I arrived at the Sunshine Coast Airport on Tuesday, October 11th. I was picked up 45 minutes late by Justin, the owner of the YHA Hostel that I have come here to work for. When I get to my room, there is another girl here who has come for the same job. Her name is Kirsten, from Scotland. I like her because she is very positive and even when she doesn't agree she just laughs. She seems like a free spirit. I have also met Tina, from Germany, who is not happy that two new girls have been hired for her job. Interesting. Others I have met are Natalie, from Toronto, Canada. She is a guest at the hostel and we get along great. We have even discussed travelling to Bali together in a few months. There is Glen, an Aussie backpacker who is slightly annoying in his strong opionions. Joe from Ireland, who may have a crush on me but he's only 21. Martin from Germany, funny and cute. And finally, Justin, the hostel owner who is completely neurotic and slightly creeps me out with his live-in Thai girlfriend who looks 12. These are the memebers of my new Maroochydore "family".
My new job at the hostel includes check-in and check-out for guests, bed changing, laundry, cleaning and grounds-keeping. I actually really love cleaning the pool. There is just something so soothing about vacuuming underwater. The work can be hard, especially in the heat. But it gets me free accomodation and a few hundred dollars a week. Shifts are 5 hours and I am promised 30 hours per week. Justin, the owner will be going out of town on Wednesday for the next month. We are all looking forward to that.
Maroochydore reminds me of Hawaii, with high-rise condos on the beach. But it's also very quiet. It's a small town becuase I keep running into the same people. But it's very nice. We get good thunderstorms here and good beach days, too.
On our second night here, Kirsten and I headed to the Duporth Tavern in town for free beer. It's a promotion for guests of the YHA on Thursday nights. It was nice to get away from the hostel after a 10 hour day of training. There was an Aussie Football League party going on at the tavern. Some guys in their 40s came over and invited us to join them at their table. The first question I was asked, "Do you want to see the flaming ass?" Of course I did! Here we are on the patio of this pub and this man takes off all of his clothes and proceeds to shove a long piece of toilet paper up his ass, light it of fire, and take off running. I have photos.
On my first Friday night in town, a group of us from the hostel decide to go out for a night on the town. We called for a taxi to take us 5 miles south to Maloolooba. We had a great night at O'Malleys Irish Pub dancing to a live band and a DJ. The place got packed after a while. After returning to the hostel around 2am, I went straight to bed. Later in the night, a guy comes into my room with a lighter trying to find his way in the dark. I assume it's one of the drunk guys who went ot the pub with us and had come back to my room with Kirsten. I tell him to get out. He tries again a little while later. I yelled "who is it?" He backed off again and slept in the room adjoining mine. I kept thinking this drunk guy is going to burn this place down with that ligher and I have no way out. I also was thinking I am to old to be dealing with drunk backpackers coming into my room at night. The next day, I learn that the guy was, in fact, an intruder. He had come into the hostel after all the drunkies went to bed and robbed them. He tried every door to find and unlocked one. Kirsten had forgotten to lock ours. He took a knife from our kitchen and cut window screens to try to break into some rooms. He slept in our room! It was all caught on video surveillance. I was informed today that the police have identified him and are going to arrest. Scary!
Natalie, Tina and I are spending the day today making plans for what is next. We have all decided to stay in Maroochydore and continute to look for other jobs. More to come!
