GROW Rachael Fairweather, Kaya Walsh and Rachel Vis, left to right
Cadet Collab Innovative labour solution SOPHIE PREECE
KAYA WALSH has always had a thing for tractors, which her hotel workmates found hard to fathom. “They all thought I was mad,” says Kaya, with a laugh. But when Covid-19 saw the hotel supervisor’s hours plummet last year, her interest in tractors led her to an intern scheme shared by three Marlborough wine industry employers - Ormond Nurseries, SLT, and New Zealand Wineries. “There’s so much to learn about that you would never know working in the one job,” she says 16 months later, working as a team leader at Ormond Nurseries. “I love working between all three.” Kaya was the test case for the Vine to Wine intern collaboration, created to address labour pressures in peak periods, while offering a full year’s work to each intern. Knowing 15 hours a week at the hotel wasn’t enough to support her and her son, Kaya had approached vineyard machinery company SLT about a job in winter 2020, and general manager Dan Campbell saw an ideal candidate for the initiative. “We have always had a bit of trouble having enough staff in the summer period,” says Dan, who had researched bringing people from agricultural colleges in Ireland and Scotland. “The more I spoke to people the more difficult it got.” When Covid came along, that option was off the table, “and at the end of the day we would rather employ Kiwis and give them an opportunity”. Since that winter, Kaya has had two periods working with SLT, including driving tractors in the busy summer season, two stints at Ormond Nurseries, and a vintage at New Zealand Wineries, in the pressured vintage push. The cycle means she is literally hands-on from the grafting of the vines at the nursery to the making of the wines at the winery, with tractors in between. “I had no idea before I started doing this what goes into making wine,” she says. And Kaya is in no hurry to specialise in one area, relishing the changing landscape of her wine career. “I feel I could
12 / Winepress October 2021
“I had no idea before I started doing this what goes into making wine.” Kaya Walsh learn so much more,” she says, noting how different it is to seven years of doing the same thing at the hotel. “When you do change you’re constantly learning new things. The heart races a little and you think ‘how can I do better next time?’” Brendan Varney was one of the collaboration’s inaugural interns, and is also at Ormond Nurseries, having already worked for SLT and then at New Zealand Wineries. The Covid-19 pandemic saw Brendan lose his job in the travel industry, and he says the internship was an opportunity to get his foot in the door of a new career pathway, and to glean insights into different facets of the wine industry. He plans to get another year of the internship under his belt before deciding on what to do next. But whether he stays in the rotating role or opts for a full-time position, he’s now in the wine industry for good, he says. “The door is wide open for a lot of opportunities.” Rachel Vis also saw the internship as a chance for change, getting her out of hospitality and into the outdoors. “This job came up, and I thought ‘that sounds cool to be able to try all aspects of the industry’.” She’ll stay on in the internship for another round, then thinks she’ll specialise in one area. “It’s definitely a good opportunity,” Rachel says. “They have set up to cover their seasonal work, and we get to do three different jobs throughout the year.” The four interns move through each workplace together, so while the roles might change, their core crew stays the same. “We bring our family with us,” says Rachael Fairweather, the fourth of the interns, known as Mama Rach in the workplaces, alongside Aunty Kaya. “I am the person who asks all the questions,” says Rachael. “Why do we do that? Why can’t we do this?” And throughout her winter work at the winery, and now at Ormond Nurseries, there’s always been someone with a good answer, she says.
