Tropic Days Backpackers

Behind the wheel

Before entering Tropic Days, please shave your head and if a smoker, quit now. Simple requests I know, but for some reason people just didn't want to comply. So a large amount of my time working as the cleaner/driver for Tropic Days was spent cleaning the hostel(people shed way too much hair in the tropics) and cleaning ash trays. The rest of the time I was collecting people from the airport and trying to memorise guests names. For example,
Frank - "What should I do while I'm in Cairns"
Me - "Sorry I can't answer you, I'm trying to memorise your name, Morris."
Kathy the co-owner of the hostel is a little OCD when it comes to cleaning. Tropic Days is the cleanest hostel I've ever seen. There is a rigorous cleaning routine to follow and Monday and Thursdays are bleach days, yes I know Mother you're thinking "Isn't EVERYDAY a bleach day?" But apparently not.
Although this created a wonderful environment for guests, even those smokers busy shedding hair, it meant come the end of the main clean on bleach day, myself and the other cleaners would stumble with streaming eyes about the hostel.
Tropic Days can only accommodate around 40 guests and for me this was a great number, it gave me a chance to know most people, after all I was working 6 days a week, 15 hours a day, so very likely to either be collecting new guests from the airport, train station or bus depot, and/or giving them a tour of the hostel. I loved getting passed the stage of "how long are you in Cairns for" and actually getting to know people. Although on particularly tiring days I would find it tedious to talk of Australia, I wanted to say "let's talk about pygmies", actually anything but Australia.

With one of my favourite guests, Kaz.

When the hostel had available beds (often in the low season) I would have to meet the buses arriving in town and try to "tout". I learned quickly that shouting "anyone need a bed for the night", would produce startled expressions and was better suited to Kings Cross. I went for the "Anyone need accommodation?" angle, sometimes with good results, but the majority of travellers book ahead. Much of my time was spent in the minivan waiting for the bus to arrive, reading and trying to stay awake.

Dan, me and Yuka wait for the Premier bus

Even having a floating light in front of me, didn't help me sell any beds...

With Yuka and Nicole

A perk of my job, was free meals at the Woolshed, one week I had fish and chips five times! It was great. I also got free soft drinks and 50% off alcoholic drinks, but never had the time to make the most of this. On my day off I was able to go on excursions for free. It's an agreement most hostels have with local tour operators. The theory is I would recommend particular tours to guests.

Stopping for a photo opportunity

The pool at Tropic Days

This was a typical day, you can see why I've fallen behind on posting.

7am - Open up the hostel, open doors, clean bathrooms and kitchens, etc.
7.30am - Drive guests to the reef terminal.
7.40am - 10am - Start stripping vacated beds, put first laundry load on. Pick up any scheduled arrivals from the airport. Get any empty rooms cleaned and ready for new guests.
10am - Cleaners start work until midday. Strip more beds, get rooms ready and then start clean of communal areas. At 10.30 drive guests to town. Possibility of airport pick-ups.
12pm - Time for the quickest shower in the world!
12.15pm - Drive to town
1.10pm - If beds available (quite often) meet Greyhound bus and tout beds to backpackers.
Free until 3.30pm unless airport pick-up scheduled.
3.30pm - Drive to town, on return to Tropic Days, do afternoon open, same as morning open.
4pm - Collect laundry from lines (if not raining), begin folding and putting laundry away.
5.20pm - Meet Greyhound bus (if beds available) and tout!
6.15pm - Drive to town, if no guests returning go to Woolshed for tea.
7.20pm - Meet Premier bus and tout beds.
8pm - Return guests from town to hostel.
9.30pm - Return guests from town to hostel, do close down, quick clean of bathrooms and kitchens, turn off lights etc.
10pm - Official end of working day.

I would try to take a power nap if there was time in the afternoon. I found 20 minutes was the optimum time, any longer and I just couldn't wake up again! I relied heavily on Pepsi Max to keep me going.
Although I was tired much of the time, I loved Tropic Days, I think it's the nicest hostel I've seen in Australia. The owners Kathy from Belfast, and her husband Gabe (a typical Australian in that he grew up in New Zealand and India) met while travelling and opened Tropic Days ten years or so ago. They have a second hostel, Travellers Oasis and I was lucky enough to know the staff at both hostels.
They have employed a long line of backpackers in the role of driver, most people stay for a few months, before travelling more or returning home. Gabe advised me early on to try and enjoy the job as much as possible.
I lived in the staff dorm room, with some great people. Yuka (Japan) was a constant, while other faces changed, Steph (Germany), Noa (Germany), Nicole (Sweden), Melanie (Swiss), Lucy (Swiss) and my replacement Mari (US). We got on really well and I was very sad to leave. Before I left Yuka told me about her first impressions of me, apparently "You are so tiny and have a really small head"! Always able to make me laugh, it was also great to have a rant to one another when things weren't going so well.
I'm now in Perth and it's strange to just be "another backpacker", I loved having a base for a while and although it's great to be travelling again, I was sorry to say goodbye.