A few weeks late…

He says:

So we may have gotten a little side tracked since our last post, and forgotten to do it for a few weeks… but worry not, we’re still alive!

We’ve just arrived in our second place of employment, working on a pig farm. But you guys don’t even know about our first job yet, or anything to do with the south island and our last 4/5 weeks in general! So lets just use this blog post as a bit of a catch up, and we’ll tell you about our current location at a later date, deal?

Cool.

So about 4 weeks (and a couple of days) ago we got the ferry across from Wellington (north island) to Picton (you guessed it, the south island). Not much to note really, we ended up sleeping in a public car park for half the night as our ferry was at 2am, and the crossing itself was pretty smooth, as well as quiet, on account of everyone apart from us sleeping for the entire trip. But at least that meant there were no annoying kids?

Anyway, so we got to Picton, and high tailed it out of there ASAP, to our next port of call, Blenheim. The town itself was lovely, although we didn’t really like our first accommodation as it was a bit of a party scene, quite grubby, and the staff were very unhelpful (we couldn’t get into the kitchens in the morning when they were supposed to be open, to get our breakfast and packed lunches for work on one occasion). <— VERY annoying. But we were saved by a colleague at our new work, Lara, who ended up letting us bunk with her for half the price, what an angel.

So the job itself. It basically involved a tomato plantation hiring 15 backpacker staff for a 3 week period in order to completely gut, and re set-up, over an acre of tomato greenhouses. You may think that doesn’t sound too bad, but at the end of the 3 weeks we were there we still weren’t quite finished, and the temperatures in greenhouses got up to around 40 degrees, so sweating was very common, even before starting work. All in all the job was okay, some staff were lovely, and others not so much… But 3 weeks is 3 weeks, and now we’re gone, so no point crying over what could have been done better!

The only other event worth noting was the Marlborough Wine and Food festival, which me and Vicky mayyyyy have accidentally attended and had a few drinks at (I promise i’m still not drinking, much). It was a great day out to be fair, even if you’re not a massive wine drinker. It was 5 NZ dollars for large glass of wine, so nice and cheap, and with the 30 degree sun shine and live bands, it was very easy to relax and just enjoy the day. I highly recommend going if you’re ever in New Zealand… and in Blenheim…. The one time a year its on…. and have time spare…. and money for that matter….. Oh Never mind. You probably won’t go.

SO thats a quick summary of our time up “north”, tune in next time for our fleeting visit to Kaikoura and our current situation.

Try not to get too excited!

Sayonara!

She Says:

Ryan has pretty much summed up the last few weeks, but here are the bits that stood out for me.

Wellington is very Hilly, within 300m you can climb a steep hill and go down the other side, so ensure you are prepared for this. Plus the one freedom camp is very busy and very full. So finding accommodation was tricky. We did stay in a public car park but it was not ideal as there was lots of street lighting and I was afraid a police officer would soon knock on our door and tell us off, even though we did not do anything wrong.

Anyway, the ferry. The ferry across at night was cheaper but next time when we catch it, I would like to do it during the day as the views are supposed to be amazing. Nothing could be seen at 2am. Also there are two different Ferry lines, so it would be interesting to travel on the other ferry line next time. Not very much to say about the ferry trip except it lasted just over two hours and the crossing was calm.

Work…… The tomato pull-out was interesting. Everyday started early (6:30am) and later 7am as there wasn’t enough light to see what we were doing but that meant we finished early i.e. 3:30pm. It was interesting because most days we did something different, but I also found it very trying. The people overseeing the backpackers were not very good at instructing others, and then, as a result accused us of not listening when we did not do it the way they wanted. Also, I am not used to people telling me I can’t do something because I am female , therefore weaker. It was a fight to push against those stereotypes. However, despite that I enjoyed most days working there as the other backpackers and staff were lovely. We even managed to meet up a few times.

Blenheim as a whole does not seem to have much site-seeing, so Ryan and I didn’t travel very much during this time. I would recommend that if you are looking for long term ( longer than a week) accommodation, do not choose Blenheim Backpackers because the facilities are not great. The pool is nice, but small and needs cleaning more often, as does the whole place actually, but that is probably because backpackers are cleaning it so, the person cleaning is constantly changing. Plus, the signs all contradict each other e.g. pool closes at 7pm, pool closes at 8pm, friends must leave at 8pm, friends must leave at 9pm. Which made it a confusing time for us. Anyway, enough complaining.

We are now at a Pig Breeding Farm, which I am loving, but will tell you more next time I write. Hope you’re all still enjoying the blog!

Speak soon!