SATURDAY 28 JUNE     ADELS GROVE

John back on grounds and I was floating again. Jack of all trades!

I did the reception/shop for the early session then, once B came on duty there, I went and helped in the kitchen. I went off at 2pm for lunch and break, and then back on at 6pm to help with dinner prep. I helped carve several roasted lamb legs for the evening meal.

John stayed after tea and helped with the wash up again, to help me do it.

There seemed to be some staff tensions developing. This was probably inevitable in such a small, enclosed community. B asked the boss if she could become the permanent kitchen hand, once the German lass left. She did not cope well with the pressure of the shop/reception work, and did not like the tent house keeping work. However, she found it hard, I think, to admit all that, so found it easier to say she did not like working with V and me!

The pals brought up a supply of books about Riversleigh, for us to sell in the shop. I bought one, and had it signed by Mike, his wife and the man who was the main organizer of the dig. They actually remembered that I’d been cooking for them, last year, and wrote pleasant things in my book.

This was the last night for the full pals group.

Adels Grove and the Lawn Hill section of the National Park

Late in the afternoon, a group of five or six aboriginals had come into the shop, initially to buy some supplies. They had been down from Doomadgee, camping and fishing about 5kms down along the creek. Then their vehicle had broken down, about 3kms out along the road. They asked if “someone’ would take them back to Doomadgee. The boss said we were all too busy. They started asking tourists, as they approached the reception area,  to do it – but were refused by all.

In the end, for the sake of getting them out of the way and not harassing the tourists, the boss asked John to drive them back to their camp spot, in the bus. They were none too clean, to put it mildly, and John had to open all the bus windows to air it out, after he got back!

Unfortunately, we found out later that B, when unpacking supplies and stocking the shop shelves, had put a bottle of methylated spirits out there, and then sold the bottle to the group. We did keep a bottle or two of this in the pantry store, in case of campers asking for same, but it should not have been out on display. No one had told B this – she wasn’t to know.

FRIDAY 27 JUNE     ADELS GROVE

John was on grounds – again. Apart from him doing a good job, there was also the factor that B’s husband did not like that job – especially the amenity cleaning. When rostered on that, he did not do it well – or sometimes not at all! That one preferred the canoe hire, or doing unrostered “special” jobs about the place, like building planter boxes for flowers. Such things were often his idea, rather than being requested.

The Grove area at left, Lawn Hill Creek and the swim pontoon; road south in the distance.

I was floating, but spent most of the time on reception. B was rostered on that, but then disappeared into the kitchen, which she preferred. She was not at ease in the shop.

We had to unload the weekly supply truck at 9.30am. It was a really big order and there was, as a result, stuff everywhere. I managed to get a bit put away, in between serving people.

I went off at 2pm, had lunch and stayed off till 6.15. Helped serve dinner then was on wash up, which was a really big one. It was a baked chicken casserole, so was a messy washup, too. John stayed after tea and helped with all that.

THURSDAY 26 JUNE     ADELS GROVE

I was on tents, John on grounds. He felt he was being typecast in this role, but he does such a good job of it. There were multiple tasks within this work – just depended on what needed doing at any one time, on top of the basic campground cleaning and grooming.

Without a full supply of these, there would be no hot meals!

I did the early session on reception. There were only a few tents to do and I’d finished all that by late lunch time.

Then I helped in the later afternoon rush on reception, which really needed two people now. There was always a rush of later arriving campers booking in, and the check in procedure for each was quite time consuming.

The Camry couple left today. D had managed a to fix the gearbox. It cost them $850 for repairs and second hand tyres, to get them back to proper help – via Gregory and Burke and Wills! He seemed to think he’d got off cheaply – which he had. In the end, they really enjoyed their stay, despite the inauspicious start.

SUNDAY 22 JUNE     ADELS GROVE

I was on reception, John canoes. Lovely 10am start for me, but late finish in the shop. At least, the till balanced – which did not always happen. When it was “out”, one stayed checking it over until the reason for the discrepancy was found – which was most of the time. But with often several people working the till at different times through the day, it could be hard to know who made what error.

We ran out of icy poles and ice creams – due to the forgotten order last week. That meant disappointed campers. Most travellers never stop to think of the logistics of getting supplies in places like this, and so expect us to stock everything they might want – and at city prices!

The helicopter arrived with the Archer family. Mike wife, Sue, is also an expert in the field of fossils, and would participate in the dig. They had a person to supervise their daughters.

The shop and reception work was steady through the day – numbers really building in the camp areas.

Part of the campground. The grove area is at top of photo

The pals helicopter pilot would be available for sightseeing flights over the National Park and surrounding area, in between his morning and afternoon trips down to Riversleigh with the leading paleontologists. He asked if we would publicize/sell these flights at reception – $80 for a 10 minute flight. He intimated that if we did well at the sales, he would do a free flight for us! Definitely motivation, that!

Helicopter on the air strip, refuelling

SATURDAY 21 JUNE     ADELS GROVE

I was on tents, John on amenities/grounds.

John by the laundry and linen store bus

I helped in the kitchen first, doing the clean up from breakfast. Then made up the morning teas for the paleontologists, who mostly arrived around midnight, last night. They had flown in to Mt Isa, then driven up here in hired 4WD vehicles. That made it a late night for the bosses, who had to wait up for their arrival, but did not disturb us.

Today was the backpacker’s day off, which I thought cook was relieved about. Hence the need for my help. I put out the materials needed for sandwich making for the pals’ lunches.

After all that, I went off to do tents – there were only four vacated this morning, so that did not take too long.

Brushing leaves from tent roof – part of the cleaning routine

There was a broken zip in one of the pal’s tents, so I ended up helping the boss sew in a new one.

Then it was back to the kitchen, where I made the pre-dinner savouries for the company tour group – they always had this late afternoon extra that was not available to general guests.

Finally, I stocked the shop – putting out on the shelves some of the supplies that came in yesterday, replenishing the drinks fridge from the stocks in the pantry store, and the like.

I worked from 8am till 6pm, today, with a half hour lunch break. They got their money’s worth today!

A plane flew in parts to repair the Telstra chopper, it was fixed, and they left.

The supply truck that came in yesterday had taken on a broken down vehicle, for transport to Mt Isa, for the RACQ. Its owners were staying in a DBB tent and would go back to Isa with the company tour group, tomorrow.

It would be full on for the next nine or ten days, now.

I still had not managed to get an exact departure date for all of the pals, from their organizer. He might be great with dead bones, but was not so good with live bodies! I just hoped they would be gone on 29th, as he earlier said they might be, and not later – as we had two large tour groups booked in on 30th. I really did not want to think about the tent house keeping at that time!

The leader of the pals – Professor Mike Archer – and his family, would fly in tomorrow on the helicopter that they use for transport to the dig sites, and aerial checking. Not for them the bone rattling “commute” the 40kms or so down to Riversleigh, every day!

Our day off already seemed like a long time ago. I knew the next one was not for ten days.