Day 298! I’ve only been in Yamba for a couple of days… but it feels like so much time has already gone by. Today I had two more shifts, which is probably why it feels like I’ve been here for so long. It was a fantastic day and I’m fully realizing I made a great decision in leaving Melbourne to come to this wonderful, small town!

I woke up this morning and noticed I wasn’t on the schedule yet. So I texted my manager saying that I really enjoyed yesterday’s work and would love to pick up any shifts available this weekend. But I also understood if they were already fully staffed too.

Sure enough, an hour later, I was put on the schedule! I was going to have two shifts today, one during the lunch rush and then the other from dinner to basically close. I was pumped to get back to work, but before I did I had some time to wander the town and relax at home.

I had a couple cereal bars and then wandered into town to look at a bike shop. I haven’t had much luck searching Facebook marketplace… so I wanted to see what this shop had to offer. The bikes ended up being way more expensive than I’d like to pay, so I kept walking around the shops to see what was going on.

I found a couple surf shops, that mainly were selling clothes, but one had some surfboards in it! I’ll definitely keep trying to find a used one though, I’m sure one will pop up eventually.

My last stop was a nearby used bookstore! I’m getting really close to finishing Dune and need another book to start up on. Unfortunately, they didn’t have Dune, The Way of Kings, or the first Lord of the Rings… so I might need to start something else or find these books used online.

I went back home with plenty of time to read and then head to the hotel for work!

My first shift was a short, but good one! I mainly did glassie duties again, but one of my coworkers took me under her wing (my mister Miyagi) and helped me learn how to pour a pint. When service was on the slower side, I was pouring for customers, which prepared me well for my night shift.

I finished my shift and headed back down the hill for lunch. I stopped at home to change and then headed back out to a nearby fish and chips shop. I thought I’d change it up today.

This was a tasty and filling meal… but I’m still on the hunt for a bike so I can start heading to the grocery store and cook for myself.

When I got back home, I decided to make a post on the Yamba notice board Facebook group. I kind of hemmed and hawed over doing this, I wasn’t too sure how it’d come across. But I’m so glad I did!

A few hours later, the post was approved and multiple people were commenting saying I could just HAVE their bike that had been sitting in storage! I’ve messaged them all but haven’t heard back yet… hopefully I will soon.

My night work shift went absolutely amazing! I started off again doing glassie work and pouring some beers when it was slow.

When it was on the slower side, I took a break for dinner and had a crispy chicken salad. I’m enjoying having another place to work where I can work through the menu.

Eventually as the night progressed, it started getting busier and busier, and I could tell an extra hand on deck for pouring drinks would be a big help. So I asked if I could hop on with them and they said yes!

I still did a lot of cleaning glasses, cleaning up the tables, and such. But for a lot of the night I was pouring beers and mixed drinks! It was a ton of fun and I started getting the hang of it pretty quick.

11pm rolled around and I clocked out, had a beer, listened to the rocking live music that was going on, and then started my walk home. On my way home, I FaceTimed my parents to tell them all about my wonderful day and work shift.

But then, it was time for bed! I was exhausted! Tomorrow I’ll be back on working for the afternoon, so I’ll need to rest up to do it all again!

– Elie