 a similar motion. My hands and arms were hurting so much that every morning when I wake up, I need to start by wriggling my fingers to induce my nerves, allowing my brain to know that my hands and arms are still attached to my body. It’s a little exaggeration but perhaps I didn’t really master the technique well, the ache was real. Furthermore, we were not allowed to listen to music via earphones (only the expensive 3M ones were allowed) which made the time even more unbearable. Towards the end, I ignored the rules and wore my wireless earphones in and time became more bearable but my efficiency slowed down. Having to deal with the smell and repetitive hand action, I rate it the worse job experience. When I was working in that role, I didn’t have any mood to cook and I survive on cereal, chocolate, chips and drinking tea and coffee every single break.
Which is the best company you’ve worked for?
Although Cardrona will always have a special place in my heart, I actually felt that Amisfield was the company that had the employee’s best interest at all times. Vineyard work was known to be a very difficult job as it was repetitive action and there was no shade from the sun as the vines are pretty short. It was a job that I thought that I would quit on my first day but I stayed on.. till the cherry season started. Firstly, the company provided a BBQ lunch every thursday and it was like real meat patties, not just hot dogs and BBQ sauce. They even buy the small carbonated bottled drinks for us. Even though we were all short-term workers, they allowed us to go on a winery tour where the winemaker shared with us the winemaking process and we even got to sample some wines, fresh from the barrel! The supervisors were not anal with the smoko timings and even though we were slow, they simply just encouraged and helped us. Furthermore, we had a huge discount when we bought the wines from the cellar door and when my car broke down and I couldn’t be at work for a few days, they did not use the opportunity to fire me, but simply just asked me to update on my status the following day. They even hired my friend so we could carpool to work together. The company was simply kind of heavenly in my eyes and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to work there. Their 2016 Pinot Noir is one of the finest in the central otago region and I was willing to fork out $59.90 for a bottle.
What do I do with spare cash left in NZ account?
Most people that I’ve met usually get to take home some money from their NZ Working Holiday experience (unless you’re a serial spendthrift or spend more than 3 months traveling). For me, I used transferwise to transfer money from my NZ account to my SGD account. The fees are really great and for your first transfer, you can get a huge discount off the fees. I will be writing a post about the fees I paid etc. but if you need a referral link (to get a discount for your first transfer), PM me 🙂
*****
Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to comment below!
Also, do check out my individual and lengthy job experiences post below:
Just wanna let you know I really appreciate your writing all these up!
Thank You! Glad you enjoyed reading 🙂Based on the novels by Winston Graham, Poldark was one of the most successful TV adaptations of all time, sold time and again to countries the world over. Graham was a prolific writer of novels and screen plays including the novel ‘Marnie’, made famous by the Hitchcock film of same name.
What is lesser known is that nearly all of his writing was done while the author lived in Perranporth, where he had moved to at the age of 17, just a few miles from St Agnes, and that much of it was inspired by the landscape and characters around him during his life.
The 13 Poldark novels in particular were significantly affected by Grahams relationship with the St Agnes landscape, a terrain rich in mining heritage, rugged and beautiful, nestled as it is on the North coast of Cornwall, a few miles from the county capital, Truro.
If you were to imagine the landscape in which Ross Poldark and Demelza lived out their dramatic lives, you wouldn’t go far wrong in St Agnes Parish…. not least of all because author Winston Graham gave St Agnes resident and family friend, Dorothy Gill Carey, permission to refer to the Parish as ‘Poldark Country’ – a clear nod that this area so close to where he lived and wrote, had huge influence on the development of his characters and stories.
Although not in the Parish of St Agnes, no tour of Poldark Country would be complete without a trip to Perranporth, where Winston Graham lived and worked. With no harbour and little mining around the area Graham wandered a little further for his inspiration. Take a stroll down the long stretch of beach at low tide and you will come to Flat Rocks, where there is a seat and a memorial plaque to Winston Graham on the cliff just above Flat rocks. This marks the place where his writing chalet, now burned down, had been.
If you want a sense of what the local beaches were like in the 1700’s, Trevellas Porth is the place to go. Just a stones throw from Trevaunance Cove but more rocky and isolated, Trevellas is an undiscovered gem just waiting to be explored by our visitors. Dog friendly all year round, and nestled at the foot of a little heather clad valley, Trevellas was the location of one of the early scenes of the first TV adaptation and is truly evocative of the unspoilt Cornish landscape. It is also home to the last remaining tin production centre in the UK, at the Blue Hills mine.
When the tide is low you will see on the left hand side of the cove the ruins of an old harbour used to ship supplies and materials in and out of the Parish from the mines which peppered the coastline along here. Not even a hundred years ago this now idyllic cove was a fully working harbour supporting the industrial mining that was taking place in the cove and throughout the Parish, a far cry from the quaint and characterful part of the village it is at present. Ultimately the currents here made it unsuitable for being an effective harbour and with the decline of mining it slipped into the peaceful spot we know and love today.
Although Graham relocates this to Perranporth in his writing - there is only one Stippy Stappy in Cornwall and that can be found in St Agnes Village! A quirky and steep row of terraced cottages leading down towards the cove, this is a delightfully charismatic part of the village and well worth a stroll by as you head down to the cove for a dip.
The breathtakingly beautiful and rugged landscape around these two areas are peppered with remnants of the regions mining heritage with iconic ruined engine houses soaring dramatically from the cliffs against the ever changing backdrop of the ocean. The Wheal Coates mine sits dramatically on the edge of the coastal path, in the floor of the ruins there is a sturdy grate over a deep hole leading down to the sea, ideal for dropping down stones and timing how long it takes them to crash into the water below! At low tide this mine shaft can also be discovered from underneath, through a large cave on Chapel Porth Beach. It is said that Wheal Coates is haunted by the ghosts of the miners who died there. Awe-inspiring throughout the year these places are particularly lovely around the late summer / early autumn time when the heather and gorse are in abundance and the light is rich and golden. Perfect for an early evening dog walk!
Where better to end a tour of Poldark Country than in the idyllic surroundings of Chapel Porth. Chapel Porth is easily reached by car, there is a National trust car park right down into the cove, or by continuing on from Wheal Coates for a breathtaking walk along the coastal path. Particularly beautiful during Spring low tides this stunning beach is renowned for its amazing surf. For the inquisitive it has some spectacular caves, a legacy of the tin mining that went on all along this coastline, hidden away, just around the corner, waiting to be discovered....a Five Card Flickr story by Rebecca Force created Oct 04 2019, 08:56:41 am. Create a new one!
When driving to work, yet again, she thinks back to when she did nothing but swing until her feet touched the sky. When at work, she teaches young adults things they haven't yet learned, like what it feels like to mourn someone you love. Then she goes to class to learn about things she hasn't learned yet herself, like how to assess Five Card Flickr. Before bed, she thinks of her sister, the one she holds only in memory now. When it's time to sleep, it's time to mourn. And she knows that some day, it too, will be time for others, probably her children, to mourn her.
Exposition: It's the juxtaposition between play (swings) and work (driving). The mood is reflective and sad.
Rising Action: She is teaching and then learning.
Climax: She mourns her sister when she gets ready for sleep.
Falling Action: When it is time to sleep, it is time to mourn. Thus, even in a time of comfort, the reality of life is hard.
Resolution: Someday