Gettin' Slizzard

It seems that everywhere I travel I am known for two distinct traits: being the token Canadian in the group and my loud laugh that can be heard across the island, or so I’ve been told by several people. I find myself laughing a lot here. So far this has been a great place to finish off my ‘Australian tour’.

I’ve got a solid group of friends here at the moment. My neighbour, Ben, is probably my closest companion on the island. It was his 41st birthday today and I left his party early to get some introvert time in which I know I’m going to pay for tomorrow when he hassles me for being a ‘party pansy’ as he likes to call me. He works as a Naturalist on the island, doing tours and guided activities for our guests. I call him Brother Ben because he has really taken me under his wing and we spend every afternoon catching up and enjoying the free-flowing conversations over a beer (or five).

The other part of our little crew of misfits is Emily and Danilo. Emily is a hard-shelled Aussie chicka who is dating one of the greatest people I’ve ever met, Dani, an Italian sweetheart who always greets me with a double-kiss on the cheeks. I love these two. They balance one another out very well.

‘The Argentinians’ as we call them are a lovely couple named Denise and Martin. They are very smart and generous and are always up for joining Ben and I for porch beers. Ben and I are in the best location – our porch is on the main path which leads to the local bar and the beach so anyone headed that way ends up walking past and joining us for a chat. I feel really loved by the people I’ve met on this island. It makes it a lot easier to be comfortable and myself, a far cry from how I was feeling in Exmouth in the end.

My front office managers, Jessie J and Alastair, are the greatest people I have ever worked for. They are extremely patient, thorough and take time to teach me everything without missing out on any steps. They see that I’m really eager to learn everything possible and really feed off my energy.

The guests here, however, are much different than those at Sal Salis. Because our resort is owned by an American company, we get far too many Americans coming here – about 50% I’d say. It’s funny how all the Australians mistake me for an American, but the Americans can tell right away that I’m Canadian. I’ve finally realized the difference between the New Zealand accents and the Australian ones – the Kiwis basically sound like Aussies except with their noses plugged.

Overall, the guests that come here are paying a lot of money so it’s understandable that their expectations are so high. Sometimes their expectations are absolutely ridiculous, but I have made a fun game out of all the ass kissing I do. For instance, the other day an older gentleman that was staying with us came to the front desk inquiring about a restaurant that was in Cairns nine years ago that he would like to go to on his second evening back from the island. He couldn’t remember the name of it, but the street and the look of the inside. After a lot of searching, I located the restaurant, booked him a table (a very specific table, second from the corner of the right side of the room) and even made sure his favourite waiter, Alessandro, would be there to serve him. I know how absolutely ridiculous that sounds, but making that all happen for the old man – who for some reason could remember every single detail of that restaurant’s interior that he visited once nine years ago but couldn’t even remember my name or that I was wearing a nametag – I felt really good about it, oddly enough. I like the challenge of making shit happen, because when people are this stinkin’ rich, there really is no excuse for saying no, you just have to make it happen.

I’ve been working pretty strange days. Like last week, I worked for eight days straight then had one day off. This is the first time since arriving here one month ago that I have two days off in a row. They went by so quickly. I generally have a routine for my days off that involves a hike up Cooks Look in the morning regardless of how hung over I likely am, then a snorkel through the Clam Gardens (giant blue and purple clams that grow bigger than a mini-fridge and snap shut when you swim past) or a snorkel in the blue lagoon where all the little reef sharks like to sleep. Yesterday, I booked an hour massage to treat myself as well. Then I generally read my book at the beach or the gazebo where everyone on their day off likes to convene. By mid afternoon, Ben generally gets off work so I meet up with him on our porch and ‘shoot the shit’ catching up on all the island gossip while passers by stop in for a drink and provide us with more juicy details to add to our collection. Ben and I are very careful to only share information with each other as island life can be a little ruthless.

Marlin season is starting which all the single ladies are quite excited about because it means that for all of October, there are boats coming from all over Australia with hoards of fisherman to catch ‘the grander,’ a 1000+ pound Marlin in order to win the competition held at the end of October. The record breaking Marlin, a whopping 1,400 pounds, is hanging above the bar in our local island pub. I wonder if any women will enter the competition this year. I don’t think they’ve ever had one enter before...