Job Hopping

I have now been working on the Kiwi Orchard for a total of five days and have gotten used to the demands. I no longer have to stretch my neck and back, and both body parts no longer hurt. I have found my work rhythm and (in my opinion) I'm not doing such a bad job. To distract myself, I found a cool radio station (but I always have to stand on one side of the vines for better reception) and friends and family have helped me with audiobooks. A huge thank you at this point!
I am also gradually getting along with the supervisors, some are already making jokes. The "colleagues" are growing on me and we chat during breaks (and still complain about the job). I have also earned good money (for my circumstances), I will receive my first paycheck on Thursday.
Today, work was really fun, I had a great time with the right music. I probably would have even danced, but those metal monsters on my feet would have made it look ridiculous.
But - you should quit when you're enjoying it the most. That means: I quit. Funny story.
Since I was unhappy with the work in the first few days and didn't know how I would endure it for so long, I continued my job search. I also heard good reports about Seeka, a kiwi packing house, from other backpackers. A total of nine hours of work per day, radio, etc. So I applied there. They said they would only hire new people if someone else left. I was in eighth place on the application list, so I didn't have high hopes anyway.
Then I got used to the physical demands of bud thinning and accepted the situation. But then it started raining.
The work is immediately interrupted by even the slightest drizzle, so I only worked 4.5 hours in one day. Because it had continued to rain overnight, the workday didn't start until 10 a.m. today (all the plants were still wet and if you then remove the buds, they catch a cold
No, just kidding. But that's really not good for the kiwis). The problem: we still got up early because the message was only sent five minutes before departure. And so we had to sit and wait in the hostel for two hours.
Perhaps understandably, I was quite angry and I was not happy about the fact that my work should constantly depend on the weather.
As luck would have it, during this time I received a call from the packing house. Was I interested in a job? Above all, I was completely taken aback. So I just said 'yes' and 'amen' to everything. And suddenly today was supposed to be my last day on the kiwi orchard.
I had no idea if there was a notice period, what I should do at the packing house, and I felt like I had made a very big mistake. But now it was like that.
On my last day of work, I had so much fun, like never before (after my glorious five days...). I think I'm already sad to leave, but who knows what awaits me at the packing house.
But first of all: working at the packing house is not exactly ideal either. The biggest disadvantage is that there won't be a fixed number of hours again. Everything depends on orders from around the world - if there is a big order, a lot has to be done. But otherwise, it's dead. The lady on the phone told me that there is currently a lot of work. The workday is 11 hours long (including breaks). That's what convinced me (and the fact that I can probably snatch kiwis).
When I was standing on the orchard, I had a lot of time to think and came up with a new plan. Because my plans always work out so well...
I still want to work until, well, early/mid-December. That's about 11-12 weeks. But that doesn't mean I have to work in the same place. If I don't like it anymore, I'll just change jobs again. I call it 'Job Hopping'.
I probably won't last long at the packing house either, but workers are always needed on kiwi farms. And now I can already call myself 'experienced' in bud thinning. Maybe I will even manage to move further to Whakatane and work there. In any case, I will always browse the job ads in the evening.
My motto: If we are already being exploited and doing stupid jobs, we should be allowed to have a little fun. And with constant changes, it stays interesting.
So much for my latest plan.
I noticed that I haven't uploaded any pictures of my last workplace yet. So here it is officially.
If something exciting happens again (probably another job change), I'll let you know!
Best regards