A Day in the Life

For the past 3 months, I have been basically doing the same thing every single day.  I make it sound mundane, but I have enjoyed all 3 months of it.

The morning walk to the main street

First off I wake up.  During vintage the wake up hour was absurdly early (4:00 am) but outside of the busy time it is around 6:00 to 6:30 am.  Since I don't have a car, I get picked up by coworkers.  Most days it was Quentin in his Snap Test Tag van.  One time it was the winemaker Toby, which I was nervous about since winemakers are intimidating, but it was cool (he made me coffee).  Quentin would have me walk out to the main street (100+ yards/meters).  When we started work at 5am I did not like this.  That 100 meters in the dark was scary and then waiting for some odd minutes (because as vintage went he got later and later) was cold and scary.  Now it is light out (yet not warm) when I get picked up so I don't mind waiting at the street.

Always waiting for Quentin...

The drive to work takes us straight through the heart of Tanunda, right by Foodland, the pubs, and the bottle shop.  St. Hallett is not too far from those.  I have actually ran to St. Hallett to visit the arvo shift a couple times, 3.6ish miles, therefore not far.  

At work, we all drop off our food in the kitchen, and go our own ways.  The cellar crew goes to the cellar desk to have Greg tell them what to do.  I go to the lab, put my work boots on, and wait for Bec to tell me what to do.  Sometimes I calibrate, other times I start to sample right away.  

The work day is hard to put into a pattern.  During vintage we would have juice samples, grape samples, press samples, racking samples…a lot of samples.  Now there are more samples dealing with sulfur levels, malic/RS/VA levels, copper trials, acid trials and post bottling analysis.  We always have the music on in the lab, preferably on blast but not always, sometimes people need to talk on the phone or think.  The winemakers come in and out of the lab: checking the analysis book, saying hi, giving us lollies (the usual).  Often we are searching for the winemakers to give them "urgent" analysis.  It is always fun to see Jez biking by when I need to tell him something and running out to catch him.

Quentin finally arrives

The day wraps up by putting all of our equipment away and to rest.  A lot of times I get a ride back to Tanunda with Brooke (not Quentin) and go to one of two cafes with internet.  She would let me drive her car sometimes too! I don't have internet at home so this is my only way to connect to the outer world: I update my blog and Facebook, email important people, maybe video chat with Will.    Both cafes know me now.  Once I got hooked up with a free salad! 

The cafes close about 5 and I walk home.  I pass Foodland on the way and either pick up some groceries or don't.  A few times I stopped at the Tanunda Bakery and treated myself to a sweet or bread.  The walk is about 2 kilometers so I get to listen to my iPod and try not to sing out loud for 20ish minutes.  

My street :)

When I get home there is always the search for my key in my backpack.  Sometimes I find it and use the front door, other times I give up and use a window to get in.  And because I don't have internet to distract me from productivity, I usually go for a run around the area.  Sometimes I will run towards Nuri, sometimes around a dirt road, rarely towards St. Hallett.  I have improved my long distance running thanks to this habit.  I can run 4 miles in a little over half an hour!! Yay me.  

The rest of my day is just dinner and sleep really.  During harvest I really didn't have that much time after work it seemed.  If I got home around 5, I would run and workout till 6, take a shower, make some dinner and all of a sudden it was 7:30 and my bed time was 8.  Simple yet productive afternoons.  

I am sure if I had a car my days would be a little different.  I wouldn't have to walk in the dark, wait in the cold, or be stranded in the Barossa.  Honestly though, I don't mind that much.  I think I am experiencing a true country life style.