Two words can sum up our first week at Mungerannie Hotel...
Bloody Fantastic!!!
We couldn't possibly have stumbled across a better place to work for three weeks. Our managers, Pam and Phil are really great and we get along with them really well. The pub itself is damn cool, with dusty old Akubras that once belonged to drovers, stationhands & workers in the area hang from the ceiling, with timber walls and floors giving it a true rustic feeling and all ice cold drinks are served in their respective can or bottle snug tight in a stubbie cooler. Mungerannie Hotel is, without a doubt, a REAL remote outback Aussie pub. Thankfully too, even though we don't have mobile phone range up here, Pam & Phil have been nice enough to give us access to their internet connection. So, we're back on board for blogging each week of our Mungerannie adventure.
Meet Phil...
Just incase you don't believe me or have zero idea what I mean when I say 'remote'...
(A) is Birsdville, QLD. (B) is Marree, SA. The blue line is 520km long and that is the Birdsville Track.
(A) is Birsdville, QLD. (B) is Marree, SA. The blue line is 520km long and that is the Birdsville Track.
Mungerannie is about 220kms north of Marree (B).
Surrrounding Mungerannie are 4 deserts - the Simpson Desert, the Tirari Desert, the Sturt Stony Desert and the Strzelecki Desert.
There is lucky to be 30 people living within a 100km radius from where we are.
Our closest medical centre is 3 hours down the track in Marree.
All mail delivered via Port Augusta by the Monday will (hopefully) reach us by the Thursday.
One of our neighbouring Cattle Stations' driveway is 45kms long.
Even on the nicest of days, a dust storm could hit us within one minute and we wouldn't be able to see more than 2metres in front of us.
At night time, all you can hear are the dingoes howling, the trees swaying when the wind picks up and the occasional hum of our generator. And the entire sky just lights up with stars and when the moon's out it shines bright enough to guide you to your camp without a torch.
So, while the actual place may pass the test. What about the work?
This week Tom and I have only worked the hours of one person. We've prep & clean the place ready for (hopefully) the onslaught of folk coming through next week during Easter & School Holidays. Our workload consists of pretty much anything that needs to be done around the place. That includes prepping & plating & cleaning in the kitchen, restocking & serving in the bar, cleaning the bar & dining room area, restocking food supplies, general maintenance, cleaning & turning over the accommodation rooms and cleaning the toilets & shower amenities.
I was fine with the concept of having to clean up someone else's mess in the toilets, providing I was supplied with appropriate protective gloves (although if it were up to me, it'd be more like - full body suit, mask, goggles and gloves) . Cleaning the toilets for the first time went along relatively smoothly to start off with. We cleaned the Ladies with no troubles. But Pam had warned us that the Mens is ALWAYS worse than the Ladies.
She was right.
And this theory has been proven time and again the more we clean. I was ok with it all until I first entered the Mens toilets and saw that god awful stainless steel trunk mounted to the wall with little (what looked like) funny shaped tea light candles along the bottom.
Urgh!! Urinals.
I cleaned and flushed my first ever urinal with a very unimpressed look on my face. (And I'm sure that if I had a mirror staring at me right now as I write about them, I'm quite sure I'm pulling the same Unimpressed-Urinal face once again). But, it has to be done. Get in, get out and get it all over and done with... until the next day that is.
Tom just had to get a photo of me with my mouth VERY full.
Thanks to the artesian basin we're sitting on at Mungerannie, we have our very own thermal hot springs pool. I'm still having trouble getting used to the green algae on the base of the pool, but we have both been in for a dip. Something tells me Tom will be in there more than me...
There's a very unwelcome ants nest right in the middle of our campsite. Evil Tom got busy with the Ant Rid on their nests. Personally, I think he's begun a losing battle but it's keeping him very entertained :) 
Even on the nicest of days, a dust storm could hit us within one minute and we wouldn't be able to see more than 2metres in front of us.
At night time, all you can hear are the dingoes howling, the trees swaying when the wind picks up and the occasional hum of our generator. And the entire sky just lights up with stars and when the moon's out it shines bright enough to guide you to your camp without a torch.
First day of work... here we come...
So, while the actual place may pass the test. What about the work?
This week Tom and I have only worked the hours of one person. We've prep & clean the place ready for (hopefully) the onslaught of folk coming through next week during Easter & School Holidays. Our workload consists of pretty much anything that needs to be done around the place. That includes prepping & plating & cleaning in the kitchen, restocking & serving in the bar, cleaning the bar & dining room area, restocking food supplies, general maintenance, cleaning & turning over the accommodation rooms and cleaning the toilets & shower amenities.
I was fine with the concept of having to clean up someone else's mess in the toilets, providing I was supplied with appropriate protective gloves (although if it were up to me, it'd be more like - full body suit, mask, goggles and gloves) . Cleaning the toilets for the first time went along relatively smoothly to start off with. We cleaned the Ladies with no troubles. But Pam had warned us that the Mens is ALWAYS worse than the Ladies.
She was right.
And this theory has been proven time and again the more we clean. I was ok with it all until I first entered the Mens toilets and saw that god awful stainless steel trunk mounted to the wall with little (what looked like) funny shaped tea light candles along the bottom.
Urgh!! Urinals.
I cleaned and flushed my first ever urinal with a very unimpressed look on my face. (And I'm sure that if I had a mirror staring at me right now as I write about them, I'm quite sure I'm pulling the same Unimpressed-Urinal face once again). But, it has to be done. Get in, get out and get it all over and done with... until the next day that is.
Thanks to Pam's five star cooking efforts, we are being fed VERY well -
Dinner # 1 - Barramundi, Chips & Salad
Dinner # 2 - Chicken Wings & Vegies
Dinner # 3 - Veal Schnitzel & Salad
Dinner # 4 - T-Bone steak & Salad
Dinner # 5 - Tuna Mornay
Dinner # 6 - Pork steaks with Bush plum sauce & Salad
Tom just had to get a photo of me with my mouth VERY full.
Thanks to the artesian basin we're sitting on at Mungerannie, we have our very own thermal hot springs pool. I'm still having trouble getting used to the green algae on the base of the pool, but we have both been in for a dip. Something tells me Tom will be in there more than me...
There's a very unwelcome ants nest right in the middle of our campsite. Evil Tom got busy with the Ant Rid on their nests. Personally, I think he's begun a losing battle but it's keeping him very entertained :) One of Tom Kruse's old trucks.
Just waiting for the bus (a council bus has never driven down the Birdsville Track).
We're really looking forward to the adventures that lie ahead and the collection of people we are bound to meet during our time at Mungerannie. It's a great place to be and we're really enjoying ourselves. Although, we might be singing a different tune once we get smashed with all of the travellers next week... we'll just have to wait and see.
2 comments:
Hey there Amy & Tom
That pub sounds like a real adventure in its self.....and welcome to hospitality Amy. Good fun aye (lol.) Don't you just love those mens urinals. Wait till the Easter break (he he!!!!)
Hey Amy don't be a chicken. You gotta get into a real thermal hot spring. If there is no dead bodies, go getums, animagtors, or dead ferals, what a great way to spend an evening, sucking on your favourite beverage, gazing at the stars....just heaven!!!!!
Look forward to your next post, and have a great time. Once you get a few knotches in ya belt, might recommend you to some jobs we can't do.
CYA
Us
Hey! Just catching up with your last few posts - it's HELL being away from my laptop! SO enjoying your adventures in the outback - we'll have to do a serious rig upgrade to do the Birdsville track, but looking forward to it one day!
Mungerannie looks GREAT - every now & again Phil is interviewed on TV (mainly about the inept gov't ferry 'solution'), but that's all we ever hear about it!
Look forward to the adventure continuing!!
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