Getting there

Getting up early to get a bus from Christchurch to Blenheim, where I was to be staying for the next few months, I was taken aback by the scenery on the coastal road. I had visited NZ ten years earlier and was amazed at myself for not having remembered this beauty. I guess I was young and had other things to worry about, like getting drunk and going snowboarding etc etc..

I had arranged for accommodation through the winery at a place called the "Harvest House", and was rather anxious about what it was going be like. I knew that they had offered the same accommodation to the other people working vintage, but was it a hostel, with dormitories, and communal areas and the like? What were the people going to be like? How old were they going to be and etc etc?

I was running situations through my head and putting myself in uncomfortable environments: Sitting in a circle with everyone introducing themselves awkwardly, saying what their interests were and stuff like that...

I turned up at the house via a lift from a kind person from the winery, who was tasked with picking people up on a sunday and taking them to their accommodation. Within 5 minutes, I had met 10 or so people, from the US, Italy and France. After dumping my bags and surfboard in the room (a room big enough for one person comfortably, with five beds - kids bunk beds - my worst fear realised!), I headed out on a bike ride with the people that i'd just met to go tasting at some wineries around the area. We visited 5 or so vineyards, where we tasted lots of wines, mainly sauvignon blanc, as it is the most highly produced in this region.

Getting to know the individuals that I would be working alongside was easy and everyone was so friendly and eager to make a good impression. For a few weeks we all ate, lived and slept in the very close quarters, while working what I thought were really nice shifts throughout the days...