The last blog saw us returning to the duckpond in Townsville and starting to look for work. We were applying for manager positions for couples of which there were a few advertised and within a few days we were getting replies and requests for interviews. While this was happening we contacted our boss from Rockhampton to let him know we were available and sure enough he came back asking whether we would be interested in heading to the Outback in NSW to work for 6 months at a lodge they had recently purchased. It didn’t take us long to make up our minds and before we knew it we were on a plane flying to Sydney where we were driven by the boss on a 12hour journey to Mungo Lodge.
The following day we started work with me running the front desk and Craig doing anything and everything. The lodge (being the only accommodation around) is found 3 kms from the Mungo National Park which is known for Mungo man and lady; the oldest known human remains outside of Africa. It turns out with people unable to fly out of the country due to Covid a lot of them had decided to use this time to explore Australia which it seemed included discovering Mungo NP and therefore Mungo Lodge. We were flat out from the get go, learning systems on the fly and running the lodge booked at full capacity with skeleton staff as the increase in bookings caught the owners and managers by surprise which is why we were called in to help.
It is funny how you go into something expecting one thing and then something totally unexpected happens. Well that is what happened with us when two months into being at Mungo Craig and myself found ourselves running the lodge as managers. Craig took on the very popular Sunset tours, taking guests into the park to walk on the lunettes at sunset and explaining the history of the area while I took on all admin and HR duties.
Mungo Lodge consists of 17 deluxe cabins, a set of bunkrooms (think backpackers) and a campground with an amenities block not to forget the airstrip. There is also an onsite restaurant/cafe which is the only food around for 90minutes with a continual stream of visitors looking for coffee and food. All roads around this area are dirt which makes for an interesting time when it rains over 15mls as the local council will then shut the roads to ensure they are not damaged. This has happened a couple of times since we have been here meaning we have been cut off from the rest of the country with no one getting in or out. We don’t get a rest however when this happens as the phones and emails continue and its a fantastic time to do behind the scenes maintenance and other catchup jobs.
While here we have both learnt new skills which will definitely help us going forward with both of us now being able to make proper barista coffees, we have new front of house skills, Craig has learnt tour guiding and I can now programme POS and create new tours in a system called Tour manager.
We have currently been at Mungo Lodge for 4 months and will be here approximately 1 more month as we wait for the new managers to arrive. Once we have handed over to them and feel comfortable they know what they are doing we intend on buying a cheap 2nd hand car and slowly driving back towards Townsville. Currently the borders for the islands are still closed so at this stage we are unable to sail out of Australia however there is one thing we have learnt and that is a new adventure is just waiting around the corner.
What our next adventure will be is a mystery however I am certain it will be exciting!
Lunettes at sunset looks beautiful! What a different experience being out there.
Great update! Those owners must LOVE you two. All the best for the final leg and the drive north…that will be great I bet.