Just handed in the notice for my flat. I’m moving out on the 5th of March. The agency I was in touch with didn’t get back to me - despite what they said. For Monday I had an interview with another agency scheduled but they gave me a ring to tell me the interview was cancelled and that they’d do a phone-interview later that day instead. Which they didn’t. Yesterday an agency I interviewed with weeks ago rang me and asked if I was interested in a position they were looking to fill.

So far I haven’t handed in my notice for the flat. The only reason for that is the interview I had last week. The job description sounded very good with interesting projects, recent technology and some international travel (an issue for many but a bonus for me). On top of that an above average pay would make any money worries a memory. The manager who conducted the interview seemed quite happy with me as well.

The company that brought me in for interviews last week would be one of the last places I would want to work at. Just an unprofessional bunch of hackers. Kinda reminded me of my last employer in Germany, the one that made me hate my profession. Sure enough they came back to me this week, asking me to come in for a third interview with the management. That usually means they are willing to hire me.

Recently I got an email after being invited for an interview with an agency. It read Please bring passport Room and forms please Wondering why the recruiter would ask me for a room and forms, I checked the recipient list of the mail and saw that their front desk received a copy of that mail. How lazy can you be? Is it unprofessional? I’d have written two mails. The lady doesn’t seem to be too concerned about the impression her mails leave, as the next one started like this

On Wednesday I had an interview with a third recruitment agency. I wasn’t too keen on going as my experiences with the agencies are not the best so far. It was worth it for the view alone though, saw Auckland from their office on the 38th floor in the CBD. Nice. The interview was outstanding in that the guy was unusually open about my situation, shedding some light on the pros and cons of my resume.

Yesterday some friends and couchsurfers came over for Thai food. I was a bit overwhelmed by the response to my invitation and in the end it was eleven of us who needed to be fed from two hot plates. Good thing that Thai food can be cooked quickly, once all the preparations are done. As I don’t have a massive dinner table, we had the food Thai-style: on the floor.

So what if I don’t get a proper job in NZ? In that case I’ll be in a remote corner of the world with my funds on an uncomfortable all-time low. I would then have a couple of options. 1. Try to get some casual work to keep myself afloat. That could give me some more time to find an IT job, but I think if I haven’t gotten one by the end of the month, I’d need a lot of luck to get one any time soon.

I’m starting to feel home at my new place and what remains needed now, to truly feel comfortable, is a regular income. The job market is doing it’s annual phoenix from the ashes impression and there is a couple of interesting positions available. So far seven applications have been filed with three more in the making. One got rejected, one got me an invitation for an interview on Thursday. Not too excited though as I’ve been at that point before.

The job application is still ‘work in progress’. The recruitment agent taking care of me has been sick for two days. Looks like I won’t get a decision from the company this week. Other than that I had a fairly quiet time. I went to the biggest weekly couchsurfing meeting I’ve ever seen (100+ people) and got in touch with some of the locals. New Zealand doesn’t feel that different than Australia to me, although the Kiwis wouldn’t like hearing that.

On Tuesday morning I showed up at the recruitment agency for a little chat with my agent. It really was just a quick chat, after five minutes everything was settled and he sent me off to an interview with their client, the actual company I’d be working for. There HR greeted me and gave me a short briefing about the company and it’s history. It followed a 1/2 hour written test on C# and SQL (programming for those unfamiliar with the terms).

“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.

Over the last couple of weeks I worked for the car rental every now and then, covering for other workers either at where I worked before or at the shop my room-mate works for. One day I drove four really old people to the airport. As it turned out they were German mormons who moved to Australia a couple of years ago. When they found out that I was German as well, the guy in the passenger seat started questioning me about how it is in Germany at the moment.

More than one week since the last blog entry. It’s been some busy days. I’m still doing the developer job and Andy was so happy with my work that he’s now paying me by the hour. Every couple of days I tell him what he owes me and he gives me cash on hand. And it really is cash on hand, no cheque, just bills. Not being used to carrying around a thick bunch of fiftys in my pocket the first stop after leaving the office is always the next Commonwealth Bank franchise.

On Tuesday my boss from the car rental told me, the worker I had been covering for returned earlier and that they’d need my help no more. He thanked me for helping him out, told me I was a good worker and out I was. Came somewhat surprising but I can’t really expect much from a job that’s completely of the books. The next morning I got a call from another car rental, they got my number from my former boss and needed someone to cover for the day.

Since of last Thursday I work as a car detailer for a small car rental company here in Cairns. Getting the job was quite easy in the end. On Tuesday I spread my CV over the car rental companies in the city, on Wednesday they called me and the next day I started. Working as a car detailer means I clean up the cars that customers return, drive cars from the airport back to the shop, pick up customers at their hotel and the like.

Turns out the hostel I’m staying at offers free internet. That is as long as it works. Yesterday one of the IT guys told me “yeah, we’re having some problems here but we’re defragmenting the internet right now. Should be up and running soon.”. Great, that’s total nonsense but as long as it works i’m fine with it. Anyway, Cairns has been really nice so far. The weather is warm and sunny and the hostel (Tropic Days) is just marvellous.