Australia

Almost home

2010-05-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

I finished work on April 30th, and I am ready to make my way back home. I learned a lot during the harvest, but as usual I was ready to leave by the end of it. I have a week in the Barossa to prepare to leave the country. I will stop in Hawaii and meet my parents in Kona for a week before I get a life. I am content with my time in Australia, but I'm ready to go back to California where it will be summer again.

Still working

2010-04-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

I've still been working a lot, but I've had a couple of weekends now and the grapes are coming in more slowly due to rain. I have another 3+ weeks at the winery, then I plan to stop in Hawaii on my way home. In my spare time in the Barossa, BBQs are popular. I'll be moving to Tanunda next week so I can walk to work and sell my car before I leave. I'll be living with a winemaker who houses cellar hands every harvest. The weather has been cooler and wet, so it must be about time to leave.

Work

2010-03-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

I have been working for 7 weeks now, and the end of the crush is within site. It may be only another two weeks of 12 hour shifts, then another month of 40-hour weeks. It would be nice to have a life outside of work again. As difficult as the work can be, I've learned a lot and I think it has been a good experience for me. I have finally stomped on grapes with my bare feet! Fortunately I've had just enough free time to brew beer for fun, which has turned out well.

Another weekend

2010-02-27T20:09:00.000-08:00

Over the past week, I have learned the procedures for pump overs and rack and returns at the winery. It's not too exciting, but it keeps me busy. Next week, we'll be pressing, so things should get hectic and 12-hour shifts should begin. Yesterday I went to Adelaide for the Soundwave concert festival, which was great. There were six stages, each with a different genre of rock music playing throughout the day. I got there at 11am, so I was ready to go by 10pm when Faith No More finished the show. It was a lot of fun, just a bit dusty.

Life in the Barossa

2010-02-20T17:42:00.000-08:00

I've been working at the winery for two weeks now, learning how they do things. It has been pretty easy so far, mostly transferring wine from tank to tank. We crushed the first grapes of the season on Friday, so things will be busier from now on. I start 12 hour shifts on Tuesday. Last weekend I went to the beach in Adelaide, and this weekend I went to two comedy shows at the Fringe Festival in Adelaide. The festival is made up of hundreds of comedy acts, theater performances, music concerts, circus acts, and fair rides over three weeks at 300 different venues around South Australia. The comedy was very funny and made for a good night out. Next weekend I will go to a concert festival in Adelaide which should be a great show. After that, I should stop having fun and spend all my time at work.

The Barossa Valley

2010-02-08T22:14:00.000-08:00

I made it to Melbourne for a great concert, then drove the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide in 12 hours. It was a very pretty road, and it was nice and cool at the coast. I met a friend in Adelaide for the night. We went to the beach for a morning swim before leaving for Barossa Valley. I spent the weekend at a campground, then found my own granny unit in a town called Nuriootpa. It is attached to a house where a 75-year-old man lives. He talked at me all night and he got most of the way through his life story. But I have my own bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen. I like the peace and quiet. It is on a quiet cul de sac and a two minute walk from the supermarket. I work in the next town to the south, Tanunda. The winery is called Illaparra, but the company is Grant Burge Wines. It is family owned and my supervisor and manager are very nice. The manager lived in Santa Rosa and Windsor a year ago, and he enjoyed 3rd Street Aleworks, Bear Republic, and Mexican food. In other words, he's great. The induction day involved paperwork, winery tours, a tasting of 20 wines all the way up to their $100 Cab and $125 Shiraz (which were amazing), and a beer with the permanent staff at the end of the day. My first two days of work have been easy but hot when I stand 30 feet up on the catwalks and it is 100 degrees in the sun. I have a friend in Tanunda who I hang out with every few days. There's a brewery nearby which is pretty good, but at $20 a six pack I won't make a habit of it.

Tassie

2010-01-24T18:02:00.000-08:00

Tasmania has been great. It is a beautiful island, and small enough to get around easily. The 5-day overland track was a lot of fun. I met some nice people and saw plenty of wildlife, including leeches, snakes, wallabies, a wombat, an echidna, and pademelons. Cradle Mountain was particularly good because of its odd shape. I found a fellow American, Dan, and we travelled together after the hike. We rented a car and saw the east coast. The water is a gorgeous clear turquoise color and the sands are white and very fine. I walked to wine glass bay, which is on postcards from the area. Dan and I camped for free on the beach for a few nights, went wine, cheese, and beer tasting, and enjoyed the country roads in our tiny Hyudai Getz. I wish I could stay longer, but I have to start work soon, so updates may stop for a while. I'll be working in the Barossa Valley next week.

The road to Tasmania

2010-01-11T14:58:00.000-08:00

After leaving Canberra, I had a few setbacks. I visited the highest point in Australia, Mt. Kosciusko (6,800 ft). About ten minutes east of that spot, my car broke down. It is in a town called Jindabyne where the vacuum advance is being fixed. From there, I decided to try to hitchhike down to Melbourne instead of taking the bus. I figured it would be a good experience. It was an interesting one. I told a driver I was headed to Melbourne, which was to the Southwest. He thought it was a good idea to take me 4 hours (he got lost) North to the main freeway between Sydney and Melbourne. I had low spirits at this point, but a very friendly college student picked me up and offered that I could stay at his place for the night, so I slept on a spare mattress on his floor in Wagga Wagga. It is out in the country and is very hot. We had a night out on the town, which wasn't very impressive. The next morning he made me breakfast and took me to a good spot to catch a ride. I made it to Albury on the border of New South Wales and Victoria. I waited over an hour for another ride, but the guy that stopped was very nice and we had a good conversation while he drove to Melbourne. He dropped me off at the door of my hostel, and even brought back my aluminum water bottle that I left in his car. I liked what I saw of Melbourne. It is more orderly and cleaner than Sydney. Also, there's good beer. I went to James Squire and Little Creatures brewery while I was there, both of which were delicious on a 100 degree day. The architecture was very interesting, especially in the larger buildings, but it is a bit difficult to explain. I made the short flight to Tasmania, and so far it is beautiful and cooler. I have to get prepared for my week long hike on the Overland Track. To help me prepare, there is a brewery across the river from my hostel.

Canberra and the Southeast coast

2009-12-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

I made the drive from Sydney to Canberra, and stayed there for four nights. I like the feel of the city. It has about 300,000, but it is very spread out with parks in between the suburbs. The Parliament House was interesting. It has a lot of marble surfaces and I learned about the Australian government. It is very simlar to the three branch system in the US. I saw the US embassy and thought of the Simpsons episode where they go to Australia. The highlight was the National Gallery because they had a special exhibition of post-impressionism from the Musee d"Orsay in Paris. I saw Starry Night and other Van Gogh works, like his bedroom. There were also pieces from Cezanne, Gaugin, Picasso, and a few others. I really enjoyed the art and now I don't need to see it in Paris! My Irish roommates were too much fun. I'm lucky I only went out with them one night.
I took a bus to Batemans Bay on the coast. The water is gorgeous here and not too cold. I can walk out a few hundred yards and still be above the waves. There are kangaroos everywhere, and they let you up close around here. The weather is nice and warm, but a little humid. I found a good bottle of Cabernet Merlot from the Margaret River area in Western Australia. I hope I end up working there.
I am meeting a lot of Europeans and a few locals. Most of them are nice people, but bad roommates still exist. Well, I am off to the beach again today. I'll use sunscreen this time.

Heading South

2009-12-15T18:18:00.000-08:00

After two weeks in the country, I have been to Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley. Of course, the Opera House is impressive because it is so big. I didn't know the whole white surface was made out of tiles. That must have been a lot of work. The beach was nice, but the water was as cold as Northern California. I'll be glad to leave Sydney because it's too crowded, noisy, and always smells of car exhaust. I guess I'm just not a big city person.
The Blue Mountains were great. There was plenty of fresh air, amazing scenery, and fun hikes along the cliff tops and down into the rain forest.
The Hunter Valley has a great relaxed wine country feel. It is a major destination for people from Sydney, as it is about two and a half hours away. The white wines were pretty good, but most of the reds were lighter than what I'm used to. Even some of the ones that had deep color and flavor tasted more earthy than fruity. But I still had a good time wine, beer, cheese, and chocolate tasting.
In Sydney I bought a car, and I will start driving South tomorrow. I would like to drive along some of the coast and visit some National Parks for some good hiking. I also want to buy camping gear to undertake some multi-day hikes.

I made it to Sydney!

2009-12-02T21:56:00.000-08:00

After over 27 hours in transit, I am finally in Australia. The flights were fine except for when a nut fell out of its place inside the wall of the plane that took me from Auckland to Sydney. I watched the workers on the tarmac trying to fix it. There were at least two people standing and watching at all times. It's universal I guess. I took a long bus ride from the airport and saw a lot more brick buildings than I'm used to. My hostel is nice and I'll get around to the tourist attractions tomorrow. I think some sleep is in order.