Fast becoming known as the number one place to find seasonal work for our World Travellers / backpackers, Bell Lodge has arrangements with a number of contractors, packhouses and family businesses who are looking for seasonal workers for kiwifruit picking / packing & pruning (at no cost to you, we ask only that you stay at Bell Lodge). Our contractors are those that Bell Lodge feel comfortable dealing with and have excellent contracts and work practices in place for the you the employee. Kiwifruit Jobs are available almost all year round with breaks of up to four weeks between the seasonal changes. Picking would generally start towards the end of March and last for 6 - 8 weeks, with packing starting at the same time though lasting right through to late September with repack. Winter seasonal pruning starts around the end of June and lasts for up to 12 weeks. There is a period of general orchard work followed bythe spring seasonal pollination and flower thinning, Summer pruning and other general orchard work is available through the summer months and there is also opporunities for those who are keen to work for longer hours (up to 20hrs per day) to earn very good money. It is a bonus if you have a car although the contractor may be able to arrange transport for a small charge per day.
Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty is probably the biggest area where kiwifruit is grown and havested in New Zealand. Other areas include Northland and the Hawkes Bay. Some of the fruit from those areas is transported to the Bay of Plenty for packing and export. If you are a World Traveller backpacking around New Zealand looking for short term work and are happy to stay at Bell Lodge while at the job great weekly rates are offered for those who do stay for a while and work.
If you are a backpacker travelling around New Zealand and wanting to earn some extra money you will need to have a work permit, Inland Revenue Dept number and a New Zealand bank account. Work Permits can be arranged in most instances via the NZ Immigration website www.immigration.govt.nz. To find out more about getting an IRD number go to www.ird.govt.nz. This can take up to 10 working days to be processed, but generally 5 working days after the application has been received by IRD you can ring and ask for your IRD number. We can help you in sorting out or obtaining the right documents for your IRD Number. Bank accounts can be opened at any bank, the closest to Bell Lodge is Kiwibank and National Bank. You will need proof of where you are currently living to open the account again we can help with this too.
There are opportunities to work within family businesses both in kiwifruit or Flower Work Flower & Foliage Work, though these jobs are highly sort after and we make sure the right people are placed.
Please Note:Whilst Bell Lodge Backpackers Hostel and staff advertise work that they have been made aware is available, we are 100% honest. We will not say there is work when there is not. Mother Nature throws some challenges into the mix, weather, fruit condition and such making these seasonal work positions sometimes difficult to get started. And not all of our contractors are working exclusively with us.
We cannot be held responsible if the job falls through or the contractor changes the start dates etc. We will make every effort to notify you of changes or find other work for you where we can.