Toady we are showcasing the most iconic industry in New Zealand, Kiwifruit picking.
If you are on a working holiday visa right here in New Zealand , chances are you are
going to be joining the kiwifruit industry. this is one of the largest employers in the
country and this is one of the easiest kind of jobs to get so we decided to something
a little bit different today and take you in the heart of the kiwifruit industry through
the eyes of heaps of backpackers that are working there to fund their travels around
this amazing country.
What better place to learn about the kiwifruit picking industry than the kiwifruit capital
of New Zealand which is Te Puke it's just outside of the city of Tauranga but the most
important question is how much money are you getting paid?
They can make good money so we put them first day on obviously a lower rate, the second
day they know how to do their job so it's up to them if they want to pick fast and properly
is what we're over the bins for to make sure the job is getting done right. Then they go
onto the higher rate.
Long story short we did walk around and ask those backpackers how much money they are
actually making out of kiwifruit picking. they are paid per bin that they are filling
up as a team, it's kind of a pro rata system and at the end of the day they were making
18-23 dollar per hour, which is pretty good considering the minimum wage is around 16
dollars per hour.
That rate applies to green kiwifruit, every type of fruit in New Zealand has a different
pay system, for instance the gold kiwifruit a much more fragile so it takes longer to
pick them and then they are usually paid per hour at this point, so if you guys are planning
on working in the fruit picking industry in New Zealand make sure to head to backpackerguide.nz
where we have plenty of articles explaining in detail what are the kind of pay schemes
you can expect in the different kind of picking jobs you can do in New Zealand. It's really
insightful so you'll know basically what you are getting yourself into.
But more than the pay, the reason why those kind of jobs are so popular amongst backpackers
is cos it's usually a really friendly job where you meet a tone of friends.
When it gets like this you feel pregnant. Like what you can imagine a pregnant person
would feel like.
Because everyone needs to work as a team to fill up these bins as fast a possible in order
to get paid as much as possible there's a real sense of comrade among the group making
for a super fun atmosphere.
It's pretty empty in there.
Wow. You leave the sass at home.
I know, it's easy to give sass when you're not doing it.
Everyone that we're working with right now are actually staying in the same hostel as
us at the Pacific Coast Lodge because the Pacific Coast Lodge is actually a working
hostel in Mt Maunganui. Meaning that if you stay with those guys they can help you find
a job like this one around the Tauranga area.
On top of that, they also usually organise the transportation making it super easy if
you travel New Zealand without a car to make it to work but there is not just fruit picking
jobs there is a tonne of other jobs in the kiwifruit industry and we are heading to a
major factory.
We all love our new kiwifruit. So this kiwifruit was a reject from the line but it is said
to be the sweetest tasting kiwifruit it just doesn't look that pretty. So the kiwifruit
people they kindly gifted us our own rejected kiwifruit and we will cherish it for as long
as it will last.
I'm gonna eat that thing tonight for sure.
Next of Day 322 part 2 we are following those kiwifruit that we picked up this morning toward
their packing factory we're gonna see the entire process of putting them into boxes
which is another super popular backpacker job right here in New Zealand, we'll show
you all the ins and outs and on top of that we also gonna try this infernal cadence of
packing them. Join us tomorrow.
I think we've got enough so you can stop, or you don't have to stop , keep going.
Basically she's saying you're pretty enough to be on camera. That's literally what Laura
just said right here.
No.