Saturday 26 March 2016

Housekeeping, buggies, a surprise, orange

When you are at an island resort the last thing you expect at 8.15am is the sound of housekeeping announcing themselves with loud banging on your hotel door. It was clear they weren't going anywhere until I presented myself which I did with a towel covering the modesty of my not so modestly sized torso. A young woman gazed back at me rather sullenly as though my appearance was lowering the tone of the resort. Behind her was a young man with an even more sullen gaze whose youthful beauty would have had me inviting him in with alacrity in my own youth. But those days are long gone.

I asked them to give me a few minutes which, as I type this, they apparently interpreted as 'housekeeping is not required today'.

'What to do today' I wondered over a breakfast which included the curiosity of lamingtons amongst the croissants and Danish pastries. I sat myself down and read some of the literature promoting activities and decided on a full day cruise through the Whitsundays, which I booked at the Resort Centre. Booked for  tomorrow, that is; as I had missed today's cruise delayed, of course, by my unexpected early visitors.

So I was still left with the question, what to do today? I decided I would hire a buggy. The island is packed with holiday makers and indeed residents and workers criss crossing the limited road network on buggies.

As it turns out I was too late for a buggy. The hirers were overbooked and had a waiting list only. I decided to take the Green shuttle bus across the hill and to the marina area with its shops, eating outlets and general people watching activities.

Who should be the first person for me to watch but a fellow volunteer from the hospital who does the identical volunteer job to me at the hospital. She introduced me to her husband as 'Victor who does her job at the hospital' (on other days) when of course if it was me doing the introducing the correct explanation would be that it is she who does my job at the hospital. But let's not be petty.

The chance meeting was as amicable as you'd expect when one side (them) is staying at the most exclusive and expensive resort on the island behind a high wall and the other side (me) is staying at the all you can pack in, no fence at all, 'el cheapo' resort.

Not surprisingly no promises were made to catch up for pre-dinner drinks before holiday's end.

I made a quick departure just in time to catch the Orange shuttle bus for a sightseeing junket around the island which as Murphy's Law would decree included a run alongside the high wall separating my volunteer colleague and her husband in their resort from we sweaty mortals on the bus.

Don't you love chance meetings?

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