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ahhh...a day off...great after working 7 days of 12+ hour shifts. my feet thank me for not putting on those kiwi work boots and my hands thank me for not having to wrap themselves around 2” hoses. and yes, graham, a 2” hose is no longer my nemesis. i’ve upgraded to the 3” hose, especially when full of juice and with a big honkin’ ball valve that weighs about 10kg on one end. so we started receiving contract grapes from delegates wine estate, which has been great for me to hone my cellar skills before we get going on the big guns or craggy fruit. i must remember in the future to be very wary of a winery that has a contract crush because that delegates fruit has been the source of many frustrations. and just when we thought they were done, they come back to inform us that they “found” about 200 tons of fruit...yep, you heard me right. well at least i get some giggles in whenever those kiwis walk or ride by with their short shorts on!

i’ve also moved into the girls vintage house as we like to call it. it’s a quirky house but with a sweet garden filled with chard, rocket, mint, basil, scallions, lemons, and feijoas (the best fruit in the world according to most kiwis). i’m living with the aforementioned french girl, Marine, and with 2 californians (Katy and Brittany) that graduated from cal poly. it’s been awesome working with those 2 because i’m definitely learning a lot from them.

there’s really not much else to add because all i’ve been doing is working, working, and more working. i believe it’ll get much more exciting in terms of learning and actually seeing awesome fruit now that we’ll be starting to harvest craggy grapes. oh yeah, a note about the top photo. we got a storm front that came in and dropped buckets of rain on us. but before that happened, i was on the outside catwalk taking a dip (volume measurement) of the 80,000L tank when i looked up and saw this sweet view, complete with a hot air balloon in the distance. even though i was wicked tired, it brought a grin to my face because let’s face it, i’m working vintage in new zealand!