home for the holidays....maybe longer, grrr

well i just got home. after a fun time in washington, again. ha
well i'm still working on getting a job, had a really great interview a couple weeks ago with a brewery near seattle but ended up not working out, was really exciting though going through the process. ready for the next one!
i officially moved out of my place in lafayette this afternoon... kind of glad to leave, really bad cats there... pooping all over the place and not to mention i was allergic, about the worst place i could have chose but i was desperate.
have been spending the greater part of the last month staying with megan and dan, just across the sound from seattle. beginning of the month we went snowboarding at mt baker and had a blast until they kicked everyone off the mountain because of a blizzard. well it was a great time until i ended up almost killing myself, seriously just before i got to the parking lot to leave. so there were really big gusts of wind that were blowing all the powder up and it blinded you until they died down...couldn't even see 10 feet in front of you. well i was going around a corner and bam! lights out... i followed the guy in front of me, who i could hardly see, but we both ended up falling off the edge into chest deep snow... i didn't know what to do... we both managed to wiggle out and crawl to safety but it was scary at first, we could have easily been lost from sight. then we had to dig the car out of the parking lot and slide down the mountain to get home. next day it rained like i have never seen, biblical proportions. sure you saw it on the news... i was right in the middle of it. was actually stuck for about a week while the interstate was underwater, the detour was about 4 extra hours. but i was in no hurry. i also made it over to seattle a couple times, had a few fun nights on the town (saw IMAX Beowulf in 3D, OMG it was amazing) and was lucky enough to hang out with julie a couple nights... she's awesome! i'm so glad we worked the harvest together and became so close, become kindred spirits in my mind, and lately shes kind of a my life coach too, she was kind of in the same situation last year... & has a great philosophy on life. helping me get over trying so hard to find happiness... to just enjoy life, pointing out all the wasted energy and negative energy i have... to not miss what i have. its true! there is so much i do kind of take for granted and don't appreciate that i do have. i need to be happy with number 1 first... i could get the perfect job, fall madly in love, get a bunch of really cool stuff... and i'm not going to fill that void... i need to work on me first.
anyways, i'm back home with the parents... not what i wanted to do but i got no choice really. i hope something will come along real quick... kind of out of the mula!
heres some pics of the snow in washington beginning of the month (LINK)
heres a pic of dan, megan and me at mt. baker, last ride up.

photo update!!!!

Choice pics from harvest....didn't take many, not much opportunity to stop and take pics of the fun stuff... the mistakes and mishaps... perhaps others did and i'll share if i can. stuff at work, the halloween party and other random times


Pics from Thanksgiving and my mom's new puppy (dad got a new HDTV, fair trade?)


Pics from Christmas Tree hunting today. pics of the tree, the stump, beautiful mountains and BIGFOOT!!!! (it was moving so fast, all i got was a blurr... maybe he is blurred? wow that makes him extra scary, OMG theres a big, out of focus monster out there!!!)

wa wa what happened!!!

I feel like i just work up from a long dream.
ok so finally an update: Harvest is over, it went very well, loads of experiences both good and bad... honestly the hardest job i've ever had. we worked hard and played hard. work was usually non-stop multitasking, stretching us to the limit most days... lost a few interns because it ended up being a little too much for them. i know i was asked to do things i know weren't possible in the time frame ask and had to just stand there when i was hounded by the all too common, "why are you not done yet?" or asked to do a job i wasn't sure how to do and bugged over and over again to finish but never offered support. it was very stressful, the constant presence of managers but lack of management, know what i mean? but i feel it helped me grow and strengthen me. i'm glad at the end of the day we had a fun place to hang out...the intern house. it was a sanctuary of peace and relaxation, and a place to party and comfy couch to crash on. we usually could find some fun to get into at work and the bonds are always stronger when made under that kind of stress. don't wanna make it sound like i hated it, it was just a tough job and at times it was nearly unbearable: physically, mentally and emotionally... but we made it fun somehow.
now what? i don't know :-( i'm actually freaking out because i figured i would fall into something by now. part of the reason i came up here for this job was to see if this was what i really wanted to do... is this the career path i wanted to take... i was looking for a little inspiration, perhaps a little guidance... and i came to the conclusion, i don't want to be in my bosses position... when i look back at all the winemakers and managers i've worked for, i don't wanna be them. so if i continue on this path i think i'll end up being them, i don't see myself being happy with that. so again, now what? i could us a little advice...when you picture me in 10 years...what do you see me doing? i have kind of taken this week off from worrying about it too much but monday i think i might blanket the brewing industry in portland. i figure with my experience in the winery cellar and my interest in beer it should be a good choice, at least a change in pace that i'm looking for. who knows what will happen... i did see a ad for "hickory farms", i could always sell sausage and cheese at the mall ;-)

Party Party Party!!!!

wow what a fun weekend!!!
well after another long, rough week, (feels like i've been working up here for a couple months) ended with the first fruit of the season!!! yea!!! loads more cleaning and helping with this and that for the first part of the week but on thursday we pressed some chenin blanc from washington for our client basket case wines.

here is a link to some pics i took LINK
so far no definite word on when harvest will officially start but it sounds like this week we'll get a little syrah and then slowly more will trickle in but if it rains that means we might get slammed with it all in a week... which is scary to think of.
so this weekend was the preharvest social, and it was a blast!! i carpooled with a few of the other interns and stopped in macminnville and we played a round of disc golf, always fun. then we checked out some new vineyard land the company just bought, some 500 acres. then we headed to where the party was going to be at, the silver falls convention center. started out with a few beers, hacky sack, then some appetizers and wine (so many bottles) then a delicious dinner. followed by a bonfire and chilling out in cabin C. had a great time getting to know everyone just a little better. its seemed like there was endless bottles of wine. not many pictures but heres a link to a few. LINK

heres andrew, dustin and julie!

everyone was moving real slow this morning but we decided to go along with our original plan of hiking the silver falls trail. water was a little low but most of the falls were going. the hike was a little longer than i was expecting but hey its good for me, just wish i didn't sleep through breakfast but had a delicious reubin in silverton on the way back home.

here's betsy, dustin, his gf nell and nate.
posted a few of my fav pics LINK

First Week @ 12th & Maple Done and I'm excited for more!!!

well i finished my first week, worked a full week and an extra 1/2 day yesterday (saturday), and it was great. so there is still loads of construction, too much it seems, guess they will still be working during harvest. we have been setting tanks into position, installing catwalks, sanitizing tank and a general scrub down of the whole place. so far everyone is great, staff is fun, interns are starting to bond and looks like we are going to have a blast. in fact next weekend theres word that we might head off into the woods somewhere for a little employee retreat aka drunk fest to get to know everyone better. some of the interns don't know the first thing about winemaking so i have been helping out the winemakers with training and teaching them different setups and procedures. friday they left me alone to teach 3 of them how to sanitize a tank. stuff like which where to connect the hoses, pumps and which chemicals needed.
as i expected it sounds like i'll be working on the super premium side, which is the larger side, i think i heard 20 ton lots or more. as apposed to the ultra premium side which is the small batch side.

so i took a few pics:
if you click them below you can zoom in


from here you can see almost all the tanks lots of 4000 and 6000 gallon tanks


our "small" tanks 1000 and 2000 gallon tanks


the open top fermentors, back row are 5 ton and the front can hold 10 tons each. basically each ton of grapes produces about 150 to 180 gallons

the ultra premium fermentation cellar, over 100 (i think) 2 ton open top fermentors. oh i can't wait to punch them down....


the giant tanks out back, 32000 gallons (thats over 160000 bottles of wine per tank, and we have 2) on the left, 19000 gallons on the right.


The presses, 3 huge willmes tank presses, odd 2 door design for more even loading, interesting 2 bladder system inside and they unload into a big (3 foot) auger in the floor under them.


and something i think that is wicked awesome, a crossflow filter... super high tech, its so complicated, its amazing. basically it filters out everything including bacteria and it doesn't require a filter medium like a pad or membrane.

picture update

Cape Meares and Tillamook with Parents and Katie (link) -- cheese factory, pics in and around beach house, sunset, clamming and crabbing, llamas, lighthouse, emma seafood...beaches...ya

Road trip to see Megan and Dan then Claire and Brian (link) -- megan's puppy lily, megan's house, megan's new parrotlets, claire and my handywork (pies and lighting install), Brian and Claire's house, the gorge and mountains.

oops bad blogger!

again i must say sorry for not updating lately. and again i have to say i've just been so busy...
lets see if i can remember.....
first thing that comes to mind is i finally said goodbye to EdenVale winery and hello to a brighter future. My last week was like any other week, days and days of endless mind numbing bottling. 04 syrah... not bad but...whatever. Had a nice lunch out with pat and brady friday afternoon. and surprising i didn't see anne all week, including my last day so i didn't get to say goodbye.
Friday night i cam home, drank a big glass of wine and i was going to start packing up my life to move (still no place found at this point)....but that wine made me sleepy so i decided to take a nap...accidentally sleeping till 9:30ish!!! well i was up till about 1am picking though all my stuff decided what i needed, what i wanted and what i should leave behind. it was a lot harder than i thought. but i managed not to fill my car 100% full.
I got up early the next day and starting a week and a half long preharvest solo road trip. First stop was to meet up with my parents and sister for her birthday at the coast, Cape Meares near tillamook. actually met up with them in tillamook and went to the cheesefactory, but it was the weekend and they don't make cheese on the weekends. we stayed at my sister's boyfriend's aunts beach house with his parents too. had a great dinner, watched the sunset and later at low tide (~10pm) we went clamming well we only got about a hand full of calms but we did fill a bag up with red crabs. it was fun. next day morgan and his parents left us alone and we spend the day out and about. saw some llamas, the cape meares lighthouse, clam burger for lunch, playing at the beach with emma, and a grand feast of seafood for dinner. took our time getting up the next morning, had lunch with the fam and heading our separate ways, they went home and i want up north to find a home. made a couple phone calls, first one seemed perfect(great room and roommates) but it fell though, ended up setting on a place close to work with a couple of girls, and a couple cats (perhaps a mistake, we'll see). that night headed up to portland and spent the night at my friend Raechel's place. split a bottle with her and her boyfriend and caught up a little. Had a lazy morning chatting over coffee before i headed up to Megan's new place near seattle. actually went with her to check out a breeding pair of parrotlets (mini parrots), she hopes to get a baby to hand raise.
Next stop was Spokane to Brian and Claire's new house. I-90 all the way, a little boring in the middle but a nice, diverse terrain drive. went out for a couple of beers and back home to catch up with my buddys... i miss those guys. the next day brain was really busy with school so it was a thomas and claire day. we got some coffees and breakfast bagels, caught up with brian at lunch time and got to check out gonzaga, headed over to home depot picked up a light and later installed it, made a couple of pies (mine was extra fancy with a checkered top), claire and brian went for a run later but we all had dinner then back for beers and movies. next day said my goodbyes and headed back to see megan again before heading back to my new home.
well now i'm sitting in my new room, after a long day at my new job, mostly paperwork, safety videos, tours and training. met everyone, most of the names i can't remember, but everyone has a good attitude and looks like this is going to be fun!!!
so now i'm thinking i need to get out and check out the town, heard that a couple people from work were going to meet up at the pub just near work, maybe i'll do that... i'm starved!
ps pics to come soon.

ouch!!

i won't go into details as i have not spoken to my lawyer yet (just kidding), mostly because i can't type with my finger in a splint, but i had a accident at work do to operator error, that means me! i totally smooshed my finger in the corker at work... i know i know i got to watch were i'm sticking my fingers. gross part was when i finally was released by the devil possessed machine that was trying to eat my hand, my finger was about half as thick a... very cartoon like. and now its about twice as big, go figure. anyways i was able to snag the x-rays, check them out!! (link)

ok ok... slow down already!!

well life seems to be progressing really fast lately... the past 2 weeks flew by!!!! had a couple of super fun and memorable weekends!!!
last weekend, was jonny & Jessie's wedding!!! it was so good to see those guys and meet some new people up there, had a great time at the reception and camping, it was intense...get it, in tents, camping...geez you never laugh at my jokes! here are few shots i took while there (link)

this week i only worked till wednesday and took off thursday and friday to hang out with megan and dan who came down from seattle for a few days. its always so much fun with those 2. one afternoon we drove up to wildlife safari with her niece ana to check out the animals, it was so much fun and i took about a bazillion photos. (link)

this weekend i caught up with my parents at the Jedediah Smith Redwoods state park. it was a reunion of sorts for their neighbors... we had dinner saturday night and there was about 40 people. friday night we all went on a tradition of theirs, a no flashlight hike into stout grove... talk about spooky, you couldnt see your hand in front of your face. but ended up being a lot of fun, maybe made it half way before we gave up and used flashlights. saturday night, after a crazy game of beer pong by flashlight where erin wittler and i kicked the champ's butts, all the younger folks had a bonfire on the beach, it was a drunken good time, we had the intention to sleep on the beach but me and erin wimped out and returned to our campsites. even had an encounter with some hardcore campground thugs... quite the joke after they left. in the morning we packed up camp and headed out for a hike. these trees always amaze me, seem to keep tripping when i'm looking up and not watching where i'm walking!! took a few really great pick. here is link to the pictures i took over the weekend. (link)
on the drive home i stopped at my favorite wayside, a little grove of darlingtonia. took some amazing macro shots. i love my camera!! heres my shots (link)

....lika a polar bear's toe nail?

so 2 items of news today...
first, and most importantly, I QUIT MY JOB!!!!
well it was time and i'm going to a better place, i'm very excited. check a few post back, i'm going to work up near portland for an old colleague from cali.

Second this weekend i'm going to jonny's wedding. jonny was the assistant winemaker when i worked in New Zealand, he met a girl working a harvest a couple years ago back here in oregon and this weekend they are getting married near portland and i'm going!!! i'm really excited to see him and jesse (his to be wife). they are so fun! should be a good time!!

Back to the 50's Car Show

just got back from the car show down at riverside park here in GP, had a great father/son afternoon. loads of amazing cars! too hot though to spend much time admiring. still boiling hot in the afternoons near 100!!!
heres a link to some shots of my favorite cars there (LINK)

Cool Map feature on Flickr

so i have been playing around with flickr... you can link pictures to a map so you can see where they were taken...although a little time consuming i think its pretty cool...
check out the panoramics i took in New Zealand (LINK), each dot tell you how many pics at that site and if you click you can see a small preview, click in the bottom corner to open that photo page and from there click all sizes in the top left of pic and from there you can see the original... kind of long but worth it... my fav is this 360 degree shot from a top mt. iron over looking lake wanaka on the south island. (LINK) your browser might try to fit it to screen so you might need to zoom to get the full pic

oops forgot something

before heading up to portland i spent the night at my sisters in corvallis. went down to fox and firkin for a pint, one of my favorite pubs back in college. they were filming "extreme makeover home edition" in town but by the time i got to town in to was too dark. but was able to check it out in the morning. no ty sightings....katie went back later for the reveal, "MOVE THAT BUS!!" and saw ty.
a couple pics of the house (LINK)

Portland Here i come!!! (wink wink)

the weekend after the wedding i took a quick weekend trip up to portland to "talk" to a old friend from sonoma that now works at a winery in dundee. its not really a winery, its a wine company, basically clients source the grapes and arrange everything and the facility makes the wine, also called custom crush, producing about 40,000 cases a year about 8 times that of Edenvale Winery where i'm currently working and about equal to that of Valley of the Moon Winery were i was working in Sonoma California. it was exciting to be in a large winery again, and this place was high tech too, latest gadgets and tools, crossflow filtration, micro-ox, open-tops with lids ;), pulsair, and they are expanding, looked like they might be doubling in size. the coolest part was the fermentation cellar with a couple hundred open-top, jacketed, stainless steel small batch fermenters all in perfect rows, can't imagine how much that cost...each has to be at least a few thousand?
After my "visit", got a bottle of Erath '06 Pinot Noir that they were bottling when i got there...a fine vino!, went down to McMinnville for a burger at a great brew pub and headed up to portland to see if i could run into some old college roommates. Of course everyone was busy in the afternoon so i headed into town to see what i could find, randomly ended up in the pearl district, one of my favorite parts, and had a pint at the rogue ale house! later met up with matt and his girlfriend, had a burrito for dinner (best in a while) then later headed to this little french patisserie (bakery) for Bastille day, a french revolution day where they blow up the prison in paris long ago. later dan showed up and then ryan and in all of our surpise henry!!! it was great all 5 of the roommates all together!!! first time in about 4 years. had a few drink, listened to some weird bands, there was a raffle and matt won like half of the stuff, i won a wine tasting class but traded it for a bottle of pear champagne but left it there on accident. i miss those guys, i hope sometime soon i can hang out with them. ;)
heres a couple pics (LINK)

Seattle Beerfest 2007!!!!

Had a really good time up in Seattle the weekend before the wedding spending some time with my BFF Megan and her life partner Dan. took a ferry across the way from bremerton to seattle and walked to the space needle (should have took the tram or bus, too far for how hot it was, had to take a drink break, got washington apple shot thing, oh it burned, and i think the place we went into was a gay bar?)
cool fest, at the gate you get a cup and 10 coupons, beers averaged 3 coupons a taste...some more some less. also great live music, vendors, we got some cigars and a full sized beer. a fun day. and oh yea i saw an iphone!!! they just came out the day before.
flickr pics here (LINK)

The Sniffen / Jordan Wedding

First major thing that happened after i arrived home was my cousin Neil got married! it was a very exciting time. Lots of family and lots of new family. and a cool date 07-07-07...easy to remember too!
i posted about a bazillon picture on flickr (LINK)
theres pics of
- the prewedding raft trip, so many orange torpedoes, a visit by a helicopter with water bucket to put out a nearby wild fire, wild life, testing the underwater capability of my camera and of course lots of sun burns (Brian!)
-the prewedding Luau, featuring the beer trailer (3 kegs on tap to feed the masses), leis, speaches by the parents, drinking and a good ol' time!! (also the first pictures taken with my new pentax k100d dSLR camera)
- the wedding!! the reception, family pics, dancing, 1st dance, mother of the groom dance, father of the bride dance, the bouquet toss (actually she gave it to claire since she and brian (neil's brother) are up next, a jordan tradition) , drinking, cigar-ing and lots of fun
- the day after, relaxing in the shade and of course present time!!!! and panning for gold with morgan (katies Boyfriend)

i'm soo sooooo sooooo Sorry for not posting

ok so i have no excuse. so let me post a few to catch you all up on my life... i know all the world is waiting to hear about Thomas!!!

I'M BACK!!!!

well i'm back in good old grants pass!!!!
last time i was in rotorua, had another day exploring the geothermal wonderland. lots of hot springs and steam. more bus travel to lake taupo (again), had to transfer buses to get back to auckland... no more magic bus, had to take a city bus, so no cool stops as highlights, just straight city to city. mostly just watched the office on my ipod. made it to town about 8:30, hostel closed its office at 9...so had to rush...barely made it... a lot tougher walk around town with 20 pounds strapped to your back. caught up with the hostel crew.
saturday took it easy, went and picked up my extra luggage in storage and sorted my stuff in prep for the flight. i brought way too much stuff. worried because i heard theres a 20 kg limit! i have about 35kg. later went out to the rugby game...me and 3 other french people. game was pretty exciting, heard it was one of the worst games, but i spent most of the time figuring out what was going on. really enjoyed the pre-game haka, a maori chant to intimidate the enemy. went out after the game to a couple bars...well mostly one, 2 for 1 drinks made it a really fun night. tried to go to other bars, but my shoes (black chucks) weren't up to code and i got tured away at the door, felt bad for the guys i was with.
sunday slept in from the long night. and was alittle sad, started to sink in it was my last day. spent most of the day at the zoo, it was a great zoo. and best of all saw penguins up close and not behind glass, i could have grabbed one and tucked it in my shirt. cute little blue penguins, smallest species and indigenous to new zealand. that night had a little going away party for me and romain, who is also left the next day. mostly a french party, me and 2 french guys and 2 french girls. lots of vino and crepes (no joke) david made a mountain of crepes, very tasty.
monday, day of departure!!! my flight wasn't till 7, so i just hung out till about 3 before catching the bus to the airport. went for a coffee with jenny, the swedish girl, and then went souvenir shopping, emptied my checking account and still had $80 to spend. forgot to remember to save money for the bus though...grrr! went back to backpacker, wasted a little more time, made some food, said my goodbye and took the bus to the airport. made a few calls with my left over calling card minutes. had a burger and got on my 12 hr flight. watched a couple movies, nothing too good. slept for a couple hours, missed breakfast. arrived in san fran noonish...medford flight not till 4. got my cell phone working, called a couple people to say i'm back in the USA. napped a little at the gate, missed out on the call for volunteers for a free round trip ticket to wait for another flight. should have took it but i really wanted to go home.
well...thats about it, made it back to medford, mom was very happy to see me, went out to dinner with mom and dad, kaleidoscope pizza!!! then back home, ran though my photos real quick, showed the skydive video and they went to bed and i stayed up late trying to orginize my pics...only have 15 or 16 hundred or so.... still working on it. also downloading office and heroes episodes i missed to catch up on...
tonight went to dinner with the parents, its their 31 anniversary....now back to work with the photos. need to narrow them down to a couple hundred, make a dvd slide show and also pick which i want to print out....this might take weeks...and at some point i really want to finish my journal, or maybe blog it...or scrap book... and theres still my europe journal i never got around to finishing.

Rotorua...smells like yellowstone to me

Well i'm spending a couple days in rotorua, its the geothermal center of these parts, lots of pools and geysers and smelling things all over.
the other day i was in waitomo and had a great caving adventure. tired to sign up for a wet trip going blackwater rafting but i was the only one that signed up so they couldn't take the trip but i got upgraded to the Lost World trip. we hiked down to a huge crevice in the ground and basically dropped in...they call it abseiling. its like repelling but just straight down. it was fun and a little scary, mostly because it was 100 meters down...that's the length of a football field! and once down we went on an hour long caving adventure where i was able to lead us around most of the way (only 1 other guy and also the guide) all the way back into the cave we found a little grove of glow worms (which are actually fly larvae, maggots, and what is glowing in their digestive system releasing energy... but glow worms sounds more romantic!! eh?
the next morning i went on another glow worm trip, this one was in a boat down a little cave river, millions of glow worms, its like a sky at night, but with blue stars! i wanna try to see if i can get some eggs or something back home and grow my own, they are so cool!!!! no photos though, they don't allow pics.
then back on the magic bus to rotorua in the afternoon. had a great night at a maori village for a hangi, with concert amd dinner. i met up with giuliana and amanda, my UK girls from the other day that gave me a ride to auckland. it was so amazing, very traditional and all in full costume. started with a greeting (if you wanna call it that) by the villages warriors where they come out to intimidate newcomers, we weren't aloud to react or anything so it was a little weird because its kind of funny the faces and noises they make, lots of grunting, sticking out their tongue and bulging out their eyes. then we had a little concert, lots of singing and dancing, gave me the chills, very powerful. dinner was great, all cooked underground with hot rocks...lamb, fish, pork, root veggies including NZ's kumara (a sweet potato). and other great stuff.
today giuliana, mandy and i all went down to a geothermal wonderland, very cool. really just a really long nature walk with lots of bubbling pools, weird birds and the largest hot spring lake in the world. it was a great after noon, i'm going to miss those girls, random chance we met and made great friends with them...to bad i'm leaving so soon, would have loved to travel with them some more. said they wanna come to oregon someday though.
well i take off tomorrow for a day of bus travel and adventure, not sure the plan but back in auckland for another fun friday night out!!! then saturday night i got tickets to the national rugby game, its a pre-world cup matchup!!! All blacks (NZ's team) vs. France!!!! should be a blow out by the all blacks. bonus is anne-cecile, the french girl i met at the backpacker and i got tickets together so it should be extra fun because we can root for different sides!!
thanks for the emails and caring for all that wrote, i miss and love you all!!!

Momma must have raised me right!!!

So yesterday i made the trip back to auckland from paihia (and the northern tip of New Zealand). I actually didn't even take the bus back that i paid for, i met a couple of girls that are travelling together from the UK, a couple for very cool and sweet ladies, and they gave me a ride in their truck!!!
had a fun time the night before out at the bars, i actually met them because i also won a 2 for 1 sea kayaking trip and didn't have time so i went into the hostels lounge and asked if anyone wanted it and they said they did...got to talking, went out for drinks later, started at a karaoke bar but was run out of there by awful...and i mean awful bohemian rhapsody, 2 guys one was yelling so loud it was just mumbles and the other really high pitch and monotone....piercing!!! so we went next door to "the beach house" 2 guys were playing acoustic guitar, very good too!!! lots of fast dueling, and covers with their own, great, twists. we ended up sitting next to one of the bands mates and we got the full history of the band and his own personal history, locals can be so funny here, he was talking about living in the bush aka forest, getting in bar fights with friends for fun and just what life is/was like in the town back 15-20 years ago before the tourist flooded in. we laughed all night, he even got up and played a little harmonica. anyways on the way back to the backpacker they we were talking about our plans and we both were headed to auckland the next afternoon, so they said i could catch a ride after my skydiving if i made it back in time, which i did....
but best part of the trip was along the way we were going up a big hill and there was a car pulled over with 2 old ladies standing next to it... a flat!!! the girls pulled over, we all hopped out of the truck, no one knew how how to change a tire... they asked if i knew how.... DO I KNOW HOW TO CHANGE A TIRE?!?!!!! as every remiyac or someone who as traveled with a remiyac knows, a flat tire is eminent on any road trip!!!! we're lucky when there isn't one. changing tires in is my blood, had it changed in no time. momma would have been proud!!! no pics, sorry.
well i'm back in auckland, only real reason was to say goodbye to my friend andrea who is leaving this afternoon... but i got a txt yesterday at like 1:30 asking if i was still coming back, i wrote back "yup! on my way", sent a couple more when i got back and another before i went to bed and i still haven't heard from her... i'm kind of mad more than sad, she promised me, i said i had doubts because she flaked last time we tried to meet up, but she said to trust her this is the last chance we can see each other fro a while, that we were like best friends at work, she couldn't leave without saying goodbye... she was one of only a couple people i could reach out to the other night when i heard about my grandma, funny thing is jonny and mike (the kiwi and the scottish guys i worked with) actually called me when i sent them a txt, i really wasn't in a talking mood but at least they called, or i'm being unreasonable or dramatic, i jsut really felt close to her and its a little upsetting right now, i'll be over it.

update!

well i survived the jump!! it was great had so much fun, it was cloudy but the clouds were only at about 6000 feet. so i free fell from 12000 to the clouds, openned the parachute in the clouds... then glided down under the cover and it was great view, clear and could see for miles!!! awesome, can't wait to do it again!!!

wow what a rollercoaster!!

well the past couple days have been crazy...
had a great day in auckland, checked out the sky tower (exactly like the space needle in seattle, but its the highest single tower in the south hemisphere, or something like that) had a great view from 220 meters up!!! got a better perspective of how large the city actually is!!! and it reminded me that i hadn't been to the docks yet to check out the big boats. so after coming down from there i set off to go find them. after a little wondering, i came across some beautiful yachts and chater boats. even saw the BMW/Oracle America's cup racer, so that was cool. wondered around town a little more, i've had a cold for a couple days and really wanted a smoothie but didnt want to spend the cash....but hey theres a $5 bill on the ground!!! so tommy got a feijoa smoothie (feijoa is this great little fruit only found in NZ, its like eating a VERY floral kiwi fruit.) rode the free bus around because i was tired of walking and made my way back to the hostel, we're i made a phone call home and got some bad new....Grandma Remiyac passed away that afternoon :( so sad, and all i could think about was how before i left for this trip i sort of ran out of time and didn't get to stop by her place for a goodbye...sigh... but i know the past couple months have been progressively worse and worse, so its for the best and shes in a better place now. but my parents kept telling me she was so excited to hear about my adventures and always wanted to know if they heard from me and what i was up to now. got a cool email a couple days ago about how my parents had a pastor come and pray with them, makes me feel better to hear that. but i'm keeping my head up and have fun, the next day i took of on "the magic bus", true name of the company, for the bay of islands a couple hours north of auckland, and its so peaceful here... had a nice cruise up though kauri forests which are massive like the redwoods but totally different looking, have a weird bark that senses when bugs are burrowing and sheds that part, so they look like they have fish scales. arrived in the evening just in time for a nice sunset of the mountains. went out that night for a couple brews and the bar i was at was having a raffle all night, and if you had a winning ticket you got to spin the wheel for a prize. well i was at a table with a lot of people and when ever people would leave the bar we would go snag their tickets so we had a pile of them and were winning everything. well i went to the bar to get another beer when they called out 69, which was one of my tickets, the girl i met from washington DC came in with the ticket, said she would spin the wheel but i could have the prize....and i hit the jackpot!!!! 50% off skydiving package!!!! actually just got back from booking it, only bad thing is, i leave tomorrow at 1pm and have to go if i wanna say goodbye to andrea, and theres a storm front coming tonight, but he said it "should" be gone by morning, but he would give me a call.
so today i had a great tour of the far north all the way up to cape reinga, where the Maori believe the spirits go to enter their afterlife... very cool sights and it was a long time, about 6 hours. took a few pictures, weather wasn't perfect but i guess it never is...highlight of the trip was the 90 mile beach (which is only 65 miles, dumb captain cook!!) but we drove ON the beach the whole way!!! and at the end was sand dunes that we used boogie boards to go down!!! so fun
so yup, ups and downs, strikes and gutters, wish i could be home but also dont want to leave this place quiet yet... next week waitoma glow worm caves where i'm planning to either blackwater cave tube or abseil 50 meters straight down into a cave...cant decided, someone said the blackwater was really slow and lame, no rapids. so i might go for the repelling in, that sounds crazy! then on to rotorua for geothermal fun, geysers and hot pools and a haka/hangi dinner... and if i have enough time hobbiton!!!

Yeah cont....

i forgot the best part of the story about selling my car. so heres the full story...
so the guy txt messages me at 7:30 says he saw my ad on trademe.co.nz (new zealands ebay) and was interested, to complicated things i was planning on driving romain 2 hrs north to a job he found in the morning at 10am, so i asked if he wanted to see the car that night or the next morning. he said the next afternoon was better... but i got him to agree to see it that night, he said he need to get a ride and would txt me when he was on his way in about an hour, and in kiwi fashion he got back to me 2 hours later saying he was bout to get on his way... so its getting pretty late, its dark, a little rainy... i would never check out a car this late, but he shows up. i crossed my fingers and said a little prayer, and the car actually started first try!!! and ran smooth!!! he popped the hood (but was so dark i dont know what he was looking for) walked around the car and said he would take it, we negociated $500 for it and he had to run to an ATM and would be right back. he gets back, we fill out some paper work and hand over the keys for the cash... walk him out to the car, and here's the best part, he goes to start up the car and it turns over and over and over and won't start... (this is happens all the time but i didn't want him to know that, i knew the trick) we were on a hill and it was low on gas so i blamed it on that. he kept trying and i could hear the starter was draining the battery, and finally it puddered a little, it really wanted to start and with a plume of smoke and the smell of a flooded engine it started!!!! i was jumping for joy inside!!! and he drove off...perhaps regeting his purchase. but she was a great car and we had a great time together, she'll be missed, my little corona!

yeah!!!

had a pretty rough day yestrday, i have been kind of stuck in auckland trying to sell the car we bought and no one is buying... i didn't want to leave to go travel a little because i knew as soon as i left someone would give me a call, i did everything i wanted to do in auckalnd and there is so much i want to do that is only a day trip away. but at 10pm lastnight i sold the car!!!! a wopping $500!!!! i get to keep $240 of it too, i put in $400, i think it was worth it. there just isn't the market for cars now, end of season, could have sold it for the twice that mid-seasson.
i also booked a trip yesterday to go to the northland, it looks so beautiful, i'm worried this rain is going to ruin it!!! i should get back on sunday, say goodbye to andrea who i haven't seen for like a month! then i'm going on another trip on tueday or wednesday, to go backwater tubing...its tubing though caves!!! and theres little glowing worms that you can see in them. and hopefully i'll have time to go to a hangi, its a moari (the natives here) dinner party were they put on a song and dance. then saturday i got tickets to the national rugby game here in auckland, its france vs. new zealand, should be a blow out by NZ but its funny its france because i got tickets with a girl i met at the hostel that is from france...cute kid. somewhere in there i really want to go to see the hobbiton place...maybe tomorrow. so busy now!!!

Kia ora (hello in maori) from auckland

well we finally made it to auckland...where we go our seperat ways, its a little sad. even though the trip where was rushed and stressful, i guess we did get to see a lot and do a lot together and i'll always remember it. now we just need to see the car by sunday and everything will be great. we are thinking of going down to the airport with a sign, getting travellers just when they get to here with a great deal, something hard to turn down. we'll see
so monday i think i'm going to hop on a bus, destination still unknown. i kind of want to find a nice place to relax for a couple days, somewhere with a good night life but fun things to do during the days.....like christchurch!!! too bad i'd cost way to much to get there and back since my flight if from auckland, i just need to do a couple week tour of the north island. well i don't have much time just wanted to give an update, i know its been a while. not even sure where i was last time i updated...think it was wanaka, so next was arrowtown near queens town, north up the west coast of the south island stopping in franz josef, saw the glacier, murchison, cruized though the Marlborough wine region tasted at a couple places, hopped the ferry in picton for the north island, stayed in wellington for the night, shot up hwy 1 to lake taupo for the night, further north to mt maunganui (great place, wanna go back) and up to the coramondel peninsula last night and auckland today!!! i think that was it... fwwwww that a whilwind...can't wait to travel a little slower. oh and i'm planning on making some posts when i get home to reflect my actual trip...cheating i know, i should post as i go along but its too hard, too expensive and i'm too busy, i'm keeping a paper journal though so i'll basically post that with pics and links and stuff...
anyways gotta go, take care all and miss ya!!! email me if you get a chance!!!!

hola!!! zoom zoom

gotta be quick....internet is $$$$$expensive!!! $1 for 10mintues
we have began traveling now... i recommend you google search where i have been to get an idea of what its like because i dont' have time to fully explain
spend 2 nights ago at lake wanaka!!! amazing went on a great hike to see it from way up!!!
last night in arrowtown, a little town just north of famous queenstown nice slow night, got a great nights rest for the drive today, which was out to the west coast....though the alps!!! amazing views along the way
tonight we are staying near franz josef glacier, tomorrow we are going to try to get as close as possible to the glacier...might be my last chance to see one with the global warming.
anyways i gotta go...miss ya and will update soon with more info
tomorrow we are heading to the north of the south island...only a couple days left on this island and on to the north via ferry, we are on a rush tour, which is very disappointing because there is so much to see and i'm missing it all!!!! i guess i'll have to come back...;)
just hope my little toyota can make it, the roads are very steep sometimes and the curves are sharp!!!! 2nd gear on the inclines and the smell of burning breaks are a common occurance, sigh, wish me luck. we still have 2 weeks of this.

Last night in Christchurch....:(

Well tonight will be the list night we spend in christchurch. today should be a very busy day. need to get everything in order while we still have a home base of sorts. running down to the tax office today to sort out all that kind of things, then to the winery to get a summary of the money we made, then the registration on the car runs out in a couple weeks so i need to figure out where the DMV equivalent here is or where ever i need to go, and laundry....and of course goodbyes. we'll be splitting up today, some of us will be meeting back up in auckland at the end of this month though.
this weekend was a wild and crazy one!!! spending lots of money i really don't have to spend. was out to 4ish on saturday going to clubs having a great time withe some new friends i met. this is a great town for nightlife... well if you got the money! we started out having a few pints at an irish pub with a great band playing, i even requested one of my favorite irish drinking songs and the obliged!! it was great, Molly Malone!! also went to this weird little bar that was in a basement, all cement and live turntable DJs. ended up at the place called shotters....which was really trendy but fun, only played pop music but was full of beauties so i couldnt' complain too much.
took yesterday pretty easy, slept in till the afternoon. met up with andrea and izaak for a beer with romain and ivan, chris joined us later. had another beer at the belium bar, and got to see my favorite bartender again!!! ivan was funny, i said something about her and he acted all upset and said but i'm in love with her.
anyways, its farewell to christchurch and on to other parts of the south island, we only have about 2 weeks to travel so it kind of sucks, but we should be able to see lots, but it will all be fast. i think the first stop is going to be dunedin, then head for the west coast, stop by queenstown (a huge party town, but not enough $$$$ to really stay there) but probably stay in wanaka for a little...should be close to the mountains by then or already.....think lord of the rings when they are crossing the snow caped alps like mountains.... thats the landscape down here. i can't wait. then we head up north, visit the Marlborough region, a big wine region. ferry to the north, see as much as possible before we need to be in auckland by the 21st for ivans flight, at which point we should meet up with andrea and izaak fresh from fiji and i have till the 4th till my flight. so much to do, so little money and a car that i'm scared won't make it. but hey thats why you call it an adventure!

Super cell in Nebraska!!!!

just a really cool picture i thought i would share!

how much sleep is too much sleep?

i hope i'm just recovering from all the hard work because i can't help but to sleep. last night we all went out to dinner together... had some bangers and mash!!! yumm!!! when we got back I went to my bed to take a little nap....well i didn't get up till 9:30, i got up watched a little tv then, thought about going out but decided that maybe i need a long nights rest, well i didn't even hear everyone get up in the morning, i woke up at like 8:30 and the room was empty... maybe tonight i'll go have a fun time out on the town.
which reminds me, may is music month in NZ and there was a kick off at the dux de lux with lots of bands, it has a couple bars in it and each one had a different kind of music, i mostly stayed in the lounge bar where i first heard a ben harper like band then listen to another rock band with a lady lead singer... fur patrol. it was a good show, even ended up meeting a couple that was from the US, eugene and washington state... we all went out to the belgium bar after the show, no cute bartender though. i swear i knew the girl... but she says she claims eugene but lives in montana now. anyways it was a great time and a nice night out. returned back to the backpacker for some southern comfort and coke with the boys and hit the hay pretty late...
other than that i have been taking it pretty slow the past week... just walking around town, checked out the art centre, a couple free museums, and the botanical gardens are usually my after breakfast/lunch (when ever i get up) stop. finally got into the greenhouses today, past 3 times i went couldn't. hey had a really cool tropical one, lots of vines and palms, waterfalls and even a banana tree with bananas!!!
not sure what i'm going to do this afternoon... i'm actually kind of getting bored of this town right now, not wanting to spend any money since i didn't make enough working has put a damper on my going out and doing whatever... i mean there's a lot of cool stuff to do but its all kind of spendy...but i might splurge tomorrow and pay to go to the Antarctica museum, they have little blue penguins there you can play with... i know, awesome!!! but i also heard they run wild down south....which is where our travels are taking us next....i can't wait i still have a month of traveling left, in fact i really haven't even started!!!!

more photos!!!

check 'em out!!! http://picasaweb.google.com/tommy21osu/NZ20/

so long Waipara Hills Winery!

well friday was the last day at work. we worked about half a day, mostly cleaning up and warming a few sluggish ferms... but after we had a nice little party. had a few beers, pepperoni and stinky cheeses, wine, then we had a great match of soccer... italy verses france... i was on team italy. quiet funny considering all of us are pretty out of shape for running around and about 1/2 of us didn't know soccer too well...beer breaks intermittently and plenty of substitutions but i actually managed to score a goal off a great assist. the game finished when the steaks on the bbq were finished, with a final score france 5, italy 4... but it was a close on at the end. after devouring steaks, sausages....and more drinks we filled up one of the 5 thousand liter tanks with hot water and made ourselves a nice little hot tub...(is that legal?!?!!!) it was so hot, about 40 degrees C, what ever that is.
after the dip we made plans to rendezvous back at 0ur house for a little house party, which turned out to be a great time....really reminded me of a college party, lots of beer, booze, card games, other drinking games, passing the apple around, singing, dancing, pissing off the brazilian, all great things... i guess at one point jonny and i decided we were going to play kings cup, a drinking game with cards which each card is a different rule, so jonny and i sat down and set up the rules of the game... a battle of the minds, 30 minutes later they had to come find us and we only had about half the rules... what a fun guy. him and his fiance invited me up to their wedding in ptown in august, so thats pretty cool. i crashed a little early but i guess the party still went on for a while...at some point jonny made a delicious (ha?!?!!!!) stew of sausages and oranges, ya looked like someone throw up in a pot and left it for me to find in the morning when i cleaned up. saturday we planned a night out on the town. spent the afternoon doing a little shopping in christchurch, randomly met up with romain downtown and him and i went for a little stroll around the botanical gardens passing the time till we were supposed to meet everyone at the dux de lux, a groovy brew pub that makes some decent beer. had a couple pitchers of beer, including a very interesting ginger beer, tasted exactly like pickled ginger like you get at sushi places...but with alcohol!!!! afterwords we headed out to a little irish pub with pool called micky finns....where i think i dropped quiet a bit of money...in the 3 digits. but we had a great time and the band was great, a 90s covered band so lots of singing along and dancing. should have stayed there but headed off to a belgium bar to meet up with mike but ended up missing him...but met probably the hottest bartender ever, a young rosario dawson, jonny was they hard to get me a date, it was funny, have a great picture of her holding a huge beer for me....yumm hoegaarden. and sampled a little traditional belgium bar faire....little fried balls of meat... or should i say hot lava because thats what it felt like...burnt my month pretty bad. headed out late for some fast food...first mcdonalds since i have arrived in NZ. and took bus back to jonnys for some movies and chilling out, way out....woke up curled up on a love seat and looked over and saw laurent, romain and ivan all sleeping on the couch next to me... some kind of italian sandwich with french bread....get it cause laurent and romain r french and ivan is italian....ha ha ha i kill myself.
anyways last night we moved out of our place... headed back to the hostel we were staying at before to move in but what do you know.....all full for the night, so we spent another night over at jonnys....much quieter night. they all had to work in the morning. lucky me got to spend the day doing laundry and moving into the backpacker, reuniting with the staff and just relaxing... so happy just to relax and do nothing, good thing i got a week of this planned.
take care all!!! miss ya!!!!

good news but bad news...

sounds like maybe only a couple more weeks of work and then we aren't sure whats going to happen... a few of us really want to go travel together and just unwind, party it up and get routey....no more of this getting home at 7am and drinking till 9 then passing out...its too weird drinking in the morning, i mean we just got off a long shift and are all wound up and need a few drinks but its just weird, i feel like i'm doing something really wrong watching morning cartoons and drinking beers with a bowl of corn flakes. ha
so i'm not sure what to do now... not sure i made enough money to travel till june... but then again i'm yound and thats what credit cards are for! and a bonus is my visa is good for another like 10 and a half months... i could always come back and travel and work a little more. darn neil had to have is wedding in july...i might have considered just staying here for a few more months if i didn't have to be back for that! just kidding. but i really am thinking about coming back... i really want to see the summer here, its starting to get really cold and i can't only imagine what its going to be like in a few weeks with winter coming... not the best time to go sight seeing and traveling.
welp gotta run.....presses to clean!!! miss y'all!!

yawn!!!

well i didn't get off till about 8ish this morning...went down to a cafe in amberly after for a little breakfast then back home to bed...didn't even feel like i was asleep for more than an hour, one of those head hit the pillow and all of a sudden my alarm is going off. had to be back ready for another long night at 4pm. i can feel the coffee coursing through my veins but i am still in a fog of tiredness. i need a weekend...bad. a couple days would do wonders, a day to catch up with laundry, some shopping and a night out and another just to do nothing and relax.
more whtie pressing today, more reisling and pinot gris...and pressing off reds, got to shoveled out my little pet tank today...i call her donna. inside joke, so when the wine is fermenting, everyday you punch down, or plunge as they call it here, the cap that forms from the skins all floating to the top, like i said before all the good stuff is in the skins so about 4 times a day we punch down, by hand, with what looks like big toilet plungers, the cap down into the fermenting wine below to help extract all the goodness....well a few days into the fermentation its super hard to punch down, you could literally stand on top of the cap. well its nice to give them a name to help let out your frustration....thus donna, not sure why donna but it just worked. and not to sound too inappropriate but it helps to get a couple guys plunging one tank at the same time.
anyways gotta run, pinot gris is ready to be loaded into a press....yea!! that means at least 4 more hours!!!! and its like only 12:30am.

work work work

work is going along smoothly....its 4:30 am and i should be off soon, yeah!!! starting to bring in lots of Riesling... i feel like the end is in sight though, a little sad but a relief. still working very long hours and its starting to take its toll on everyone even more... lots of sore backs, bruises, blisters and my wrists are killing me and everyones hands are dyed red/purple from the pinot noir we have been pressing off...which turns a nice black color by morning, looks like mechanic hands.
got the chance, ha, to shovel out my first tank of red skins the other night! not 40 tons like at VOM but still it was about 5 and it was only me doing it... what a work out, i wonder if you can taste the sweat in the wine....hehehe, ya i know gross. maybe i should explain... with red wines you basically squish the grapes and put them in a big tank and the fermentation takes place with the skins which is where all the color and tannins come from, most red grape juice is very light red, its actually where you get rose wines from, the red grape juice fermented with no skins. white wines are only the juice of the grapes is fermented. anyways... once a red wine fermentation is complete you drain off the new wine and all the skins remain in the take and a lucky person get to shovel them out through the little door in the front....oh yeah and you get to crawl in through a little door too, or just in the top like crazy romain did...it was funny, slid in up to his waist, i always feel like i'm going to get stuck in the door, i barely fit.
so thats what we have been up to...i need a day off, i'm tired

what a long week!!!

sorry for not posting in a while. seriously haven't had much time off to really sit down at a computer. work in going good, things are really starting to pick up and seems like there isn't a second of down time. so much for 12 hour shifts! was at work the other day for about 16 and a half....starting at about 4 pm working till 8-9am , can't remember, really taking a toll on the crew, moral is a little down for us night crew, we work all night getting our work done and when the other crew arrives in the morning they ask about how the mess they left isn't cleaned up yet....whatever.
theres a few tanks of sauvy (sauv. blanc) fermenting to the winery smells great, very tropical fruit like and a few of the pinot noirs are finishing and always get a great strawberry candys aroma as you walk by the bins. also have a few riesliings in house now, but those are just cold soaking, we'll see in a few days if those are as nice....
starting to rain this morning just as we were getting off at 5:30 am and hasn't stopped, so we might have a hell of a week coming up, rain means a quick harvest and we have a couple hundred tons of riesling that might come in all at once.
don't really have time for a life outside of work...so no updates there, get off work, go home, have a beer or not, then sleep, get up, go to work, rince and repeat... at least today we got up a little early and hit up a little brew pub just down the road for a little brunch and some great beers, finally had a real beer, an IPA...have only been drinking the cheap stuff, which is the same as the cheap stuff back home... remember the shmitts brian? ya, that good!
take care all and miss ya!!!

Finally Pictures...

...enjoy!!! http://picasaweb.google.com/tommy21osu/NewZealand

News Flash!!!

I guess i'm not keeping up too well with the blog.
about a week ago we got a couple of cars....real sweet ones too. i got a 1985 toyota corona...yes corona!!! its amazing!, well actually its a P.O.S. but it gets us around. still getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road but its becoming more and more natural. its always weird taking a turn and staying to the left and theres weird yielding rules that i don't quite get and don't get me started on round-abouts... i'm surprised i haven't hit or been hit in one yet, why can't they just use intersections! the other car we got is a 198? hyundai accent...that we are finding out is in worse shape than we hoped. got both for $800 NZ a piece which is great. just hope they both last us the harvest. we had to get 2 because we do a swing shift here so some people come in the AM and others, like myself, come for the PM shift. 12 hour shifts, 7 to 7 and 1 to 1....for the most part, i guess there will be a couple times when we will be operating 24 hrs....don't know how thats going to work, but i'm not excited for that.
we also moved into a place 2 nights ago, near work in waikari, remember the beginning of the two towers where aragorn, gimli and legolas are running along the hill sides after the ork things that took pippin and merry, thats my drive to work....its a 4 bed 1 bath (if you want to call it that) house....and it came with a brazilian girl!!! and we already managed to piss her off... she put in a load of laundry last night and went to bed, when mike got home he wanted to do some laundry too, so he took out her clothes and laid them out nicely in the living room (no dryer)....but that was not ok with her... actually none of us are sure what her problem is, she doesn't know much english and none of us know portuguese so we were all puzzled, even andrea (whos 1st language is spanish) couldn't help. and i got home in the middle of it so i was just standing there...about to laugh because i haven't even met her yet and she was already angry with us. oh the drama!!!!
well things are going well other than that, very busy and no end in sight!!! have about 10 tanks and 5 bins full of must and juice...about 50000 liters pinot noir and 34000 L sauvignon blanc....and only one bin of PN is fermenting....so lots to do real soon but very exciting.
miss ya'll and keep the comments coming!!!!

this message comes from a land down under....

wow work started up quickly without warning!!!! got a tonnes and tonnes of pinot noir still coming in from lastnight and we are starting to get about 20 tonnes of sauvingnon blanc aka sauvy coming in tonight!!! for my shift which starts at 1pm and will go till question mark....hopefully before 4.
still no home yet, left the hostel, aka backpacker last sunday and have been saying above a bar for the past couple nights. this is turning out to be quiet the adventure!
still doing lots of sampling....i think i was out in the vineyards for 7 hours yesterdays...at work for total of 13....and we haven't even started yet.

My First Week....so far

Hello All!!!
well i finished my first week and we have the first grapes in the door. Not sure if i included everyone i work with so i'll go though them again. There is Simon the head winemaker, a kiwi( aka New Zealander), Jonny the assistant winemaker hilarious stereotype of a surfer kiwi, chris a kiwi that doesn't even like wine but wants to learn, Mike from scotland with a great accent and no expreince but a hard worker, andrea my new buddy she is from chile, romain a frenchman, ivan from italy who is having the hardest time with english but its coming along, and izaac from oregon. Had a little chat with jonny lastnight and he is very excited about the crew this year, we all get along very well and thats important for this job, relying on each others and having a good time. well back to the first week of harvest, mostly cleaning but we started the real fun yesterday afternoon, its friday here by the way, i think this blog thing posts on the wrong day and i can't figure out how to fix it. Things were a little bumpy and we had to do a little improvisation to make things work but it was fine. the winery still isn't 100% complete yet, electricians and welders still finishing up a few last things. its amazing, i guess the company was going for the most technologically advance winery in New Zealand, so many little bells and whistles...huge rotating hopper to feed the crusher, "6 pack" must chiller to cool the fruit before its sent to fermentation, 6 in SS must lines, SS transfer lines everywhere, tanks are all hooked up to the computer so we can monitor everything, lots of cool new lab equipment... its a lot of fun leaning how to use new technology.
did a lot more grape sampling....walking for miles and miles though the vineyards... its kind of boring and its hard to get good samples... say these a block of pinot noir that is 50 acres, i have to pick 20 clusters to represent the entire thing, don't know if its possible...a little frustrating at times but i'm still learning the best way to do it. then i have to go back and weigh everything to get a average cluster weight....which is really low this year, about a 1/2 to a 1/3 of usually because of really cold weather in dec/jan during when the fruit was setting. we thought we were going to get about 1000 tonnes this year but looks more like 700 tonnes (tonnes = metric ton = 2.2 tons, for all that are wondering) which is good because its the first year and it might be nice to work out any kinks with smaller lots. after i get the weight andrea or myself will get brix, pH, TA.
well last night we crushed the first friut, about 2 tonnes of Pinot noir from across the street @ the Mound vineyards....came in a little low in sugar (which we can fix) but acids where spot on and flavors are great....very exciting. fit it all in one bin and had a little trouble fork lifting it in to the winery, 3 guys had to hop on the back to keep the back wheels down, wish i had my camera for that. after a little more clean up we cracked open a few cold ones and toasted the beginning of harvest!!! hung out in the lab drinking a while and also outside with the vineyard crew. then back to the hostel for some food (9ish and starving) then shower and to a pub, but we were all exhausted so that didn't last long.
i have to work on sunday for a litte to pick more samples, still have 3/4 of the pinot at the mound that is looking really close, so i think we should have lots of pinot coming in this week, heard perhaps 3 lots a day from central down south.
The hostel is fun and all, i've met so many "unique" people, expecially the Israelis, they have some crazy storys about back home but its costing us too much!!! we went and looked at a house onthursday which is really run down, its actually comically run down, but for $45-50 a week its the best we could find that will rent for 2 months, but since we will be working different shift we'll have to get 2 cars i think...so thats going to be expensive and stressful to sell in the end. well i'm going to go do a little shopping, set up a bank account so i can get paid and try to find a place to get a SIM card from my phone so i can make calls here and short calls home, and someone said theres a $10 1000 text message thing, so i might get that and use that to communicate. hope all is well back where you are and keep the comments coming!!!

working hard!!!

sorry i haven't posted in a couple days, work has started and its great!! was out in the vineyard all morning picking samples and then came back to the lab to process them...not too exciting yet. but looks like we might be getting our first fruit on friday, Pinot noir from the estate vineyard across the street, The mound, so very exciting. spent all yesterday cleaning out tanks getting them ready for harvest, most of the tanks are brand new so we had to do a full scrub on the insides with some nasty chemicals to remove anything from the welding. monday i spent most of the day cleaning and organizing the lab...funny, i think i have done that at every job i've had, really making the lab my home. well andrea was made the lab leader but she always has me help her, i'm not complaining though, she's so fun, always laughing.
well i need to find a ride to the grocery store to get something to eat for dinner, hungry after the teck through the vineyard!!! caio!

Happy St. Patricks Day!!!

well i don't know about you but i had a great st. patricks day yesterday...oh wait, most of you will be having it tonight!!!
well yesterday i think i met all but 2 people i'll be working with, and they all seem great.
in the afternoon i met a couple other people here at the hostel, including Ivan another coworker from NE Italy, he doesn't know english very well and he's very shy about it. a couple of us decided to go to the grocery store, pick and save. i went with the girl i'll be working with andrea and an Israeli named guy or he goes by geyser, we took his car. pick and save is like a mini costco, warehouse style shopping. I picked up some sandwich makings and beer for the party later. the beer is called flame, extreme brewing!!! funny packaging.
had a little adventure driving back, got a little lost, too many oneway streets and not to mention they drive on the wrong side of the road!!! its crazy making turns, turning into the left lane instead of the right, gets me everytime.
found out kiwis aren't punctual at all!!! which is a great thing i guess. Johnny, the assistant winemaker and host for the bbq tonight, said he would pick us all up around 3. well he didn't actually pick us up till about 4:45...good thing andrea has a phone and text messaging or we might have given up on him and started our own party here. Johnny is hilarious, stereotypical Kiwi. i think andrea and i were the only ones that could understand him. hes got a very thick accent and kiwis talk really fast, so ivan has no clue what hes saying and romain has to keep asking him to slow down. we arrived at his house, great little garage in back and a little garden with tables where we hung out. met a couple other coworkers: chris a local kiwi, well travelled but has no wine experience, he thinks they all taste the same. and Isaac Johnny's fiance's brother...and guess what they are from yamhill near mcminnville!!! oregonians, what are the chances, small world. had a great time, lots of drinking, great bbq and more drinking, johnny pulled me aside at one point and we had a really good chat about what i wanted to get out of this job, anything special, and responsibilities i wanted...its funny, that was one of my biggest worries, getting here and hating where i lived, not getting along with my co-workers and the job not being very fun and being stuck doing a job not learning anything....started a bonfire, played some darts, johnny getting sloppy drunk, hehehe, andrea told me she was really nervous about drinking in front of her boss, but after seeing him like that he was very relived. after it got pretty dark we all walked down to the beach and lit off some fireworks and played in the surf, its like oregon in the fall here. we all got cold so we started to head back, i had to help johnny the last bit of the way, st. pactricks day!!! yeah, good times. I'm so excited to start work, all these people are so great. well i think thats all that happened...i need to go recover a little more.