SUMMER JOBS

Idid an eclectic mix o fj obs over the summers durin gu ni. For example, Iwasa n assistant caretaker, labourer, saxophone teacher, vaccine trial guinea pig, data entry-er, and musical score reader for the TVNZ crew at Goldenhorse’s NZSO concert.

Anythin gt o help during term-time, when I’d often get down to $10 left in my overdraft with nothin gt o fall back on.

The summer of 2003/4 was soundtracked by the exuberance of OutKast’s Hey Ya! but it was a soggy, miserable one .A frien da nd I were drunk at a party, an dweth ought, why not, let’s go to

Nelson an dd o fruit-picking. We caught the ferry the followin gm ornin ga n ddr o ve t o Nelson. We hadn ’t d one our research. It was too early in the season t op ick fruit . An d Nelson was flooded.

So we dro ve t o Blenheim. Ik n ew e nough about the Ministry o fS ocial Developmen tt o know that there were jobs wanted sign si n there, but I didn ’t k no we nough about the place to have had my confidence knocked out o f me . There was an email address fo raguywh on eeded bodies to help on the vines. We sen thima n email fro ma n internet cafe, and he immediately told us t o sho wu p at the railway station at 5am the followin gm orning. Wesetu po ur tent at the main campsite, an db ought some supplies.

We made it to the train station in time. Pete, o ur b oss, welcomed us an dafew other newbies. He explained that we started early an dfi nished early, to avoid the worst of the afternoon sun. Our first day was easy, as all we did was pull dead leaves from the vines .( Buddin ga nd wire lifting were soon to shatter o ur c omplacency). When we stopp ed f o r sm oko, we realised our supplies had been beer and cereal. We had nothin gf o rm orning tea o r lu nch. My mate and I were embarrassed when Pete tried to share his lunch with us. I was skint, sure, but it was more down to my uselessness.

We g o ti nto ar outine. We’d buy a 12-inch sub fo r di nner, and save half for our lunch. Web ought some fruit. We learn ed h o wt o conserve o ur e nergy, while also maintaining a steady pace on the job. We were clearly useless, but Pete gave us plenty o fe ncouragement.

We also met some of the people around the place. The guys from Ward, who randomly showed up early on em orning because they’d discovered their entire caravan had been take no ver by white-tails. The American marin e bi ology students who were staying at the campsite, while bussing o ut t o the Sounds. The freezing workers, who we’d have games of cricket with (including the guy who’d play stark naked because he was designated to jump into the Ōpaoa River to retrieve the six and outs).

On em orning we were held up. One of the teenagers was running late. Pete received a phone call, although we didn ’tk now what about. When he hun gu p, Pete said we were goin gt o wait. The teenager eventually arrived. He’d bee np ulled over by the cops simply for driving early in the mornin ga n df or having the wrong skin colour. Pete had to confirm to the cops that the teenager was drivin gt o work .A reference check to be on the streets at 5am. The teenager was fumin g–itwasac onstant annoyance for him–and Pete let him vent. The Americans decided to have a big party at the camp site. One of the guys, a Junior Republican, who was knocking back the Heinekens while the rest of us dran kD o-Bros, scoffed at New Zealand’s love of rugby. He said tackling without pads wasn’t a big deal. He demanded to sprint at my mate – who ,asfarasIk now, never played rugby. My mate buried him ina copybook tackle. The Junior Republican spent the next 10 minutes doubled-over on the ground winded, while everyone else laughed at him.

One of the other American sj oin edusi no ur tent. It turns out he’d been kicked out of their party because they had accused him of stealing their communal weed (there was a shortage in Nelson-Marlborough that year). Anyway, we were sitting there stoned when we saw the Americans’ bus drive at high speed through the camp site. Junior Republican, drunk, ego like a let-down tyre, decided togo on a tiki tour with the bus. He smashed down afe n cea nd almost ran into a passer-by at the nearby pub on State Highway 1. He was promptly arrested. He wen tt o court the following day, had to pay a $300 fine for the fence, and $50 to the pass er-by. He escaped any actual conviction.

My mate and I decided to head back to Wellington at short notice. David Bowie was playing at the Stadium. I checked my accoun t,a nd realised I’d lo stm oney over the trip. While I didn’t earn anything in that summer job, I also had the uncomfortable realisation that I’d be fine, all thin gsc onsidered.