I'm working hard around here. My days typically start at 8AM. I wake up, walk downstairs, go outside and light a fire in the boiler. This fire making process consists of dry timber, cardboard boxes, and a Bic lighter, because matches in the wind are the worst. I've become pretty good at lighting fires, though not very good at tending to them to make sure they don't go out. See previous point. The boiler heats all the water for the lodge, so I pity any early-risers who try to take a hot shower before I wake up.
The Lodge, from the inside
After the boiler is nice and toasty, I wipe down every surface In the lodge to take off some of the ash that drifts from the fireplace. Then it's usually breakfast time, some muesli and a couple pieces of toast for 15 minutes while I check twitter, because lord knows I need my baseball fix. I find odd jobs to do around the lodge (today I sorted 20 or so decks of cards which had accumulated in a big messy basket over the years. Sadly, no complete decks.) Every day I spend half an hour or so walking the grounds, picking up cigarette butts and trash to keep the place looking nice. This is my favorite time of the morning, when the air is cold and the river is loud and it's just me with my thoughts and sometimes a hangover. At 10AM my work starts in earnest.
10AM is checkout time, aka time for the housekeepers to make everything look good again. In River Valley there are several lodging areas:
-The Lodge: Two 16 bunk dorms, two double bedrooms, and one attic for the "slave" (that's me!)
-The Bunkhouses: Four 6 bunk rooms, two suites
-The Bungalows: Five suites
I haven't done the math but that's a lot of beds to make. I'll spare the gory details, but Georgie the housekeeper and I take down and remake all of the used rooms, which can take anywhere from 2 hours on a light day to 7 hours with some overflow into the next day on the worst days. Suffice to say, I've made more beds in a week here than I ever did over the course of my life before this. Same goes for the number of square feet vacuumed, because that part comes next.
Typically we break for lunch at 1230. Miranda, the chef, is absolutely fantastic. So much good food. Lunch has been anything from sandwiches to chickpea curry to fresh bell pepper soup. Anyway, amazing lunch aside, it's time to get back to work.
After all the vacuuming and bed making, comes the real glorious job: toilet cleaning. 3 days a week a bus of 25-35 people comes through the lodge, and cleaning the 5 communal toilets in the morning is a real treat. Just going to leave it at that.
Lastly, there's the laundry. Some of its done offsite, but the majority is done in the afternoons by Georgie and I. 5 loads of laundry is a typical day, and I'm proud to say I can now fold a fitted sheet well. After the laundry all that's left for the average day's housekeeping is to sweep and mop the lodge.
On the days when less people have spent the night, I've still got plenty of tasks to keep me busy. Brian, the boss, was excited to bring me on because he wants me to fix up that trail I showed you guys in the last post. Pretty cool, even though the level of instruction on how to put in nice steps on the trail consisted of showing me where the hammer, nails, and lumber are. My first step attempt may or may not have been washed out in the torrential rain we got last weekend, but I'm learning.
That about does it for my days. The nights, though. The nights are a different ball game. I spend my nights chatting and having a few drinks with the staff, and then having a few more drinks and getting to know the guests. The buses are always packed with new arrivals, mostly from the UK, and it gives me a great chance to meet new people who I can hopefully meet up with later in my travels. After one too many drinks by the fire, I make the long trip up to bed.
Seems like a pretty fun way to spend vacation, right?
There are also some perks I haven't mentioned yet:
-The View:
That was outside my bedroom window when I woke up this morning. Yowza.
-The Sauna
Yep.
-The Food:
I know I mentioned it already. But damn.
-The not-so-typical chores (**Disclaimer: Mom, please don't look at this picture.**)
If you squint your eyes juust right you can see the helmet and safety harness, I promise.
-The Staff
Last but definitely not least. The people here at River Valley really have made the last week of my life something special. I'll try to shed a little light on the whole team in the next post, but really I am having a wonderful time getting to know them.
That's it for me for now, off to sleep and then to do it all again in the morning!
Cheers,
Jared
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