Working it

After leaving Karuna Falls the gang all stuck together for one more week of work...asparagus picking in Matamata. Picking asparagus isn't hard, you simply slice the asparagus with a knife and put the spear in a bucket, but the money didn't come easy because we only worked one to two hours a day. The boss had overhired, making many hands and little labor. By 7:30 a.m. (we started at 6 a.m. Before the sun could wilt the veggies) we were sent “home” each day. The decimated fields couldn't keep up with our eager picking.

Finding a “home” each day and ways to spend our free hours became our pastime.

When we first arrived in town we were rejected from a local camping site Opal Springs because we were too dirty to camp.

“I don't want your asaragus mud clogging my showers,” resoned the unreasonable camp director.

“Does is look like we shower?” Katie retorted to no avail.

Our home hunting began with an ego blow. Too dirty to camp? Unbelievable.

We decided to make charity cases of ourselves and plead out situation to the local Anglican church reverend, who willingly took us in and gave us access to the kitchen. A game of hide and go seek in the dark church and a batch of chocolate chip cookies lifted our spirits and we settled into our free accomodation.

The second night we found refuge in a small cabin that was offered to us by a man Cat met while hitchhiking. An adorable pad that was gutted of all its furniture, but had hot running water, a shower, toilet and functioning stove and kitchen sink and had a strawberry patch in the back yard.

The next night we camped by a river surrounded by beautiful bush walks.

The fourth night we drove to mount manganuie(sp?) and after a night on the town slept in our car in a parking lot between the police station and rose gardens. Not classy, but very cramped. We had the next day off from work (to give the asparagus a chance to recoup) and we spent the day bathing on a beach before returning to Kim's house. Kim was a coworker's friend who offered to rent us a room for the night. Unfortunately the next morning while in my sleep stupor I melted Kim's electric kettle on the stove (it looked like a regular kettle) and I had to pay for the damaged appliance (kettle not stove).

Other than almost burning the house down and scaring all its occupants ( the house was floor to ceiling in smoke) we ended our week of work and house hopping unscathed.