French Fries, Green Peas and Many More...

During winter in Ashburton, I worked in a frozen food factory. The gigantic factory as if an empire, built on a large piece of land and it operated 24/7 by workers on shifts. I worked on morning shift started 6am until 6pm, total 12 hours of work in a day for 6 days a week.

Among all types of frozen foods included green peas, corns, mixed beans and ice creams, I primarily worked for the category of French fries. I was required to pack, grade or clean the waste potatoes and French fries. Unsurprisingly, I used to see ample of potatoes and French fries almost every day. Sometimes, I was too boring looking at them.

The quality of the potatoes were neccesary to be controlled at initial stage

Frozen French fries in process were sent by the belt

The gadget distributed all the frozen French fries into same amount before packaging

Frozen French fries being graded on the belt

Frozen green peas being graded on the belt

 

Apple Packing

I guess apple packing is easier and much better than apple picking; at least it doesn't require to work outdoor and carry a big basket over shoulder. May and I worked in a pretty good pack house in Nelson. My job was quite easy and I had no complaint about it. Nonetheless, speed and cooperation among the team members were important in order to ensure the work run smoothly and overall performance is above the par.

[2 Pack] Galaxy S8 Screen Protector, Auideas [9H Hardness][Anti-Scratch][Anti-Bubble][3D Curved] [High Definition] [Ultra Clear] Tempered Glass Screen Protector for Samsung Galaxy S8

Interior of the pack house

This was my working area and I used to distribute the trays on the device belts

Apples were distributing into different categories

Apples were dropping on the trays and ready for packing

Apples were packed into boxes at the end

We ate uncountable apples during the period we worked there and we actually tasted various types and sizes of apples. Some of us who liked cooking always used them in different recipes as appetizers, desserts, drinks...even so; we didn't get tedious to eat them every day as they are so fresh and sweet. As the saying goes ' An apple a day keeps the doctor away'. In fact, I had more than one apple a day and I had never felt sick during the period of working there :D

Well, these were some examples of extraordinary apples which always not to be packed.

Twins apple??

Mini apple vs ordinary apple :P

A baby apple attached on an apple :D

All in all, it's a great experience to earn both money and health while working there ;)

First Working Destination in New Zealand (Part II)

Before long, May and I got a chance to experience another job. Thanks to my new Brazilian roommate who was just moved in. He recomended me to work in a pumpkin pack house under his employer. His employer arranged everything well for me and my friend. Again, we were so happy and said goodbye to the vineyard job. We worked in an informal pumpkin pack house which offered good remuneration, nice panorama and kind people. We even had a private driver to pick us up to work, hihi...:P

In the morning, workers gathered in the field before the work started.

The surroundings of the packhouse...

In the pumpkin packhouse...

Since we have experienced outdoor work, we appreciated so much to work under a shelter; at least not burned by the hot sun and get wet by the rain. I encountered both conditions, they were 'good' experiences!

I saw people picking pumpkins in the field by chance. Looks fun but I know it isn't easy!

It's not a bad idea to socialize and make some friends while in a foreign country. You'll have more chances in finding work, accomodation, information...whatever. Having a working holiday life abroad sometimes can be pretty hard to predict what's going to occur as changes could simply happen due to some facts.

I didn't stay long in the hostel. My second accomodation was in a motel, still located in the town area. Since I made some friends who are always kind to recommend some jobs to me, I didn't rely on the job offered by the hostel except the first job. So, my friend and I moved to a room in a motel which was cheaper that only costed us $150 in total, compared to over hundred dollars for each person in the hostel. However, that was a special circumstance because this is the only room that the motel owner make such an offer and I have my friend to share the cost. Most importantly, I know the couple who was going to leave the room, so it's our luck! :P

The front facade of the rooms

Eluktronics N870HP6 Pro Premium VR Ready Gaming Laptop - Intel i7-7700HQ Quad Core Windows 10 Home 6GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 17.3” Full HD IPS Display 512GB Performance SSD + 16GB DDR4 RAM

Our room is at corner but it's not a bad deal.
Paying $75/person weekly for a commodation with double bed,
private shower room & toilet, cupboard, TV, fridge & some accessories. 

At weekend, occasionally we worked for another contractor. We worked in vineyard again but this time we tried different tasks and they were easier for us to handle. We asked for the work only when we wanted. Usually, we were paid by hour basis for the jobs.

Ginkgo plants

During my stay in Hastings, sometimes I worked in different places for part time due to the instability of most of the agricultural works. Well, this is another task i did. Picking ginkgo leaves, just for 1 day. It's not a hard work but a bit boring.

Ahh! This is blueberry picking. The job challenged my patience. Those bluberries are small and I had to fill them full in an ice-cream container merely to get a $2. The blueberries were undeniable lovely, but 1 day work was enough for me to experience.

It's common that when people think of working in New Zealand, they think of the job of picking apples. I didn't work but a friend of mine worked in an apple orchard. He drove us there to take some photos on the day before our leaving. In fact, it's the first time I saw so many red apples hanging on the trees, so amazing!

Please don't think that apple picking is easy, I saw my friend using the ladder to climb up and pick the apples from tree to tree. To earn a $30-40 wage, one big container should be filled full with the apples.

First Working Destination in New Zealand (Part I)

Once May and I reached, we called the hostel owner to pick us up. We stayed in a working hostel - Hastings Backpacker Hostel. We used to pay weekly rent as it's always cheaper especially with BBH card. It's worth to buy one if you're going to spend most time staying in hostels while working holiday in New Zealand. It's also very handy to book the hostels through the BBH website if you have the member card number. Thus, remember to get one as soon as possible while you arrived in New Zealand. The card costs $45, includes $20 pre-paid local and international phone call value. The BBH card is usually available through the participated hostels or you may also order it online. However, another $5 will be charged as handling fee for online orders.

I stayed in a mixed dorm with my friend and 4 other backpackers from different countries, languages and cultures. Basically, I like everyone of them. I was lucky because I got one and the only single bed in the room :D

We first thought that perhaps we would get a job within first 2 weeks if we were lucky. Surprisingly, we were offered a job on the day we arrived and we were asked to start work on the next day. Yahoo! We were so cheerful as we could get a job so soon. Our first job was......working in vineyard. Excited? Feel cool to work in a vineyard? Well, yes...only before we involved in the actual work :S

There are different stages of work needed to apply in vineyard, but I would say that the initial stage of work we involved is the hardest and toughest especially this is our first outdoor work. We had to bend our back all day long to do the task, by extremely long row and row of grape plants. We left the vineyard exhausted and both of us complained of having backache on the first working day. It's not fun but we tried to work for a week anyhow to prove that we are serious being a working holidaymaker : 0