Tamara Lodge Backpackers

I am the receptionist and housekeeper for the Tamara Lodge Backpackers. Monday through Friday I only work evenings since they have a standard live-at-home worker for those mornings, but the weekends are crunch time, when I work 9-10 on Saturday (2-3 hour break in the middle) and 9-9 on Sunday (no break).

The weekday evenings work is pretty simple. For 3 hours (5 on Fridays) I have to make sure the kitchen has some semblance of cleanliness and orderliness, and every hour or so I have to make sure the bathrooms have enough teepee and clean towels. Plus I fold and put away all the linens that were washed that morning. Aside from that I mostly just read or watch tv or meet some foreigners, but as long as I'm on duty I'm on call at the front desk, meaning whenever anybody needs to check in or has any question about anything I have to come running. Usually this means selling wireless internet vouchers, phone cards, answering questions about stuff to do around town, giving tours of the facilities, getting towels, and taking reservations.

Weekend evenings are the same thing, but the mornings are quite a bit more involved. As guests check out, I have to strip their beds, chemically-sanitize their rooms, vacuum the floors, wash the linens, hang the washed linens on our clothesline, scrub the bathrooms, and thoroughly wipe down the kitchen. As I'm doing this I have to be on constant alert for the bell at the front desk for check-ins, check-outs, and more questions. It's a good thing there isn't a whole lot to do in this town and that it's hard to fill the non-work hours, because it makes the long weekend hours a welcome break from idleness.

There are only 2 backpackers in Wanganui (that I know of) so we get quite a variety of guests. We get small families, the elderly, the mid-life crises, the partiers, and the barely-speak-Englishers. Let me introduce to some of the more memorable ones.

There's Lucy from the US, who is traveling around NZ via bicycle, which is both crazy and completely awesome (I've met a few others doing the same since she arrived). She always taught me how to fold fitted sheets.

Werner is from Germany. He was in town for the New Zealand Masters Games, which is like a mini-Olympics for anyone over 35 including events such as the 5k run, croquet, euchre, line dancing, badminton, swimming, and scrabble. Werner talks like the guy from Mary Poppins who can't stop laughing and floating up into the air.

Evelyn has perhaps the most stereotypically proper British accent you can imagine. She is a sweet old lady who asked me for advice on what trainers to buy.

There's the octuplet of 7 Americans and one German who were in NZ for some church mission thingy. They gave me free ice cream.

Paolo comes from Italy. Paolo was probably the best example of the high standards/high maintenance traveler who at the same time wants to travel on the cheap. When you stay at a backpackers you should have certain expectations, one of which is the fact that you are not at a five-star hotel. Paolo forgot about these expectations. Requests included: someone to do his laundry, rides to and from the bus station, someone to make phone calls for him, and breakfast.

Geoff is a 44 year old man from England who could easily replace Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow because the doest the best impression I can imagine ever hearing. He gave me some free beer, and after I gave him the tour and showed him to his room, he asked if there were any ghosts.

As for the other employees, Fiona is a local who does the weekday morning/early afternoon shifts. She's very friendly and sympathizes with new employees thankfully.

The place is owned by Barbara and Rory. Barbara comes from Canada, apparently from a place voted the friendliest town in Canada, which is definitely saying something. Rory comes from NZ. Earlier in his life he did his own fair share of traveling, hitchhiking across the US from west to east, and doing the same in Europe before working at a travelers' lodge in Holland, without speaking any Dutch. Together they make the best managers I've ever had. Yesterday they made too many mussels for dinner so they gave me a whole bowl full of the extras. They were amazing.

Future blog updates: my take on New Zealand food and music, as well as what I should have done differently.