Pirate Party
To get rid of the exam stress, some classmates organised a pirate party. Since this was in the middle of Euro 2008 where at that stage Holland was very successful, I decided to add a bit of orange to the party.
The party was a huge success and it lasted until the next day and was still going on when I finished my casual Sunday afternoon job in the library at 16.00 hours.
Work on the vineyard
After the release of the stress, it was time to start doing the real work. In this case we had to do two weeks of pruning experience in a vineyard. I chose to go to the Biodynamic vineyard where I had been before. Since it is middle of winter I was prepared for some very cold starts. I had to get up around 6 am to be able to start work at 7:30 am. A few of those mornings the car was frozen, so it took a while before I could drive away. As a real kiwi I do not use a scraper to de-ice my windows, but just turn on the motor and switch the airco on full warmth. After five minutes the windows are clear. This is not the most environmental friendly way of dealing with the problem, however. The cold however was more of a problem first thing in the morning. Waking up in a room/house that has the same temperature as the air outside (a few degrees minus) is not very comfortable. However, as soon as you are in the car and get warm, it’s okay and while working on the vineyard I have hardly been cold at all.
Apart from the pruning work I was able to do some other things as well, like there were: making of compost, adding the bio-dynamic preparations to these compost heaps, extensive morning teas, attending staff meetings and…… Tai Chi sessions! The latter was a great intensive at this vineyard.
The support from the colleagues was very good as well. They are all very friendly people with a great approach to everything living. It was very refreshing to be able to be part of their team for a few weeks.
For pictures, see: http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh106/AnitasTourDeAotearoa/Blenheim/Pruning%20Experience/?start=20
Wellington
Just before the end of the full four weeks I decided that I deserved a trip to Wellington, before the start of the next semester. Here I started with a Girls’ Night Out in town: having some drinks and dinner, seeing Mamma Mia (the movie), having some more drinks and dance the night away. It was a fantastic night out and we, girls, are already looking forward to the next one.
Back to school
And then, suddenly it was 14 July – back to school day. We started with a day of First Aid Course, which is part of the curriculum. The rest of the week was filled with trying to get back into the routine and see what the papers of this semester are about. They do not sound very interesting: Soils – Weeds, Pest and Diseases - Plant Science, but luckily we also still have the production of our own wine to do. Our rosé is ready to bottle, but we have to wait for the right equipment to arrive. We are doing trials with our red wine, that is partly spoiled by bad bacteria, but hopefully we can still make something ‘drinkable’ out of the 150 litres. And then there is my own Sauvignon Blanc which is not too bad at all. This is also very close to bottling.
By the way, the first exam results were above expectation – so it seems that I am on the right track.
As you can all read from the above I have not been bored the last weeks and will not easily get bored the upcoming months with the subjects that I have to study.
Cheers,
Anita
To get rid of the exam stress, some classmates organised a pirate party. Since this was in the middle of Euro 2008 where at that stage Holland was very successful, I decided to add a bit of orange to the party.
The party was a huge success and it lasted until the next day and was still going on when I finished my casual Sunday afternoon job in the library at 16.00 hours.
Work on the vineyard
After the release of the stress, it was time to start doing the real work. In this case we had to do two weeks of pruning experience in a vineyard. I chose to go to the Biodynamic vineyard where I had been before. Since it is middle of winter I was prepared for some very cold starts. I had to get up around 6 am to be able to start work at 7:30 am. A few of those mornings the car was frozen, so it took a while before I could drive away. As a real kiwi I do not use a scraper to de-ice my windows, but just turn on the motor and switch the airco on full warmth. After five minutes the windows are clear. This is not the most environmental friendly way of dealing with the problem, however. The cold however was more of a problem first thing in the morning. Waking up in a room/house that has the same temperature as the air outside (a few degrees minus) is not very comfortable. However, as soon as you are in the car and get warm, it’s okay and while working on the vineyard I have hardly been cold at all.
Apart from the pruning work I was able to do some other things as well, like there were: making of compost, adding the bio-dynamic preparations to these compost heaps, extensive morning teas, attending staff meetings and…… Tai Chi sessions! The latter was a great intensive at this vineyard.
The support from the colleagues was very good as well. They are all very friendly people with a great approach to everything living. It was very refreshing to be able to be part of their team for a few weeks.
For pictures, see: http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh106/AnitasTourDeAotearoa/Blenheim/Pruning%20Experience/?start=20
Wellington
Just before the end of the full four weeks I decided that I deserved a trip to Wellington, before the start of the next semester. Here I started with a Girls’ Night Out in town: having some drinks and dinner, seeing Mamma Mia (the movie), having some more drinks and dance the night away. It was a fantastic night out and we, girls, are already looking forward to the next one.
Back to school
And then, suddenly it was 14 July – back to school day. We started with a day of First Aid Course, which is part of the curriculum. The rest of the week was filled with trying to get back into the routine and see what the papers of this semester are about. They do not sound very interesting: Soils – Weeds, Pest and Diseases - Plant Science, but luckily we also still have the production of our own wine to do. Our rosé is ready to bottle, but we have to wait for the right equipment to arrive. We are doing trials with our red wine, that is partly spoiled by bad bacteria, but hopefully we can still make something ‘drinkable’ out of the 150 litres. And then there is my own Sauvignon Blanc which is not too bad at all. This is also very close to bottling.
By the way, the first exam results were above expectation – so it seems that I am on the right track.
As you can all read from the above I have not been bored the last weeks and will not easily get bored the upcoming months with the subjects that I have to study.
Cheers,
Anita
