Working weddings, fun, tiring and full of surprises

We have had a few interesting weddings up at Goldie.  Usually for the weddings I serve appetizers, clear dishes and drinks.  The normal wait staff stuff.  It’s pretty easy and fun work.  But I don’t work every weekend, it depends on how big the wedding is.  We do have weddings every weekend of the summer and a few in spring and fall.  I think it is one of Goldie’s main sources of income.  And who wouldn’t want to have their wedding on a beautiful vineyard, overlooking the bay, with their wonderful selection of wine.  I know I would love it.  Especially since I started working the weddings, and Leslie’s food is just scrumptious as well.

We happened to have a wedding on the same weekend as the first harvest, meaning during a cyclone.  This was much unfortunate for everyone involved because we had to move everything inside.  What a pain in the butt.  It took a lot of muscle and rearranging to make everything look beautiful and be rain proof.  In the end it was hardly necessary.  The cyclone kinda pooped out and all it did was a smattering of rain.  :/  This wedding was the most expensive wedding I had ever seen and it was being ruined by a not so fierce cyclone.  They had two bands, one for dancing and one with violins for ceremony and pre dinner.  The bride had also hired a makeup artist, wedding planner and florists.  It was just over the top.  Several unplanned things happened besides the cyclone.  One was one of the aunts got super sick on the ferry over and stayed sick throughout the ceremony.  We had to call an ambulance.  Then, much later in the evening, half of the guests had to leave early for last ferry (9:30).  The last ferry was supposed to be at midnight, but because of the storm they cancelled it early.  You don’t want to be on a ferry when the swells were as large as they predicted.  And the last thing that happened was the fire alarm went off around 11pm.  I didn’t mind this last one, it meant we got to go home earlier than 2am.  The guests and the couple seemed to take everything in stride, and no one was too upset.  I think it turned out pretty successful despite all the surprises.

My favorite wedding I worked at was a gay wedding.  This was not only unusual because it was Goldie’s first gay wedding, but also because it was during the day and it was local Moari and an American getting married.  They were a lovely older couple and their wedding was fabulous.  The flowers were simple, but the ceremony was rich.  The Moari side of the family had traditional dances and songs that it did before and during the ceremony.  I loved seeing the people.  They were all so happy and much more polite than many of the other weddings I had served at.  When everyone was done eating dinner drag queens came on buses and whisked them all away for a surprise after party.  The drag queens harried everyone a little bit.  They went through the kitchens and surprised the cooks and then started their little show in the main hall.  A couple of our staff were at their house and had set up the party with more wine and bubbles and appetizers.  They were to stay until 11, when everyone got kicked out and the groom and groom could enjoy the rest of their night.
 

The Vintage Festival wasn’t really wedding related, but still similar work and pretty intense. Set up for this festival was a bit crazy.  The boss pretty much only wanted boys to help with the set up.  This is frustrating to me.  I get that it takes lots of muscle to move all the tables, the chairs, and lug things all over the place but, I have proven myself as being able to do these things.  Some of the guys also seemed to be a little disgruntled to be hired as waiter and then just end up doing heavy lifting instead.  On the bright side we do not have a short supply of strong men.  Our vineyard crew this year is pretty well developed.  ;)  
 

For the festival we had stage on top of the hill for the ceremony and band that was going to play on the opening night.  There were flags everywhere, sponsor signs and candles.  The festival opening ceremony had music, opera, dancing, grape crushing.  Of course the staff and volunteers working the festival didn’t get to see anything.  We were preparing the bubbles and helping set up the mingle areas.  I really wanted to see the grape crushing, that would have been really cool.  All of the wineries on the Island donated 2-5 bottles of each kind of wine they produced.  All this sparkly stuff was for the sponsors that were funding the event.  They were to be pampered up the wazoo.

So I had several responsibilities during this event.  The main one was making sure that the Bubbles at bottom of the hill were ready for when the opening ceremony was finished.  This was only half successful.  I filled the glasses all half way so I could top off the champagne right before the ceremony ended to make sure it was cold.  But the ceremony ended early, so I ended up giving away half filled flutes.  *shrugs* Something is better than nothing. 

The other task I had was to run food all night.  We served fried risotto balls, blue cheese caramelized onion angus sliders, cucumber salmon dill crème fresh and feta and caramelized onion tarts.  On top of the apitizers there were also cheese platters, antipasto platters (olives, pickles, roasted vegetables, sun dried tomatoes, artichokes, salami, roast beef) bread, crackers and cheese sticks set out.  These guys had skipped dinner, so they ate a lot.  Some were nice, like the bus drivers of the wine tours, and the other vineyard managers.  But you always have some that are rude to the wait staff.

 After everyone left the staff got to hang out together with left over wine and food.  We all needed a break after the craziness of the night.   It was nice to see people let their hair down.  Because of the crazy schedules everyone keeps I feel like we barely get to hangout.  The next day half the staff had to be at work around 7:30AM, and we were a tired and hung over bunch.  Nicky had a brilliant idea to take pictures that day.  To say the least, the photos only kinda turned out.

Working in the vineyard. Probably everything you didn’t care to know and missing the things you really did want to know

The day after I arrived was all about getting my work stuff sorted.  So I went to work in the morning with Ashlie.  I talked to Nikki to figure out my schedule and the paperwork I needed to have to work legally.  I had the appropriate visa, working holiday visa, but I also needed a New Zealand Bank account and an IRD number.  The bank account was pretty simple.  The bank sent me a letter to my house, to finish setting up the account.  So I would have that within the week.  The IRD was a bit more complicated.  I had to go to the post office and apply for it.  For some reason I thought I automatically got one when I applied for the Working Holiday Visa.  But no, I would get my IRD number in two weeks.  I started work on Friday, so I would just have to be on back pay for a while.

Thrusday (2 days in) was my birthday.  At 6:30AM Ashlie screamed HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  That lady is crazy.  She wanted to be the first person to wish me a happy birthday. Ashlie even made me a rum cake for my birthday, which we took to work to share.  Isn't she a sweetie?  After that it was a pretty relaxed day.  All I did was finish some of my paperwork.  To do this I had to barrow Ashlie’s bike.  I did a little bit of shopping and then headed back to the house to make bread and prepare dinner.  I made a honey wheat bread, steak and creamy risotto.  We had a few beers at Onitangi beach before dinner and then headed home for wine and steak.

Friday was my first day of work at the vineyard, and I had to get up early.  Work started at 7:30 but I had to leave the house at 6am.  There is a bus system in place on Waiheke, but it does not run regularly, more like once an hour.  My own transportation was much needed.  That day was quite easy, even with the early start.  We met Nikki before work and she told Cory (her full time employee)what to do and then we headed off to do it.  Sometimes she joined us, but there is so much to do on the vineyard that often time she’d be off doing other things, leaving us to do the easy stuff.  

That day we did leaf plucking.  For this you remove the lower leaves on the vines to help expose the grapes to the sun, and breezes.  This has to be done in such a way that the grapes are also still protected though, because otherwise you end up with sun burnt grapes or grapes exposed to the elements.  This is easy work, but also bad for your back if you are on the wrong side of the vine.  I wasn’t very quick at first, but it was easy to figure out.  

 

The rest of the day consisted of chasing birds and killing birds.  The birds are the main pests on the vines.  They get into the nets through tiny holes either near the canopy or the ground.  The holes are usually created by us; when the nets are put over the vines it’s easy to tear them when putting them in place. The nets are put over the vines in the first place to protect the vines from the birds.  They eat all the grapes or peck at them and spread disease.  Birds are pretty smart, if you just chase them out of the nets they come back.  They remember where the holes are and where all the juicy grapes are.  In order to ensure the crop stays good throughout the season you should really kill them.  

Bird scaring is ridiculous, no matter how gruesome the ending is.  To scare the birds we are encouraged to make as much noise as possible.  Some people sing, others just talk loudly to each other, but most just make weird noises.  I felt like I was just making a fool of myself, but in the end I relaxed and embraced the silliness of it.  I always wonder what the neighbors think when we are bird scaring; making noises like dogs, birds, fire engines and singing horribly off key.  Sometimes Nicky would come up with new things to help us bird scare.  I think her favorite, if only because the boys had to do it, was the plastic ribbon on a stick.  It made me feel like a cheerleader, shaking the shiny ribbon under bushes trying to scare the living daylights out of the birds.  Nikki also found a blow horn we could use as well, if we didn’t want our ears later.  Next season I wouldn’t be surprised if she buys New Years noise makers.

The cats I met in the vineyard were super fun.  We chatted while we worked all day.  I found the work relaxing, much different than teaching.  There isn’t much to think about, you just do your job and do it quickly.   At the end of the day Nicky told me there might not be much work in the vines until harvest, so I knew right then that I would need to find another job.  I asked the hospitality (wine tastings, weddings, conferences…) side of the vineyard if they had any work and Leslie (the boss) said yes.  I started at five that same day.  I succeeded on getting myself a week-day job and a weekend job! Whoo Hoo!  

I found out later that it wasn’t every weekend, only occasionally.  This ended up being good, because the vineyard became my full time gig.  During the week we did things like sewing up the holes in the nets, taking brooms and pushing the nets up to make them easier to come off later, more leaf plucking and bird scaring.  The days were long and hot, but defiantly worth it.  I would always come home covered in dirt, but I was learning so much about the vines and how to take care of them.  

Nicky is just a sweetie.  She’s super energetic and seems very passionate about her job.  She likes things getting done quickly and correctly.  This is much like me.  I respect her so much.  She works so hard in a man dominated field and does a great job.  She likes my work ethic and is also super flexible.  So if I needed to work the weekends for weddings or the cafe she would give me the Friday or Monday off so I get one or two days off a week.  Nicky seemed to like me enough to consider keeping me on for the pruning season that winter.  I like that idea as well.

Harvest happened a few weeks after I arrived.  This is the most stressful and busiest time of the year for any vineyard.  It’s good I got to Waiheke before the harvesting season because after it started lots of WHV people came around looking for jobs, but there were none left.  Everyone already had their crew, or had a contractor hired for harvest days.   Our main crew worked with college students from Auckland University.  Our vineyard is associated with the University.  It was donated to them by the Goldwater (owners) 2011.  The university created a wine science program and is the only program in New Zealand that has a vineyard used just for the students.  Part of the program is that the students have to put in mandatory hours in picking, and we needed pickers.  A big storm was coming in that weekend, so we needed to get all the white grapes in or we would lose them completely.  

 I tell you what, picking is just back breaking work.  You bend over all day clipping grapes that are at just the right height you have to bend your back just a little.  You have to make sure you know which grapes are nice and which are crap.  And I loved it, for the first few hours.  After lunch everyone gets a little bit cranky and achy.  Nicky went over all the different diseases before we picked to make sure we knew exactly what we were looking for.  I learned so much just from picking the grapes.  Unfortunately we had quite a bit of disease we had to look out for.  Powdery (link) was the main culprit in all the grapes this year.  In the beginning everyone was slow (except the seasoned workers), but you can’t be a perfectionist while picking or you will never finish.  And we sure as hell didn’t want to be picking until six or later.  Some of the college students were keen on making the perfect batch of wine, so it took them forever to pick a bin of grapes.  We only worked with them really the first week of harvest and then they sporadically helped out after that.  I’m sure they had more pressing subjects in their courses.  I just can’t see picking grapes as a super important class.  Over the whole harvest season we only stayed over our regular time, I think, once.  That’s pretty good for only having a crew of seven people.  We just must be super pickers!   

Indonesia disasters and my arrival to the beautiful Waiheke

So the trip to Indonesia was pretty inconsequential.  I went there to visit friends on a whim.  We had good food, shopping (in Asia its always cheap), movies and then I got sick, ruining all plans of hiking.  So I spent 2 of my five days back in Indonesia in bed.  After I got better a couple of us were supposed to go hiking.  I wanted to see the crater lake (kawah putih) and a dormant (Gunung Tangkuban perahu).  They were supposed to be fabulous.  That plan got dashed, not because I was sick, but because Mt. Kelud, a volcano, erupted and covered the city in ash.  And if it’s snowing ash in the city you know it will be worse up on those hiking trails. 

  

They even said that no one in the city was the move around unless it was absolutely necessary.  We of coarse didn’t listen to that.  I had limited time to enjoy bandung so we headed over  to the mall and goofed off.  The day after the eruption I was worried about my flight.  My line of thinking was so many flights had been cancelled the day before so maybe the airlines were playing catch up or there was still a lot of ash in the air.  I should have been fine, but AirAsia sucks.  They are cheap and fly just about everywhere in Asia, but they suck.  My plane was delayed 8 hours, making me miss my connecting flight with a different airline.  None of the other airlines were experiencing delays from the volcano, but I think organization with these guys is just non-existent.  

So I got into Bali at 1 AM and was told that the desk didn’t open until 6 AM.  I had quite a few hours to kill before I could sort out my flight.  Luckily there was free internet and an outlet to charge my phone in the bathroom hallway.  I just cruised online and then chatted with people back home (the time difference was in my favor). 

 This is how I found out my Oma had passed away; in an airport, after a missed flight, sleep deprived and not sure how I am getting to my next destination.  It was a shock.  The last time I had talked to people back home about her health she was doing ok.  I knew she was pretty sick, but I didn’t know she was declining so fast.  I guess in my week of no/limited contact a lot had happened.  She passed in hospice over night, peacefully.  May she rest in peace.

I debated just changing my flight to home instead.  I mean I had already missed the flight I was supposed to take, why not just redirect it in the other direction?  But mom and dad told me to stay put.  I was good where I was, traveling.  I’m not sure if I flew home if I would have ever made it back to New Zealand.

I did eventually get my flight figured out.  The guys at the transfer desk were surprised that the volcano had caused my flight to be delayed, but accepted it and rerouted my flight for free.  So I was heading in the right direction later that night.  I contacted Ashlie and let her know I would be getting in a day later as well.  This worked out in her favor because she went fishing and caught a big one.  She was so sunburnt when I saw her next.

Flying into Auckland felt very similar to flying into Melbourne.  The bus from the airport to the city was easy access and the airport itself was well laid out and friendly.  The city bus dropped me right at the ferry terminal, so I didn’t have to go searching all over the place, with my bags, to find my end goal.  The ferry wasn’t leaving for another hour so I hung out and got some food before getting on the boat.  The ride over was fast, about 50 minutes, and beautiful.  I spent the whole time outside, just enjoying the view.  All the islands I saw on the way over I would love to explore, but I’m pretty sure I’ll need a boat for that.  That should be my next goal, a boat!

When I got to Waiheke the buses were waiting for us at the Ferry terminal.  The buses and the ferry are owned by the same company, so they make sure the schedule sink up.  I took the bus to Ashlie’s work, Goldie.  It only took about 20 minutes, and the bus driver was super nice.  Ashlie was still working for a little bit, so we just chilled out in cellar door.  It was a bit surreal walking down the driveway to Goldie.  I was in New Zealand, surrounded on either side by beautiful grape vines and could see a glimpse of a stunning view of the bay and our winery.  This is where I am going to be working and living.  Crazy.  I also got to meet Nicky, the vineyard boss and soon to be my new boss.  After all the work stuff was wrapped up we headed back to Ashlie’s place on her scooter.  I think it was a bit hard to balance me, plus a bag on the small scooter, but she seemed to figure it out.

My first night on Waiheke

The house was so cute!  A little wooden house with one bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom.  It also had a little yard surrounded by fruit trees and a porch.  Ashlie and I just acted like a couple of teenagers that first night and actually for several nights after.  We chatting all night long, about everything, and had a few glasses of wine along the way.  Cheers to a new fun adventure!