Bud Rubbing

After the adventure at Sawcut Gorge, Chris and I returned to working on Jon's vineyard. Chris was quite gleeful that he was going to go back to Wellington before me, so he would not have to keep working. By this time we had finished all the wire lifting and moved on to bud rubbing. Bud rubbing consisted of knocking off all the canes that are growing along the main stalk of the vine. 

As I was going up and down the rows, I heard this strange cheeping sound. It seemed as if it was simultaneously in front of me and far away. I stood for a bit, listening carefully.

Eventually I determined that the sound was right under my nose. These four guys were hungry and waiting for mum. Every time I tapped the vine, they would open their mouths. Jon had told us to take out any nests we found. I wasn't sure what to do in this case. He told me we turn a blind eye to nests with personality.

However, nests where there weren't personalities living, we still took out. I must have pulled out a good seven nests. Some empty, some not. In one case, I found a nest because a bird flew out of it right in front of my face. It gave me a serious fright!

After three days, we finished the bud rubbing. At some point, I asked why there were roses by so many of the the vines. I was informed that the roses catch disease faster than the vines, so if a rose is unwell, it is possible to treat the vines before they die.

I had a great time with Jon and Bev and I learned quite a bit in a short amount of time. On my last day, they both took me back out to Picton to catch the ferry. The view along the Marlborough Sounds is breath taking. It was the reason I took the ferry rather than fly. Unfortunately, I was so tired after a solid three weeks of activity that I passed out during a good part of the Sounds leg of the journey. Ah well. What I saw was still worth it.