The last blog saw us settling into life on the duck pond in Townsville. We got into a nice routine of waking up early (between 5.30-6.00am), heading into the marina and walking along the strand stopping to do some upper body workouts on some free exercise machines and on the way back jumping in to swim for approx. 15 mins, a really great way to wake up in the morning.
After that I would head to the Yongala Lodge to do my housemaid duties where I had to service anywhere from 5-11 rooms each shift sometimes with help and other times on my own. Even though it is not obviously my ideal job it does mean we had some money coming in and I chose to work each shift with a smile on my face, a positive attitude and heaps of enthusiasm. One day the boss asked to speak to me after my shift and instantly I thought “oh no what have I done incorrectly” (why is it that the mind instantly comes up with negative scenerios)? It turned out that she had to head to Brisbane for two days and was asking whether I would be up to the challenge of living inhouse and running the place while she was gone. Obviously I said yes and after one hours training (seriously that was it – one hour) she left and I was in charge of this 18 room lodge/motel.
It didn’t take long to fall into a daily routine of working flat out between 8-12 to check people out and clean those vacated rooms. If there was over 8 rooms then I would call in another person (Claire) to help me out. I would then be able to rest for a couple of hours, reading, having a swim in the pool and just relaxing before people would start to check in from 2pm onwards. I would then close the office at 7pm however still be on call and having to head downstairs (my rooms were upstairs in the lodge) if someone rang the doorbell for a late check in. For this I was getting paid at 8hours during the day plus a set amount for staying overnight, Saturdays are 1.25 and Sundays are 1.75. I had originally been asked to stay for 2 days which soon got extended to 4, to 6 and finally ended up being 10nights. Camille (the owner/manager) noted that she felt really happy leaving me there as I was receiving some very positive feedback on booking.com etc which was great to hear.
During this time Craig elected to come in and stay with me and was kind enough to unofficially help me out at times around the place which definitely made my job slightly easier. He also cooked all our meals and looked after me with back rubs and massages when needed, such a great boyfriend!
Camille finally arrived back and I was able to have the next couple of days off relaxing and sleeping back on board REAO, it was quite nice being back on the boat as I had missed her. We noticed when we were heading back to REAO for the first time that a red catamaran that had been anchored between us and the marina was gone. It had not been in good shape and apparently had been purchased by the current owners after she had been damaged in Hurricane Debbie. Previously it had dragged on its anchor and had to be resettled and we figured they must have moved her somewhere else. That was until we looked along the beach and saw her cast up on some rocks, apparently her anchor had failed again and sometime during the 10 days we were away from our boat she had drifted off and managed to beach itself on some rocks close to where we use to swim in the morning. We wandered along the strand the next morning to have a look and she was not in good shape. A huge hole had been gouged in the side by the rocks and the owners were on board trying to salvage anything they could. We have no idea how they are going to remove it from where had has come to land as it is definitely no longer sea worthy.
A couple of weeks ago I had decided to send my group fitness resume to the manager of the Kokoda Pool (the centre tried for the world record aqua class). It wasn’t long before she sent an email asking whether I could come in for an interview. Unfortunately the two times she suggested I was unable to make it due to working at the lodge and it was then that she decided to just bite the bullet and asked whether I could come in and take a class and she would ask the participants what they thought. I was more than happy to do this and headed along on a Tuesday to take a class. They were a great group of ladies who gave the manager a glowing report straight after the class meaning I was then offered some permanent classes. I was asked whether I could take 5 classes a week but was unable to commit to any during the day however was more than happy to take on 3 early morning ones, running Monday, Wednesday Friday, 7.15-8.15 starting the following Wednesday.
The Tuesday before my first permanent class I was sorting out my music and decided to check which bus I could catch to get there before 7am when I discovered that the buses here don’t start running until 6.40am. Hmmm a slight problem then! Wednesday morning saw me waking up at 5.15am, leaving the lodge at 5.30am and walking 90 minutes to the pool. I was able to take the class and then catch a bus back towards the lodge getting back just on 9am where I would open the office. I thought about buying a bike but decided to just stick to walking there 3 times a week. At that time of the morning it is quite lovely. When I had agreed to take on these permanent classes we hadn’t had discussed payrates which meant when I got my first pay from them I was slightly surprised that it wasn’t as high as I thought it was going to be. I rang the manager and explained that I was expecting at least this much due to my qualifications, she spoke to their accounts department and came back with a yes that is okay, instant pay rise, awesome!
After walking to a few classes I came up with the idea of purchasing a scooter which would cut my time down. We managed to find one on sale ($100) and the next day saw me scooting to work cutting down the 90 minute walk to a fun 35 minute scoot, score.
Back at the lodge I had had a meeting with the owners who asked if I would be interested in running the motel long term, obviously the answer was yes and Tuesday the 14th saw us both move back upstairs of the lodge. I will get a couple of days break towards the end of the month then will work through until the 30th of December which is when the girls arrive from Christchurch (so excited for that). After that the decision will be up to us and we figure as long as we have good $$ coming in we will stay and earn it meaning when we head out for our next adventure we can stay out for longer.
As a bonus we found a sewing machine downstairs which Craig promptly set up and is currently resewing all of REAO’s cushions (this man is talented). Every couple of days he will head back to the boat to do some little jobs, tasks that need doing.
I am already feeling fitter with having to scoot to 3 aqua classes each week and working a physical (minimum) 4 hours a day running up and down 3 flights of stairs to get to all the rooms. We feel very lucky that our decision to come to Townsville has panned out for us and although Craig isn’t working the fact that he helps me out is hugely beneficial plus it allows him to get stuff done on the boat so when we are ready to leave we will be in the position to do so.
If I had turned up to my housemaid job and put in a so so effort this opportunity would not have happened. The fact that I gave it my all every day with a smile on my face was the reason the owners decided to ask me to manage the place rather than call in a previous manager they had used.
So my advice is no matter what it is you are doing, do it well and do it with enthusiasm (even when you think no one is watching) as you never know where it may lead you!