Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Olivier 'Rambo' then moved onto
le vieux chêne
. He climbed onto the roof of the winery
and removed the smaller side branches, then attached himself to the crane, which lifted him
into the sky and lowered him onto the tree. Positioned about halfway between the double-
storey winery roof and the top of the tree he attached himself to the trunk, attached the
chains of the crane above and sawed through the wood in the classic pose displayed in his
advert. He had to manoeuvre like a rock climber holding a massive chainsaw that even in
the most stable situation would have been difficult and dangerous to operate. The crane
operator lifted the upper section free as Olivier finished the cut, missing him by inches. I
could barely watch. He gradually moved down the tree, cutting off huge sections in similar
fashion. There were gasps of awe from the three generations of Feely girls in the front-row
seats. John left us in disgust under the auspices of taking photos from the other side of the
winery.
Oaks are notoriously difficult trees to judge because of the considerable size and weight
of side branches that influence the way the tree falls or moves. Apart from his good looks
Olivier was an exceptionally skilled tree surgeon, I thought. I was in awe.
When he came back into the courtyard Olivier looked exhilarated and exhausted. I could
see now that the red headband was not a fashion accessory but played the important role of
keeping the sweat out of his eyes in such exacting circumstances. I brought him a glass of
juice. The
grosse grue
had already left. John came up to join in.
'C'était difficile,'
said Olivier. 'Perhaps one of the most difficult I have done. At one point,
on the second level of
le vieux chêne
I cut and the crane lifted but it swung because of the
uneven weight and missed my foot by millimetres.'
'I don't speak French,' said John, 'but I am a forester and I just want to tell you…' John
paused for a long moment as he often did. I wondered what was coming next. Perhaps
'you're a bit of a cowboy'? '… the job you did out there today was exceptionally skilful.'
Olivier was visibly moved. Despite a significant language barrier, the tree men had a long
discussion about everything from the age of
le vieux chêne
to the trees John had worked
with in South Africa.
Olivier sawed the beautiful oak into 50-centimetre lengths. I thanked him profusely.
Our harvest was safe and we could go back to work in the winery. But Sean's finger was
still total agony if something touched the bandage. He was working again but being single-
handed was slow. John and Peta-Lynne would soon be leaving us and I didn't have any idea
how we would bring in our Saussignac dessert wine, let alone do the work on the wines we
already had in the winery.
Sophia and Ellie were showing signs of
vendanges
stress. Sophia developed bed-wetting
problems after months of being dry, Ellie was picky at mealtimes and wouldn't go to sleep
at bedtime. We had not had a moment to spend with them in six weeks. Our evening meals
were rushed and often in relays because of the hellish tempo dictated by the harvest. While
on the face of it Sean and I were getting along OK there was a constant undercurrent of
