“It isn’t until you stop that you realize how fucked you are.”. These words of Sam quite accurately describe how the long days in the vintage feel. During the work days there aren’t really any breaks. One jobs follows the next and the machines are always moving as they don’t make any money while standing around. After work we usually sit in the shed for a beer or two and because it is the first time my body can relax I feel like I had a whole six-pack afterwards.

The weather has improved over the last days and we got some work done. Some vineyards are hit by diseases like botrytis but most are still ok. The rain also left many blocks as big muddy puddles which is quite a problem when heavy machinery has to get through there. The harvesters got stuck a couple of times but with the help of one or two additional tractors they got pulled out again.

At the moment the Barossa area is getting a lot of rain. That’s bad for me for two reason. Firstly the grapes can’t be harvested when it’s raining because the harvester can’t separate the wet leaves from the fruits. Secondly the grapes had enough rain and any more could do serious damage. The grapes get mouldy and prone to diseases. I’m concerned that the harvest might come to an early end, taking away from me the opportunity to earn money for a trip to Asia and Europe.

Back in Adelaide for a couple of days now. There is probably no work till Tuesday and I didn’t feel like hanging around in that old farm house. It’s a fine place to sleep at but there’s not really anything else to do. Work in the vintage is, as already mentioned, highly irregular. Right now all the big wineries have filled up their fermenters and don’t need any more grapes for the next days.

The last days have been pretty busy and working times have been all over the place. Yesterday I started at 2:30 am, worked till 1pm, went home to sleep and came back at 7pm for a couple more hours. As I’ve been told that’s pretty standard for vintage. “Sleep is overrated.” or “Eight hours off? Don’t get bed sore.” is what my co-workers say about it. My work is usually two or three different jobs on the tractor or harvester each day and in between there is cleaning up and moving the machinery to the next job.

One week after my first experience with night work I now have a chance to get used to it. At 3am in the morning I left Adelaide to start work on the vineyard at 4:30. This time not as a tractor driver but on the harvester with Jim. That harvester is a huge 9.5t load of steel and needs a driver and somebody to have a look if everything is working alright - my part.

When I did some research on which farm to visit next I found out that the grape picking season is about to start around Adelaide. That brought up the question of whether I could make some money while accumulating the necessary farm work time for my second year visa. Regular fruit picking is still not an option as it is backbreaking work and shitty pay. I don’t like jobs that involve either of that.

Can’t believe it’s been almost a month on the farm now. Here’s some impressions from that time. View over the farm - the house is behind the trees Sunset The small river that crosses the farmland Ben, JD’s girl friend and AJ in the kitchen One of the peacocks (looks worse at the moment cause the dog got hold of it…)

This morning Susan left for a couple of weeks of holiday in France. The farm is now in backpacker hand, mostly in Ben’s who already spent more than five months here and is in charge of everything now. While it might sound like endless partying all day and night, it is not. The three Frenchies are as boring as a white carpet. They hardly ever chat and if I wanted them to drink a beer I’d have to force it down their throats.

On Saturday AJ, Sean and me went for a little off-road action near the farm. AJ took his 4WD, Sean manned the quad and I gave AJs dirt bike a try. I never sat on one before and never drove a motorcycle off the road. Well I did once but that didn’t end well. With our colourful group we headed down to the river where a crossing leads to the more remote parts of the farms land.

Ever since we left Brisbane I wanted to get my car checked because of some suspicious noise from the CV joints. I got a recommendation for a local mechanic from Susan and stopped by his shop on Thursday. While he examined the car I went for a stroll through Yass. The town is almost 200 years old and with a population of 5.300 reasonably big. The main street features a lot of old buildings and if it wasn’t for the cars and the tarmac it could almost look like the Wild West.

6:30 am, the alarm clock is ringing. Due to daytime temperatures of 30-35°C we now start work at 7 am to be done with it before the worst heat kicks in. I spent the last two days with removing dead wood from tree lines and driving it to the farms fire place. It was about 12 trailer loads and when that pile of wood is set on fire one day, they’ll see the smoke from Canberra.

It’s been almost a week on the farm now and I’m still having a really good time. In the beginning I was a bit concerned about whether it would be a good deal to work 4-5 hours a day and just get food and accommodation in exchange. But the food is just awesome and the work is usually easy and often fun as well. My main occupation is still taking care of the farms electric fences.

At the moment I’m staying on a small farm near Yass, about half an hour north of Canberra. It is actually more a riding school and pet care than a farm. I’m a voluntary worker which means I get food and accommodation in exchange for work (more info on helpx.net). There is four of us helpers here in total and I spent the last two days with a Swiss/Irish guy repairing electric fences.