Apricots!

A week ago I started a job fruit picking in Roxburgh in Central Otago. I’m saving up some more money before I head off to Thailand, Nepal, and India. I was a little bit apprehensive to start a fruit picking job because I’ve heard bad things about how much you can expect to get paid for the work, and that the working and living conditions aren’t that great. Of course, the one known positive that I knew of going in was that it was easy to get a job and that I could work for a month and then leave to continue traveling.

I must say though, that I do enjoy what I am doing. The picking crew is great- it is made up of people between the ages of 18 and 25 from various areas around the world including New Zealand, Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden, England, Scotland, Canada, and the US (I’m the only American). Everyone lives together In a small house and some of us sleep outside. The rent is also very cheap- only US$45 a month for me. Roxburgh is a small town defined by its fruit industry and most of the locals have grown up in the town.. Even so, they are not at all weary of outsiders and value the immigrant workers (including myself) as an important addition to the community. Around town and at the local pub I’m greeted with lots of “Hey buddy!” and “Hey mate!” from the locals in the town.

The work itself isn’t really that hard for what I am used to- we work normally from 7:30 to 3 or 4 with a one hour lunch break, spending the day climbing ladders to pick apricots and cherries. In a given day picking apricots on good trees I can easily make $130+. Cherries are another story, netting extremely small sums for the work that is put in. I have made it clear that I am in the fruit picking business for apricots though, so hopefully I will be picking them from now on.

For some reason it is generally thought that apricot picking is harder than cherry picking among the owners because of the heavier baskets we have to wear around our shoulders as we work. In my opinion, it is not at all heavy being that it weighs about 20 pounds or so fully loaded. It is also much more satisfying to pick apricots- baskets and palet bins (which weigh about 500 pounds when loaded) fill quickly, and it is easy to imagine myself literally picking money off the trees.

Anyway, the biggest plus is that everyone I work and live with is great company. We often joke that we are the most highly educated fruit picking crew in the world- people I work with have bachelors and masters degrees in Ocean Sciences, Environmental Management, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Nursing, Marketing, Commercial Aviation, and so on and so on. This is probably the only place in the world where people with western first world university educations willingly work in the orchards- manly for the experience of it and to make some extra money while traveling. We regularly cook, eat, party, and go to the pubs together- not a bad way to live for a month really. (we also supplement our diets with fresh fruit and with rabbits and venison that we shoot in and around the orchard- then we cook it all up with the influences from everyone's separate cultures)

The hardest thing about all of this for me is being away from Jen and having no cheap way of communicating outside of text messages. Internet in town is only available at certain times on certain days, and there are only 6 computers or so for the entire fruit picking crowd to try to use. The connection is slow, and the price is also high at $6 an hour. It is also noisy, so skype is unfortunately not an option. I can’t wait till Jen and I are living in the same place again so that we can talk for free!

Anyway, I am in Dunedin now- I worked a half day today and then drove 2 and a half hours to get here. Jen and I accidently left some cloths at a hostel here a few weeks ago. Luckily the staff at Chalet Backpackers is excellent and kept our stuff for two weeks.

About one more month and I’m off to Thailand to meet up with Dave, Taylor, and then Jen- I can’t believe it. Time is flying by.