Mel left for her training and it wasn’t until it started that we found out we could come in. So off we rushed in hope that we hadn’t missed that much. It didn’t help that Steff wasn’t even ready when we received the phone call.
Having seen what people turned up to the interviews in, I decided to go in casual clothing. Wrong. Everyone was in shirts and dresses. Damn. We happened to walk in just as the trainer, Wayne, was describing what the dress code is. No thongs (flip flops), which we were both wearing and no three-quarter shorts, which Steff was wearing. Oh well!
Today happened to feel like the longest day of my trip so far. The training involved Wayne talking through a power point display and he threw in plenty of jokes but I still felt like falling asleep. It’s something we needed to go through as I’ve never done a job like this before plus, I needed to know as much information as possible about what I’ll be talking about on the phone!
With every group you get the one odd bod and this training group was no different. This girl was ker-razy! Every few minutes she’d say something weird and I’m not sure if it was a cry out for attention or if she was just plain weird. For instance, at one point she shouted out that one time a girl she didn’t know punched her in the face whilst she was in a restaurant. What do you say to that? Thankfully it was just half a day so I could just about tolerate the day.
Back at the hostel, in our wonderful backpacker wisdom, it was decided that we’d each take it in turns cooking. It’s always a pain to do so it’s nice to have a couple of days rest safe in the knowledge that somebody else will be doing the legwork. It’d also save on arguments over what to have as the cook chooses the dish.
The first night was Mel’s as it was her idea. I’m glad I had nothing to do with it as it took forever to make. I needed to think of something quick and simple as I didn’t want to be spending an hour and a half sweating in the kitchen!
Mel’s concoction was curried mince, mash and veg and it was quite tasty. In Come Dine With Me style we gave Mel marks out of ten. I think we marked Mel at 13. Not to worry as free pizza was on its way thanks to a travel talk. We had no idea what it entailed but I could always do with educating on travelling.
It turned out to be a representative from a tour operator. Mel, Steff and I had thought about booking trips for the rest of the way up the East Coast as we’d spent so much money and we’d not done as much as we’d hoped.
James from Discovery wowed us with the tours they offered. The first was a trip to the Noosa Everglades. It was a camping and canoeing trip and very much self-guided. You get given a map and are left to fend for yourself. It sounded quite exciting and I was surprised when Mel also showed an interest in the trip. It sounded very much like the Blue Mountains trip I took in that it’s all scenery and walking.
The next trip was for Fraser Island and looked fantastic. It was a luxury tour for sure. It was a sights trip more than activities and the food looked brilliant. Something I have been lacking in as of late.
A prize was given out – a free trip to the Noosa Everglades. To win, the first person to put their hand up and answer a question (related to the talk) correctly, won. I was too slow and a guy at the back won. Mel was gutted and, to be fair, seemed to be the only person alive in the room, asking plenty of questions.
I piped up with one, asking what the camping gear was like…specifically if the pans are non-stick. Not the best of questions nor was it that important. It was definitely something that should have stayed in my head and not burst out of my mouth.
James took a shine to Mel’s eagerness and asked another question that nobody expected. Mel’s arm nearly flew off its socket. With the question answered correctly, Mel had won a place on a Noosa Everglades trip. Nice one!
We chilled out by the pool table for the rest of the evening. My pool skills have not improved over the years so it was a bit embarrassing playing against power couple Mel and Steff. I played Mac and won so I felt a bit better about myself.
It’s always annoying how the evenings disappear when work is looming the next day. Well, training should I say, but still. Another day, another dollar…Ok I’m not getting paid until Thursday. You get the picture though!
*****
Training was a little more bearable than the day before. I managed to speak to a couple of people within our training group as well as current workers. I felt a little bit better about my circumstances as I was surrounded by good people.
Again, not a lot to report – training by day, pool playing by night. Money is my priority so unfortunately, I’m going to be spending my days trying to save rather than spend.
*****
There were three things different about the next day. Firstly, I worked a full day from 11am until 8pm. Another change is that I was finally getting paid for something! Finally, we had the ping pong. It’s an item of equipment that seems to be following us around so it seems. It certainly broke up the day nicely and it felt like it counted towards some sort of fitness seen as my future days were due to entail being tied to a desk and headset.
Most of the day was spent recapping what had been told to us on the previous days. I didn’t mind at all, anything to put off the inevitable suited me just fine. I was very nervous about getting on the phones.
When it got to it, I did alright. It’s not the worst of the worst, I’m calling people to ask if they want to save money on their electricity and not selling them something they don’t need. I still have a soul, don’t worry.
I got so worked up about the day and what was looming that I forgot it was my turn to cook tea. My first reaction wasn’t great as I was shocked the guys wanted food. It was far from my mind. After things calmed down, I had ten minutes to find something at the supermarket. I wasn’t used to Queensland operating times. It still baffles me that shops would close that early. Well, 9pm is early to me!
Skimming the aisles, I managed to find inspiration. A beef stir fry. I had issues with the green beans but everything turned out fantastically...if I say so myself. I got some good marks as it did go down a storm. I also bought dessert and said to the guys that the meal was on me. I felt bad for forgetting it was my night to cook and we could all do with a treat seen as our funds were dwindling.
The guys were really grateful and I even got a berry muffin for my efforts thanks to Mel.
We spent the evening working off our massive feed with a few games of pool. I still sucked but I was gradually getting better thanks to the tuition from the Mr and Mrs Pool.
It felt like the week had just started seen as I only just got on the phones at work. Easter weekend had other plans for me as everything shut down. Mel and Steff had their boat duties though so, again, I was left to my own devices. I had no idea what I was going to do.
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