THURSDAY 1 MAY     ADELS GROVE

We got up early, still in the dark. Went over to start unloading the truck, at 6.30am. As the pallets were unpacked, on the dry dock deck, I checked off their contents against the various shop dockets that came with the orders. The routine from last year soon came back!

I had to phone the truck office in Mt Isa and let them know the truck had been here overnight, so they could in turn let the store at Doomadgee, and the people at Redbank Mine, to the north-west, know that the truck would be late to them too. If this was not done, people would start to worry that there may have been a breakdown.

I was on shop/kitchen again and B had more tent repairs to sew, so I got the joy of cleaning the amenities again! I tried to assist cook a bit, but there was not much to do.

Open air tent repairs

I did do a lot of scrubbing, on hands and knees, on the dining deck. Fat from slopped dinners had soaked in and left really obvious trails that did not look good. The boss really did need to investigate sealing that deck timber, as a matter of urgency.

The bosses arrived back mid afternoon. They had brought a little old Suzuki back, to be used to ferry staff and cleaning gear about and take supplies to the hire tents – located some distance away from the linen store. That would be a big improvement on using the little hand cart and walking all over.

John was on yard work today. At the moment, with few campers in, this was not too onerous. Once the place got busy and lots of the camp sites had to be groomed after campers left, this would be a full-on job. Sites were raked and fire pits cleaned out.

Camp site with fireplace. These sites were always groomed and tidied after occupation

I knocked off at 6.30pm, exhausted after a very long day in the heat.

WEDNESDAY 30 APRIL     ADELS GROVE

Today I was rostered onto shop/reception, and helping in the kitchen, as it was M’s day off.

B was on cleaning/housekeeping. She brought her sewing machine up here with her – very “crafty” lady – so she had the task of trying to sew a replacement zip into one of the tents. I was soon to realize that zip issues were a regular occurrence, because most of the tents were fairly old, and were not great quality to begin with. They got quite rough treatment from some guests too.

So I cleaned the showers and long drops for B.

V showed me more of the shop routines. It was quite complicated, with register codes, and the like. It seemed that the register was designed for use with a scanner, but we had no such creature. One enters a numeric code for the item being purchased, and a pre-programmed price may then flash up. However, this may not be the correct price, because prices may have changed and the register not been updated! So, mental arithmetic and adjustment required. As well as trying to learn the programmed codes, to get faster at the process. For items with no pre-set price, like fuel – which was paid for at the shop – one had to enter both code and price. A good degree of care was needed. It was to prove all too easy to place zeros in the wrong position, thus charging 28 cents instead of $280!

I also had to try to master the use of the credit card machine – another first for me. Another place where those zeros were waiting to ambush me.

The mail plane came in to our air strip during the morning . V took the outgoing mail bag over to it and brought our bag of mail back. This proved to contain our first batch of mail from home, sent as arranged with the house sitter, and my newspapers. There was an interesting letter from the sitter.

John was on canoe hire.

I decided that the cook was not exerting herself, overly. She worked a split shift arrangement, with three or four hours off during the day. She then sat on the deck, drinking wine or beer for a while, before tackling dinner. I wondered how she was going to get on when it got busy, and she was regularly catering for fifty or more, as we did last year.

The roads in this area are being thoroughly worked on, which is most welcome, as it has not happened every year, to date. Some of the road crew stayed here, some of the time, and cook and her daughter seemed to be quite friendly with some of them.

The weekly supply truck, due today, was very late arriving – at 7.30pm. We all refused to do the unloading, at that time. It would not be a fast task. So the driver stayed the night. The company doing the trucking to these parts had changed since last year. This had made it harder for the boss, who now had to order on each Monday, for delivery on Wednesday of the following week – i.e. ten days away, and before the current week’s truck had arrived, and it could be seen what was missing from that order.

TUESDAY 29 APRIL     ADELS GROVE

My work today was much the same as yesterday’s.

I washed sheets and towels used by the fly-in duo. Had to wait for them to depart, which was rather late in the morning. But I got the sheets dry and put back on the same beds, which is the idea. There are not that many surplus sheet sets, and the ones that have been put on the beds kind of go with the doona covers in that tent.

I cleaned the showers and the three long drop toilets that are located near the guest tents – closer than the ones in the main building and until this was completed last year, the only ones at this end of the property, for guests. It was not a pleasant job, because of the smell!

Shower block for tent accommodation. Water heating donkey at back of tank stand

There was only one working washing machine, so doing the washing was slow going. But I did manage to get our washing done, as well.

During my lunch hour, phoned the newsagent in Mt Isa and arranged for them to send me the Weekend and Monday Australian newspapers, in the weekly mailbag. It would cost me about $10 a week. I wrote a cheque for $120 and “posted” that in the mailbag, to go out to them this week.

I finished work just after 5pm. Showered, then relaxed till tea time.

John was on canoe hire today, at the National Park. He enjoyed it. There are not that many tourists yet, so it was not all that busy.

The bosses drove to Mt Isa today, until Thursday. They said they were confident with their team here, in their absence!

One of the men would have to go and close the front gate a bit after dark and then remember to open it again first thing in the morning. A big old white bull had been an intermittent visitor for some time, but was showing up more often, and would be chased out of the place when seen. The closed gate was to try to stop him sneaking back in after dark. Bull in a china shop might be one thing, but bull in a crowded campground, in amongst the guy ropes and gear, had a whole lot more potential for chaos.

The nights were quite clammy, still. There were cane toads everywhere.

MONDAY 28 APRIL     ADELS GROVE

Our first day of work. The alarm went off at 6.30am. Too early! John went over to the deck for his breakfast, but I had mine at the van.

John then drove off to the National Park, to observe the canoe hire in action, and “learn” it.

I started at 8am.

I swept the shop, verandas and dining deck – that took over an hour. Cleaned the new building amenities. That also took ages, as I had to clean things that hadn’t been done for a while, but which I thought should be done on a weekly basis – clean the scale from the water off the toilet bowls, clean the white tiles that skirted the base of the walls, and clean the mirrors.

B  started out helping me, but then she had to drive to the National Park to take her husband his thermos flask, which he had forgotten. She did mop the floors when she returned.

I suggested to the boss that the leaf blower be used on the verandas and deck, instead of sweeping.

There were three donga rooms to be made up. These were the rooms that the builders were staying in last year, now available for guests as an alternative to tented accommodation. B had washed the sheets from these yesterday. I made up the beds, set out towels, cleaned the rooms, then hosed down the veranda that ran across the front of these four rooms. I also cleaned the chairs and tables on that veranda.

I learned a lot about the housekeeping side of operations, today.

The old tour bus that was the room for H the tour guide from Mt Isa, last year, had been converted into the linen store – it was parked close to the laundry area. H now used one of the staff donga rooms, near where our van was parked.

During the morning, the boss showed us how to empty the Telstra public phone that was located out the front of the buildings. She needed a key, laminated card and empty coin box. We actually collected more than her printout showed should be there. Then the coins were counted and exchanged for notes, to be put away for “banking”. Money had to be taken to Mt Isa for this, usually by the company tour staff.

I had an hour break for lunch. Helped myself to food put out in the kitchen for staff, and sat out on the deck. This was quite pleasant, with very few guests about. When it got busier, I thought I’d probably take my lunch across to the van, as I did last year.

Late April sky, seen from the grove area

I finished off the day in the reception/shop, learning about the booking methods and the use of the register.

I knocked off about 5.30pm, by which time I was really weary. There had been a lot to take in, through the day. Had a shower, over in the block at the back of the tented accommodation. The cool water was very pleasant.

John’s last job for the day was spreading sand about to fill in gaps in the laid stone work at the campground amenities. It had been John’s idea to do it, to reduce the risk of someone tripping, but it was quite late in the day when the boss started him on it.

Two guests had come in, during the morning, flying in an ultra light plane. They were staying overnight. A boss drove them to the National Park for part of the day. They were to be entrants in the big Gregory Downs canoe race, at the weekend. I talked with them, for a little time, before and after tea.

Dinner was at 7.30pm again. The cook seemed a bit under the weather. There was steak parmagiana, but this was not as juicy as the way the cook did them last year. They were not put in the oven to cook until 5.30pm! There were potatoes, carrot sticks, a broccoli mornay made with very yellowed broccoli. Dessert was carrot cake on a platter, with pieces of honeydew and rock melon, and grapes.

There were some adverse comments because the dinner was dished up for some time before we were called to get it, and was almost cold.