I hate to say it, talking to family had the unfortunate effect of making us both a bit homesick.) After a quick talk, we decided that if we did not take some serious time to rest, we would be in no shape to do everything that we have planned for the last two weeks. We had a tentative plan for going to Stewart Island, but had been reconsidering due to some of the costs involved. Well, we decided damn the cost, we need a break from the South Island.

This is how I came to find myself on Stewart Island. Stewart Island is a tiny little island that sits just off the southern coast of the South Island, and for all intents and purposes, it is the island that the rest of New Zealand forgot. 85% of the Island is protected wilderness, and the island sports a number of rare birds, including kiwi. There is one tiny fishing village on the island, Oban, which has a population of 400.

We lucked out and found a standby flight to the island. I say lucked out not only because it cost us less than the tiny little boat that could have taken us, but also because I was warned that the crossing by boat is rough for three days after a storm, and it had been storming for the last 6 weeks. For those of you that know me well, you know how well I do with motion sickness. The plane was about as small as the company running the charter… The plane sat ten including the pilot, and the pilot made our reservations, checked us in, did security, and then flew the plane. For all I know, the company consists of him and the nice lady who picked us up at the landing strip.

And here we will rest our legs a bit. There are plenty of nice day walks (as well as a longer multi-day trek), and sea kayak rentals are half what they have been elsewhere (The town sits in a very sheltered bay, Halfmoon Bay, and so despite the stormy weather, the water on the bay is glass). The beauty of the standby flight is that we will go back when they have room to take us, which should be no longer than a week. :P

Internet is expensive and slow at best, so I will update as I can.

~ matt

Survived!

Did you know that only female sandflies bite, and usually only at dusk and dawn?

Well, from my experiences, all sandflies are female, and they have no concept of time.

We survived the Hollyford Track, although we came out a day early, and only made it one hut in. A couple of things led to this:

• My backpacking stove manual says that it will burn kerosene, and since this is the only fuel I could find before the trek, I decided to try it. It fails to mention that it will not burn it well, and will clog often, sometimes in the middle of trying to boil water, which will require you to wait for the stove to cool, take the stove apart to clean it, and waste lots of fuel in the process. Getting 24 km in on the trail with a stove that was becoming unreliable and wasting lots of fuel, which was limited, was not appealing.
• It dumped rain for 48 hours solid. While my tent stayed dry inside, and was generally a rock-star, the prospects of hiking 2 days in dumping rain, with tearing down and making camp the everyday in the rain, with no means to dry gear, was less than ideal. Also, the hut that we were camped outside of was nice and dry, and allowed us somewhere to watch the rain come down off the mountains.
• SANDFLIES! Milford Sound is infamous for them, and I see why now. We thought they were bad before, but we knew nothing. They swarmed here. Within minutes, any piece of exposed skin was covered. And most remarkably, unlike other sandflies, these ignored DEET after about 30 min, bite through 2 layers of clothing, and found their way into any little crack in the door or space in the zipper of the tent. And, I react worst to these, with a large raised bump that itched so badly that it would wake me from sleep, and lasted for days!

But Milford Sound itself is amazing. 2,000 m tall sheer cliffs that rise from sea level, with water pouring off of them everywhere.

Still no fish caught, although we are getting better at casting, and have been getting advice and tips from many people along the way. The car is rocking so far, and is invaluable to us. We had to buy 2 new tires for it (got a flat and the other was on its way out) but got a great deal on used tires.

We head to Stewart Island in the next day or so, which is the best place to see wild kiwi in all of NZ. Hope to call people on Thanksgiving to say hello before.

~ matt

PS- More pictures soon.

More Pics

Pictures!

Abel Tasman, Fly fishing, and Sandflies, oh my!

Whew! What a week...

It started with a brief attempt at fly fishing. We need practice, and these little flies kept bugging us. More on that later...

Kristin and I have been on the Abel Tasman trek for 4 days, followed by a bit of a road trip. The Abel Tasman is one of NZ's Great Walks, so named for the pure greatness of the scenery and such. They are also incredibly popular, although do not ask me what came first, their popularity, or the recognition of their greatness. It is a 55 km trek though tropical-ish beaches and isolated coves. Half the trip Kristin commented looked like a pirate movie. All the campsites were on lovely beaches (the pic above is camp #1).

The other thing to know about the Abel Tasman is that it is classified as an easy walk. I am not sure how this was determined, but I can say with some certainty that it was anything but easy with a fully loaded pack on. Although following roughly the contours of the coast, the path goes up and down any hill along the way, with seeming little regard for the steepness of the pitch or directness of the route it takes to get there.

The other thing to know about Abel Tasman is that it is populated by sandflies. These, if you have not been so lucky, are spawned by the Devil himself to plague what would otherwise be a wonderful beach in NZ. They are tiny little flies that bite and leave large, swollen red itchy marks on your skin for DAYS. And they itch so badly as to wake you from sleep, and consume your thoughts while hiking. Also, we thankfully had been talked into an all natural bug spray that "works just great against sandflies." Needless to say, we are both covered in bites, and bought some DEET.

Day one started with a late start from the trail head... about 2 hours later than we were originally planning. Our campsite (which had to be pre-booked and were in high demand) was 14 km away, and it said that it was an easy hike there. We pushed hard, and generally kept good spirits, but the trail took a toll on us. We were definitely getting a bit haggard and were looking forward to camp when we stumbled across a sign that announced that our campsite was another hour on. We lost hope. Well, maybe just a little hope... We sat at that spot, trying to rally ourselves for the extra hour. Less than a minute down the trail we found another sign that said 30 minutes. As we came to learn, the time and distances on the signage were guesses at best. We stumbled into camp, set up the tent, and went right to bed... or at least tried. We were woken by a group of school children who had decided to claim the beach we were staying at as there own.

Day two, and we are not well rested, sore from the day before, and not looking forward to what should be, distance-wise, our longest day. The first three hours are ok, with only a slight mishap along the way. On the middle of a suspension bridge, we paused for a photo. Unfortunately, the wind picked up and blew the hat right off Kristin's head. Not to be set back, and knowing the hat would be essential for the next 2 days, I climbed down to the stream and swan across to get it. The water was so cold that I had trouble breathing. Yikes!

After lunch, the rain began. Of course it started as we tried to cross a section of the trail only crossable during a low tide, and about 3 hours after low tide. We end up drenched to the bone, cold, wet, sore and not in high spirits. It rained the next 3 hours of our hike, and through the night. We went to bed worried our trip would be spent in the rain.

Thankfully, the next day was warm and sunny. Unfortunately, we were rough by this point. 2 days of long hiking with the packs had nearly destroyed us, and we had another 12 km day ahead of us. We did it, but only just. Hiking on beautiful beaches seems like it should be great. Hiking in loose sand with a heavy pack on for hours is less fun... trust me.

Day four was a short hike, followed by much rest and a boat ride out.

It was quite the adventure to be sure.

We have spent the last few days camping, washing and showering and generally relaxing. Today we are in my favorite place ever, Blenheim! We are wine tasting and taking advantage of the free internet (although it is slow and crowded on a Sunday afternoon). Tonight we will head toward the west coast. If we feel up to it, we might give fishing another try or two, although paranoia of the sandflies has made us a little leery. (They love streams, forests, the West Coast and the flesh of the innocent, or so we hear.)

I will try to upload more pics when we get better internet.

~ matt

On the Road!

Kristin and I are packing up her room in Lincoln, NZ. We have an approximate plan for the next couple of days. We have 5 weeks to travel around NZ, and it should be a blast.

Yesterday we purchased a fly fishing rod, reel, line, and flies, as well as the required licenses. It was a bit expensive (~$400 NZD, $140 of that the license), but the rod can come home with us, and considering many of the camping sites we are planning on staying at are located next to prime fly fishing spots, it should pay for itself rather quickly, both in terms of food costs and entertainment. Neither of us know how to fly fish, but we have a pretty good idea. :P

So, the rough itinerary is thus:

• Tonight we drive ~3 hours to a campsite on the west coast where we can pan for gold and fish.
• Tomorrow we stay in Nelson, where I began my travels, and I will get to show Kristin all the cool things there are to see.
• The Abel Tasman track is next, with beautiful beaches and semi-tropical forests surrounding it. Possibly will do part of the track via sea kayak.
• Up to the north tip of the south island for the scenery.
• Queen Charlotte Track, and green lipped mussels at Havelock (just for Linda).
• South to Milford Sound.
• South more to Steward Island, the best place to see wild kiwi!
• Up to Dunedin, home of Cadbury Chocolate NZ, beautiful harbors, and nice buildings.
• Back to Cromwell to show Kristin where I have been living and working, including wine tastings and possibly even making the Friday after-work pub meeting to say hi to the people I have been working with.
• Drive through Central Otago, home of NZ merino wool and beautiful alpine lakes. We have an appointment for Kristin to tour a salmon farm at some point.
• If we find a way to work it out, we will be selling my car in Christchurch, "relocating" a rental car from Christchurch to Auckland for free, and spending our remaining time on the North Island before flying back to the States on Dec. 11th.

This should be a great trip.

I am not sure where and when I will have internet along the trip, but I will actually be taking lots of pictures and will update this blog to share our adventures as best I can!

~ matt

Good Bye Cromwell.

So, I finished my last day on Tues. I think my boss was trying to leave me with a good impression, because my last day was easy as. On leaving, my boss gave me two bottles of wine, saying "Here's for being such a great bastard." This was accompanied by a slap on the shoulder. :)

On my drive up to Christchurch, I was continually struck by just how beautiful some of the landscapes were. In my mind, I was making a list of places to come back to.

Kristin and I sat over a table-sized map of the South Island, pointing out places we would like to see, things we would like to do... planning a grand adventure.

It has been decided that Kristin and I are buying fishing poles, and we will be fishing through out our trip. One pole will be a fly-fishing rod, and we will be trying our best to teach ourselves to fly fish (this due to the fact that we are in one of the world's greatest fly fishing destinations, or so I was told by a flabbergasted sports store owner when I asked about spin rods).

I am excited. Very very excited. Ahead of me is a month of camping, hiking, wine tasting, fishing, and general exploration alongside a wonderful girl.

This should be a grand adventure for sure.

~ matt

PS- On a secondary note, for those of you who are always frustrated by what to buy me for Christmas, I will make it very easy for you. I need new clothes. I discovered when packing from Cromwell that I in fact do not own a single piece of clothing without a loose seem, hole, or missing button. Not a single one. Not even exaggerating. I accidentally tore a huge hole in my shirt trying to take it off. Old Navy large shirts fit me well, but pants are tough due to the "Burleigh Butt." :P

Now if only my siblings were that easy, huh?

Moving on...

I have 3 days left in Cromwell.

3 short days...

It is a little weird. I have been looking forward to this for a while, and yet now it is bittersweet.

Cromwell is finally waking up. Our crew at the vineyard has doubled in a week, and so has the crews of the over 12 or so vineyards surrounding Cromwell, all with people about my age. There are people in the town center, people in the restaurants, people everywhere. I am getting invited to dinners and get-togethers. The local farmer's market has even started up again for the season. So, it is with a certain sadness that I prepare to leave Cromwell.

I feel like I just got my feet under me here, and now I am moving on.

But the thing is, while the people are really great, and some of them are really amazing, I don't really like the work. Well, that is an understatement... I find the work really unsatisfying. (I have listed some of the reasons previously, and again, I feel like if I knew this is what I wanted to do, it would be a very different. It is not that I don't necessarily want to work for Felton Road Winery, it is that I don't want to work vineyards... At least I don't think I do.)

This is not a new feeling... I felt the same when I left China, same when school ended, etc.

I guess this is just part of life.

~ matt

Revelation

Last Friday the vineyard got 40 mm of rain (~1.5 inches) in 30 minutes. That is a decent down pour for sure, but should not cause too much havoc.

And yet it did...

Felton Road relies pretty heavily on cultivation (plowing) in between the rows to reduce weed pressure and to get cover crops planted. Cultivation causes all kinds of bad things to happen, from erosion due to loss of soil structure and loss of organic matter, to the loss of ~25-40% of the stored water in the soil due to opening up the soil profile. Additionally, it can create a hardpan of compacted soil which prevents water from soaking deeply into the soil. All in all, cultivation is pretty terrible, and should be avoided if possible.

So, my first question when I saw how much Felton Road cultivated was how they dealt with these issues. The reply was that they were really not issues that Felton Road experienced...

Enter 40 mm of rain on a heavily cultivated vineyard on a hill, exit 1 METER of top soil...

Yeah, I wish I had pictures of it, but there were 1 meter deep channels cut into the vineyard. They have since scraped top soil from elsewhere in the vineyard to fill in the damage. When I asked about it, they said it was really just bad timing and a freak storm, but nothing wrong with their methods. Interestingly enough, neighboring vineyards that were not cultivated did not experience any erosion. Felton Roads cultivates to reduce competition for water, which is interesting considering how much of the stored soil moisture they lose every time they do.

Felton Roads prides itself on its sustainable practices, but they have a lot of the same problems that discouraged me from organic farming in the states... Lots of hopeful belief in what they are doing, but a certain blindness or failure to accept that they might not be doing as good of a job at it as they hope. I keep seeing it over and over in sustainable and organic agriculture. It is almost that they believe so strongly in what they are doing that they cannot look at their actions critically.

I might be being a bit high-and-mighty about all of this, but this episode really made me think about what interested me, and why I got into agriculture in the first place. I started this whole pursuit because I wanted to help people and protect the land. I remember reading The One Straw Revolution and feeling that I wanted to explore growing crops at that skill level. (The book is written by a Japanese man who dedicated 30 years to learning how to grow rice. It describes how he learned to grow rice in an almost Daoist approach... Like the flapping of a butterfly's wings to cause a hurricane, he discovered the timing of small interventions that would lead to a balanced ecosystem that supported yields greater than "chemically" farmed rice with only ~1 hour a day spent farming.)

So, NPR had an article on The Land Institute, a group of plant breeders who have been working to the last 30 years to revolutionize cereal farming. They are trying to reverse the last 10,000 years of farming by developing perennial cereal grains rather than annuals, with the idea that those grains would be closer to native grains and would be more efficient at using limited water and would not need chemical inputs or cultivation.

And I found that I was really excited about this... More excited about it than anything I have been doing at Felton Roads or even the last 2 years of organic farming. I guess it was good to remind myself why I had started this whole thing, and what really excited me.

I am excited to return home... excited to start a new adventure. When I return home, I am going to explore plant breeding.

Grad School, here I come! (Please don't worry mom, I promise I will not spend my whole life in school!)

~ matt

My poor hands...

Soo...

I have been digging for a week and a half solid... Usually with a shovel or a small trowel, either hand-weeding or digging holes for planting vines, mostly in hard soil. I am pretty sick of it, but that aside...

My hands started to hurt about a week ago. It started as a weak pain that seemed like just soreness from over use. I am used to muscle soreness in my hands from rock climbing, and this felt a little bit different. Then I started waking up with my hands feeling numb and tingly, like I had been sitting on them all night. It has gotten to the point now where I can barely use my hands first thing in the morning. Once I stretch out my forearms and take something to cut down the inflammation in my finger joints it is ok. At least I can use my hands. Still cannot grip things tightly, and my joints feel swollen and tight.

I have kept telling my immediate supervisor about it for the last week, and my concern has been met with "you just are not used to the work" or "stretch your arms out more," along with an obvious judgement that I am complaining about nothing and just don't like the work. Finally today I took it up with the assistant viticulturist, who was much more concerned about it. Today I put stamps on envelopes to give it a rest. Tomorrow I will be taking the day off if it still hurts...

Now, I feel like I am not a baby about things, and consider myself to be pretty tough and have a pretty high pain tolerance, so if something actually bothers me, it is usually a big deal. I have broken fingers and even my collar bone without even noticing I broken bone, and gone without pain meds when I burnt most of the skin off my arm. So I have been getting a little upset with my supervisor and co-workers who think I am making a big deal of nothing. Furthermore, the viticulturist and assistant viticulturist don't blame my immediate supervisor for telling me to buck up and get back to work without ever passing on my concern to them, but seem rather to blame me.

And even better, it seems that while NZ worker's comp will cover doctor's bills if it proves that serious, it does not cover lost wages, so if I end up not able to work my last week due to this, that is just my loss.

<---Really grumpy about all of this.

I am icing my hands and hoping the rest will do them some good.

Ugh!

~matt

New Digs

Moved into a new place. The little hut was cheap, but lonely. Now I am living in Cromwell proper, within walking distance of the grocery store.

Roommates are a nice gay man who is never home, and an American girl who is nice enough, although a little tough to talk to about things that are of any substance... oh well.

My plans for the week are:

• Go to Queenstown Tuesday night to eat dinner with Kristin and some of her friends that are on holiday.
• Work work work.
• Go back to Queenstown next weekend for the Queenstown Jazz Festival.
• Work work work.

On another note, I went out last Friday!

Here is how it went. Meet the crew at the local pub (yes, the one the burnt down). They have the beer garden open, and a couple of plastic chairs and tables out. They are pretty much just serving beer. Interesting pub... :P

They start by buying a ridiculous amount of beer. 3 pitchers and 10 bottles for 6 people. Then they all start drinking fast, cause there is a storm closing in... I am a light weight, cause I don't drink much, so I am trying to pour myself to ensure I am only having half-glasses at most. As soon as the storm arrives, everyone scatters. I get invited to dinner just down the street. All in all, a fun time.

Spent the rest of the weekend resting. Work starts again tomorrow. :(

~ matt

Update Time!

So, sorry I have not updated this in a while. It is hard to do when I feel like I don't have a whole lot to say.

I like lists, so lets start with one of those.

What Is New:

• Been working hard. Lots of boring work too... Hand weeding, hand weeding, weed whacking, more hand weeding. Not sure what I am learning...
• Took a trip to see Kristin this last weekend. It was wonderful, and I returned feeling refreshed and recharged. Too bad it does not seem to be lasting, because...
• I am feeling like crap. It took a lot to get up this morning, and I felt sluggish all day. Then, after dinner I started to feel just worn out and exhausted. Now, it is 8:45 and I am about to go to bed and hope like mad that I am not actually sick.
• I am supposed to move tomorrow. Finally leaving the hut with its terrible internet and cheap rent. My new place is in town, so a longer drive to and from work, but hopefully that will help me meet people. Also, good internet, so maybe I will actually be able to Skype with people. Although the timing might not be great cause...
• I have 3 short weeks left in Cromwell. After that, I will be meeting up with Kristin and traveling around NZ before returning to the States.
• The car is running great, and has been the best thing I could have done here. Although, I am glad I took my time shopping around cause it could have gone really wrong. Might still. We shall see...

So, that is most of the big stuff. I am pretty happy, but I am also looking forward to being home for Christmas. Really looking forward to it, actually.

~matt

What do I want to be when I grow up....

I have no idea.

I feel like I have always been a little bit jealous of people who know that answer to that question. Well, depending on the day. Other days, I just feel like they are delusional.

When I was young, I wanted to be a monk. I feel a bit silly admitting that, but it is true. Tom wanted to be an Air Force Pilot or Marine, Kyle wanted to be a pyrotechnics expert (for about a minute)... what kind of kid wants to be a monk when they grow up? I even remember doodling little plots of the gardens and walls I would have in my little abby. Not sure why, but I have always been drawn particularly to Eastern Mysticism. The image of the Chinese Sage was always intriguing...

And then I discovered girls, and very suddenly my interest in being a monk was gone. :)

But in all seriousness, I feel silly asking this question after spending 6.5 years in school training for something to do with myself. I did organic vege farming for a while, and my heart was not in it. Now I am doing viticulture, and my heart is not in it either.

I enjoy working outside or with my hands, but hate the monotonous, mind-numbing tasks involved with most farming that I have experienced. It was ok when I could listen to NPR during my day, but I feel like I need something that engages my body and mind.

The second problem that I have is that I really feel like I have been lucky to have had the opportunities I have had, and feel that I should give back somehow. I want to feel like I want my work to benefit others. Maybe I am being silly, but I have been blessed to have received the support of so many people. I feel like I am wasting that somehow...

I also know that I think time with friends and family is precious. My current boss works 10-12 hours a day, plus weekends. He is dedicated for sure, but he also has kids and a wife that he cannot see very often. He is so busy that he rarely sits down, and always inhales his lunch in 5-10 minutes before running off to the next thing. I know I don't want that...

Hmm... Maybe I will figure it out someday.

~ matt

Frost Fighting!

So, when I first heard the Kiwis talk of frost fighting, I thought that maybe it was a cute little saying... make the early morning activities involved in keeping frost off the vineyards seem more glorious.

Now I know better.

As we speak, there are helicopters flying overhead. They should replace "frost fighting" with "waging all-out war on frost." It would be more appropriate. There are wind machines, helicopters, special water jets and all manner of weapons employed against the frost.

My boss said I should join them some mornings for frost fighting. As he said, "You might as well. You will be up anyway. That is the unfortunate thing about living on the vineyard... When there is a frost, the whole vineyard is going hammer and tong."

I now see I will either need to find a different living situation, or start watching the weather forecast for nights when I can sleep a full night. :P

~ matt

Photos of my home for a couple of months

This is the view out my back door. The little building is the hut that I am staying at. :P

~ matt

Long Overdue Update

So, when I last wrote, I was about to leave Kristin and head to Felton Road Winery to hopefully get a job. Well, one week later, I am employed at Felton Road Winery and have just completed my first week of work!

So, first, a little about the location... It looks so much like the Western Slope, I was a little surprised when I first arrived. Think Palisade. It has dry hills and lots of sandstone formations and orchards and vineyards.

The winery is cute and low key. In fact, I had already gotten a job and worked a bit before I realized just the class of winery I had somehow managed to get a job at. The revelation came when I noticed a little note in the break room thanking the vineyard crew for their help in making a 98 point Pinot Noir! A 98 is rare. Very rare. A little research, and Felton Road is one of 5 wineries in NZ that Robert Parker lists as excellent (5 stars). That is kind of a big deal. Needless to say, I feel pretty lucky.

So, my first week of work was a little rough. The winery crew is amazing, but the work is tough. The vineyards are on rocky hills, and I have been dropping the support wires to get ready for bud burst. Basically, it feels like I am hiking 8 hours a day. And my legs are not used to that kind of work, so my first week has been marked by sore legs, blistered feet and cut hands. I am sure it will get better as I get used to this type of work again.

Wednesday lunch was with the owner of the winery who opened 2 bottles of wine and broke out cheese and bread. Friday afterwork beers were followed by being given 2 bottles of wine that had been opened for a tasting, but would not be used over the weekend (the tasting room is closed weekends!). I have been given eggs from the happy little hens that run around the vineyard. It is a great atmosphere.

And I guess I have been working out well for them, because Gareth, my boss, offered me employment for the next 12 months. I have already made plans for Nov and Dec though, and kind of have my heart set on being home for Christmas. However, there might be a possibility of flying back here after Christmas, or maybe coming back to work for the following season. Of the two, I think I like coming back for the next season sounds better to me. Everything is still up in the air though.

I am currently staying in a little hut on one of the vineyard sites. It is perfect for me, and even comes with internet. Unfortunately, most people in the NZ pay for their internet by a block of download amount. What that means is I have 1 GB a month of internet. That is fine for checking email, but no movies, music, or even uploading pictures. I am going to try to find somewhere in town that will let me upload my pictures. It is really striking how much this place looks like back home.

Some other general impressions:

• Kiwis have a reputation for being extremely nice. I think this is more of a product of being a whole country of small rural communities than anything else. I don't think their niceness is necessarily greater than people from small rural communities in the States. And they have their fair share of rude people... Don't let anyone tell you different.
• I am collecting a list of my favorite and least favorite Kiwi-isms. So far my favorite is the use of "wee" instead of little. So, you take a "wee break," a "wee car," etc. It can also be used ironically, as in "it took him a wee bit of time to figure it out" meaning it took him 2 full days. My least favorite by far has been "smoke-o," which is a work break. It can be either the break itself or whatever small snack you brought to eat during your break. I think my hatred of the term has to do a little with how it was introduced to me. After asking what a "smoke-o" is, it was explained followed by a "good thing you came to NZ so you can learn your own language." It would have been humorous if they had been joking even a little. But no, they did not even recognize that it was Kiwi slang, but rather that it was the proper way to speak English.
• NZ is extremely isolated, and I really think it has affected the countries mentality. For example, the nightly national news covers all kinds of trite stories about towns being renamed and such, but almost no international news. I thought it might just be TV news, but then I opened the paper to the "World News" section, and it was horrible. And as a result, many Kiwis are not aware of international events... I would even go so far as to say they are worse than Americans in this regard.
• The above causes some really bizarre things to occur. Kristin related this one to me: Her school had an Oktoberfest event in which students were asked to wear German clothes. Kristin arrived to a hall full of Kiwis dressed in clothes with swastikas painted on them, dressed up as Hitler, and even a couple dressed as Holocaust victims! This, to the Kiwis was German clothing. She was absolutely shocked, and some German exchange students were much worse. As explained to Kristin, they are so isolated, and had no real exposure to WWII and the Holocaust that they don't even understand what they were doing. Kristin and I are still a little shocked by how you could be sooo isolated from the rest of the world to not understand the significance of the Holocaust. Ugh!
• NZ does, despite what you hear, have some significant issues troubling the country. Child abuse, including sexual abuse, is rampant. Racism is rampant as well, especially against Asians (and no, Kristin has not be the target of any of this). This is to the point where TV anchors following a story about violence against an asian school girl actually made jokes about the school girl. Violent offenses have much less sever punishment here, so a man who killed a gay man by breaking a banjo and shoving the broken neck down the man's throat and leaving him to die got 8 years. Say you stab someone 200+ times? 15 years. Some 13-14 year olds went into a school room, held the teacher down as they beat a boy with a softball bat, and this story was buried in the middle of the local events section, and I am not sure they boys will be punished at all. I makes me really uncomfortable.

Hmm... That is kind of a down note to end this post on. NZ in general is really nice. Perhaps this is just culture shock hitting me a bit late. I know there are lots of issues in the States as well, and maybe I don't give them as much thought as I should.

Ok, I am well. I have a job! The job is amazing and I am happy. Missing Kristin, but not much to be done about that. Should get easier once I meet some people here.

I have a feeling I will be bringing a lot of wine home for presents. And it is beyond delicious. :)

~ matt

Car!

It is my car! Yes, I know it is tiny. Even with the seat all the way back, I have to turn my legs sideways just to get into the driver's seat. It is a 1989 Honda Civic 36i Special Edition with 290,000 km on it (~180,000 miles). It has tons of kms on it, but is in great shape and runs really well. Because of the special 1.6L engine it has, it rockets up hills but still gets great gas milage (~36 mpg). It should be nice and cheap to run for the 3 months that I need it, and hopefully will still have decent resell value. It cost me $800 USD, and with car insurance and a tune-up will still be under $1,000 USD.

And already in the first week of owning it, it has more than paid for itself. Kristin missed all of her plans for the second half of her break due to her illness, so we decided to go out for a couple of days to make the most of the last 4 days of her break.

First, we drove to Hanmer Springs for the night. There is a lovely little hot springs there, and so the day was spent walking around and sitting in the hot springs... a nice way to unwind from the stress of the last week.

Next we drove to a beach on Pegasus Bay and camped just off the beach. It got cold at night, but it was fun exploring the ocean during the day. Kristin and I even managed to accidentally go wading in the ocean! It started off as a "Lets go exploring over there!" and ended with us standing on a tiny little rock as the tide came in and the waves got bigger. The only way out was wading!

The rest of the day was spent doing wine tastings and nature walks. Another night was spent camping on the beach... Overall a nice relaxing couple of days.

And most importantly, something that would have been completely and utterly impossible without my own car. :)

So, my car has an appointment to get a checkup and oil change tomorrow. After that, I leave Kristin and head south. I have a meeting in Central Otago with the viticulturist at Felton Road Winery (http://www.feltonroad.com) to discuss employment! Wish me luck!

~matt

Update on Kristin

Hello all,

So, Kristin is doing much better. However, yesterday was another rough day...

Kristin woke me at 1 am because her arms had gone from achey to incredibly painful. She tried taking some pain killers, but it just got worse. Another call to the 24 hour nurse hotline led to another trip to the 24 hour clinic across town.

At this point, it is early Sat. morning, and the clinic is full of triage patients that were overflow from the hospital next door. I had just read an article the day before arguing that NZ needed to raise the drinking limit, cause at 18 years old, the nation's ERs were being flooded every weekend with alcohol related injuries from 18-20 year olds. And here I was, witnessing it in person.

There was one whole group that had gotten in a fight at a party. One guy had busted his hand up pretty badly. Across from them was a boy that had a sever concussion from falling while drunk. And so on....

All in all, it was a 2 hour wait for Kristin to see a doctor, at which point the pain had gotten worse and her wrists became swollen. A rash had begun on her arms. I was freaking out... kept asking the receptionist every 30 minutes when she was going to be seen. Poor Kristin was just curled up on the waiting area bench with her arms curled into her tummy.

The diagnosis is that Kristin is having a reaction to a viral infection that was causing "target lesions." It is a rare reaction, but it can happen with a whole host of viruses. The only thing to do is to wait for test results to come back and manage the pain.

So, Kristin spent another day sleeping. Slowly the target lesions spread to her tummy, back and legs.

But last night we did not go to the 24 hour clinic. The rashes and lesions are slowly clearing. Kristin is feeling better. :)

In other news, I bought a car yesterday. A 1989 Honda Civic, with high miles but very well maintained. I will try to post pictures sometime, but it is very cute car.

Also, I have not heard back from a couple of wineries that were next on my list. I am not sure how to proceed. I might just head up there in my new car. Or head south.

~ matt

Eventful week! (Long post)

Oh boy! Where do I start?

Last I left you all, I was just about to leave Blenheim to go to Kaikoura via train to meet up with Kristin and her friend Claire.

The train really was the way to go! I cannot even explain what a difference it was. The cost of the ticket was about $3.50 USD more than the bus, and in return for my investment I got a nice, full seat with tons of leg room, a 1 hour shorter overall trip with none of the sickness and cramped conditions, and I got a really neat experience to boot. The Lonely Planet guide says that the trains here are not to go anywhere so much as they are to see places, and now I see how true that is. The train has 3 passenger cars, and one car that is the observation car. The sides of the observation car are open to the air, and allow for stunning views as the train makes its way from the vineyards of Blenheim to the rocky coasts of Kaikoura. The engineer would come on the speakers throughout the trip, announcing good photo opportunities and explaining the scenery. For $3.50 more, I got a narrated train tour of some of the most beautiful land I have seen. Definitely worth it!

Kaikoura was great, and Kristin's friend was a joy, even though she was still getting over the last of her bout with H1N1! (which neither Kristin nor I managed to get) Our day in Kaikoura was spent visiting the beaches, seal colonies where there were seals lounging willy-nilly, and was finished by a presentation of sheep shearing. The presentation was extremely educational, with the presenter, a former shearer with awards for his shearing, going through each of the types of wool, the shearing process, the packaging, etc. I was very skeptical at first, but I was actually a blast.

The next days were spent getting Kristin's friend off, and relaxing a bit.

Next stop was Akoroa, a tiny little town about 75 km east of Christchurch that was settled by the Frenchs, and maintains its French heritage. All the architecture is French, and all the roads named in French as well. Despite the wonderful weather and 70 degree temperatures, however, everyone in the town insisted it was in fact winter and refused to open most of their businesses or rent any equipment for exploring the area. Most of our questions were met with a shocked, "Well, of course no one is open... IT IS winter, afterall!" Finding food was tough, and most of our time was spent exploring on foot (sometimes barefoot on the beach, much to the dismay of the locals... Who goes barefoot in winter?)

Our lodging in the town was a farm stay at the Tree Crop Farm, a unique little place overlooking town. The owner was a hippy woman who implored us to go naked most of our stay... and seemed distressed when we did not. (Not even joking! When she saw me in the morning, her exclamation was "People! And with clothes on!") It was bizarre for sure, but fun none the less. Kristin and I had a great 1 year anniversary filled with lots of French food and lazy beach combing for pretty shells.

Two days ago and on the way back from Akoroa, I check out Kristin's car and found it was low on coolant. Over the course of the trip it overheats, and I begin to suspect a blown head gasket. This is bad news as the repairs will cost about $400 more than the car is worth. Poor Kristin dealt with it very well, even though she was due to drive a newfound friend up north for the last week of her break, and this would leave her high and dry.

Unfortunately, she no longer has to worry about that...

Today was my planned day to leave Kristin and head out on my own in search of a car and such. She was due to head north to meet a friend towards Nelson. At 5 am this morning Kristin wakes with a heaviness in her chest and difficulty breathing. By 6:30 am we have gotten the NZ 24 hour health hotline's advice to seek medical attention immediately and are on our way to the nearest open medical clinic 45 minutes away in a car that might overheat or die any minute. Talk about excitement!

The clinic decides that after a battery of tests there is nothing wrong with her, and diagnoses it as a panic attack (despite all indications that it is not and is getting worse). They send Kristin out the door with the advice to just go home and relax. By the time we are back to her room on campus, she has developed crippling stomach pains that leave her barely able to walk. Thankfully the student health clinic is open by this point... By the time I got her there, she cannot move and can barely speak... is crying doubled over because the pain is so sever. Kristin is a pretty tough cookie and not prone to crying over anything, and especially not in front of me. At this point, I am reasonably terrified.

After many more tests, they decide she most likely has sever gastritis, and start to medicate her. After 8.5 hours of many medications, several incrementally stronger pain medications, followed by meds to combat the dizziness and puking caused by the pain meds, and lots of general poking and prodding, blood tests and consultations, they finally have Kristin well enough to be wheeled out in a chair and for me to get back to her room and into bed.

Her tummy seems to be feeling better at this point, and although she is extremely loopy from the meds and exhausted by her ordeal, I think they have it sorted out. She is absolutely passed out, and will likely be for a while. There are still lots of questions about why it developed so suddenly and so strongly, and without any real contributing factors (alcohol, spicy food, age, etc.), and there are many blood tests to be run and sorted out before she meets with the doctor again Monday morning. The doctor has put me in charge of taking care of her until then (since there is no one on campus and she is not much capable of taking care of herself at this point)... so I guess I am not leaving quite so soon.

Really, though, the timing could not have been better. The rest of her school is on break, and her residence hall and most of campus is completely deserted. All of her friends are out of town till the end of the week, and she was in no shape to be doing anything. I am really really glad I was here to help her... I am frankly not sure what could have happened if I were not here. Yikes! Besides, my plans were to regroup and seek out a car and reliable enough internet to continue my efforts with wineries.

So, I am making her soup and picking up her medications. While she sleeps I am continuing my efforts with wineries and trying to line up a car of my own to buy. It is giving me lots of time with fast internet and time to run errands, which is very helpful. Hopefully by Monday I will have a car and Kristin will be feeling better. :)

Then off to Dunedin!

All and all, it was actually a pretty good week, though...

~ matt

Kaikoura Pictures

Hello All!

Here are some pictures from my last couple of days...

Burleigh Rd., Blenheim, NZ

NZ vineyard winter weed control

View from the train

Beach in Kaikoura

Seal Napping

Another one

Pretty shells (Paua shell is the big one)

Ha ha... Kristin decided we all needed to walk barefoot in the water. The water was a bit cold, and the beach was a pebble beach, not sand. Ouch.

Kristin holding a week old lamb.

Freshly Sheared...

~ matt