It has been two months since I have left New Zealand and I still miss it all the time. Even as I travel through Europe now, I miss it. I had the awesome experience of working as a caretaker for Man O' War Vineyards during their biggest harvest season yet of 376 Tons. My day consisted of waking up around 7:30 to be at work by 8. When I say "to be at work" I mean I walked a few steps and I was there. My boss/sidekick was Marlene, an amazing, crazy Australian, and we worked very well together. Both anticipating what the other would need. We would prepare morning tea and then take the food out in the vineyard to the hard workers. We would set up on the back of one of the trucks and wait for them to come in droves to eat. This was one of my favorite parts of the day; the waiting. After we would set up it would sometimes take 20 minutes for anyone to come around. This is where Marlene and I would eat in silence and just gaze upon the beauty surrounding us with a hot cup of tea. We got to do this all again for lunch a few hours later. Twice during the day we would prepare food take it out, bring everything back and clean and then restart again. The work could get monotonous at some points but I could just look out the window and bring myself back into perspective.
Our day would break for about 4 hours and we would have the day to fill with how we chose. I would usually go to the beach and take advantage of having a private beach at my disposal. When fall started to set in I would explore "my spot" that I mentioned previously. I would work out on top of the hill with the most breathtaking views. As if working out wasn't already taking a lot of my breath :). I would end my workout session with some meditation. I find that meditation is so much more enjoyable for me when I am in nature. I would rest for about and hour and then I would go back to work to help prepare dinner.
One of the private beaches
Vineyards at lunch time
Yeah, I ate a lot of grapes
Morning Tea view
The winery crew
"My Spot" with a hammock and a book
This is how my week ran from Monday-Saturday most weeks and Sunday was my day of wine relaxation. I would make it a priority to go to at least one winery a week. At the end I was cramming 3 wineries into a Sunday Funday! I visited 20 out of 22 wineries on the island and I made some assumptions for myself. Check out my "Best of Waiheke Island's Wine" post to see more.
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