Rear Action

Harvesting has begun...At least it has for the Gateway Vineyard and the Villa Maria wine company.
I bowled up to the vineyard fairly early this morning, donned my hi-vis vest and checked in with the Vineyard owner and the staff responsible for health and safety in the workplace.
There was a very big crew on hand, some operating the three Pellenc harvesters, the tractor drivers hauling the hoppers, personnel on hand for a myriad of jobs such as checking the machinery and training operators.
It was a hive of rural industry and I just loved being in the thick of all the action. A Country Girl at heart.....
I captured lots of interesting details and features of the harvest. The only problem was selecting just what to blip!
I finally decided on the rear end view of one of the harvesters as it straddled the row and slowly proceeded to harvest the grapes. I am amazed at the intricacy and engineering of these machines. They are truly amazing. There is virtually no waste material at all pulled off the vines, into the hopper like containers on the machine and subsequently fed into the big tractor hauled hoppers. It is just pure grapes being pulled off the vines, no stalks, no pips and certainly no leaves. Incredible design and engineering.
I will certainly arrange to go out to other vineyards during vintage in order to photograph and blip the full gamut of activities. I just hope you won't get bored with it. I am looking forward to an interesting and entertaining few weeks.