Been there. Done that. Got the filthy T-shirts. Gawd! Well, I can now say that I have done the apple picking in New Zealand thing. The boss/farmer asked me yesterday as I was finishing off my last bin if I would ever do it again and after a 3 second pause I responded a simple "not likely". That was tough work and, as all of you who have been following my travels over the past 19 months know, I am not a stranger to hard physical labour. I mentioned in an earlier entry that I had bruises on my bruises and that every joint in my body hurt... well it gets better. I blew out my knee avoiding a fall from the ladder (tall aluminum tripod style) when I slipped off the third rung with a full apple bag. I did not realize I had done so much damage until more than 24 hours later. That knee is still trash but the pain has subsided considerably and I was able to pick 4 bins on Monday after a 2 day weekend of rest and relaxation. Then it was a rain day off on Tuesday. We picked in the rain and wet of Wednesday though Friday. On Thursday and Friday we did have brief suny periods in the afternoon. This makes for bloody awful picking conditions. The apples are delicate due to the rain and cold so they bruise easily and guess who gets blamed for the bruising... that's right, the pickers. On top of that the apples are hard to handle when they are dripping wet and your hands are cold and wet. The ladder which is aluminum is icy cold and wet too. I hope to dry up and get warm soon.
I am now back in Nelson. A pretty little city of about 50,000. Everyone here is nice, friendly and kind. I am so happy here. Would not mind living here. The Trafalgar Square Backpackers is where I am staying again. It is like the luxury hotel of backpackers with soft cotton sheets, comfy mattresses and comforter on the made-up beds. The building is brand-spanky new with luxuriously decorated dorms, bathrooms and common areas. This is a great place to rest and recover. When I checked in this morning, Wayne put me in a nice all-girl dorm on the third floor right across the hall from the "Babes" washroom. Very handy. There is only one other lady in the room so far.
I took a shower in a real shower with clean floor and everything. It was good to know that the toilet had been cleaned every day since it was installed too (toilet at pickers' camp looked like it had never been cleaned, ever), that no man's butt had ever touched it and that the seat would always be down when I enter the cubicle. Ah! Very nice.
Next I fell into the warm, comfy, cozy nest of a bed and slept for 3 glorious hours. Got up and put on clean clothes that don't smell of smoke. Did two loads of laundry. Two shirts are ruined by stains from the apple trees and are about to become sleeveless shirts. Oh well, they will take up less space in the luggage. No I will not be keeping they for rags, glad to be rid of the bulk in the bags. Repacked all my luggage to put the dive gear back where it belongs. Had a bight to eat, finished the laundry and have been to get groceries for supper tonight and breakfast tomorrow. Now I am getting some internet stuff done. Will do my photo uploads from Auckland on Monday where the internet time is half the price it is here.
Last night there was a bloody great pub night at the Upper Moutere (pronounced Mootree) Pub with all the pickers, the boss and his wife (the bosses boss), Red and his wife Lisa and their gorgeous little boy, Ethan. Lisa and Ethan left early. I think they just brought him along to show him off to us. He is such a sweet child... profoundly deaf in one ear but with slight hearing in the other in which he wears a hearing aid. Anyway, we played tons of pool last night and Tony and I won 3 of every 4 we played and yes I did contribute quite a bit to the wins. In fact, Tony proclaimed half the wins were to my credit. After the publican tossed us all out at 1:00am we returned to the camp to party some more. Tony, Bushy, Voita and I were up latest when a friend of Tony's came by with his dog. Then until 4:00 it was just the three of us. I went to bed for a couple of hours sleep but the two boys stayed up until it was time for Tony to drive us into town.
This morning Bushy had to catch his flight at 7:20am to Hamilton (North Island) where he was going to spend a week visiting his Mom and her partner. He was worried as she can drink him under the table and he says it is always a long recovery period after visiting her. Voita had to catch his flight at 11:45am to Auckland where he will visit and travel around for a week before he returns to Czech Republic. He has been here for 9 months and looks forward to going home to his friends and family. I had to get to Nelson today to recover and set out on my way back to Auckland. So Tony offered to drive us all into Nelson this morning. Well Bushy drove into the Nelson Airport where he was too late for his flight and had to pay another $120 for the flight at 9:30. Poor guy... but I told him last night we should leave an hour earlier to be certain of making it on time. Voita checked his luggage in and came into town with Tony and I.
So I drove into town from the airport (Tony was still feeling the effects of the partying) and we dropped Voita at the info centre where he could get a bus out to the airport after breakfast. Tony and I went to the backpackers to drop my stuff but the door was still locked so we went for breakfast. Bumped into Voita as he took my recommendation of omeletts at the Robert Harris Cafe. All three of us had omeletts. MmmmMmm. So good and the boys were glad of my idea to go there. Back to the backpackers where I dropped my luggage. Then I drove the boys and me to the bus terminal. At this point Tony had to take over the driving. We all hugged our goodbyes and the guys left to drop Voita back at the airport. Tony was planning to go to work when he returned to the orchard.
I got my tickets to Auckland at the bus terminal. Bus, ferry, bus for a total of $116. I catch the 9:45am bus to Picton tomorrow. It drops us at the ferry terminal where I check my luggage on and climb aboard for a 1:30 departure. This means I will have a couple of hours to wander around town and see Picton. As I understand it this will be plenty of time to do so. The ferry arrives in Wellington at 4:30. I can shuttle to the bus terminal and store my luggage there until my 7:50 pm bus departure. Eleven hours later we arrive in Auckland. Yes, the overnight bus. They are not often crowded and they are large, comfy coaches so I should be able to sleep.
On Monday morning I will contact the 2 captains I am considering to go sailing with. I know which one I prefer but he still needs to approve me so I want the second possibility to still be there. In fact I must phone him when I finish here.
Well, enough for now. I must head out into the cold rain again and go make my supper, finish my folding, rolling and packing of the laundry and get to bed early. I am wiped so I expect to sleep like the dead tonight.
Cheers to all.
Posted by gailene at May 1, 2004 06:18 PM