18. Creme Brûlée
The chef made about 50 of the well known Creme Brûlée desserts daily and before serving, it was my job to help him burn the sugar into a toffee. It had taken me a while to get that hang of holding a large gas canister in my right hand that ejected a powerful hot flame and in my left hand, I balance a custard filled ramekin dish and held it up to that naked flame and turned it slowly to distribute the burning sugar. It took all of my concentration because I didn’t want a brûlée-burn! One time I took the completed desserts to the Servery and then joked with the Chef… here’s my 1000th brûlée!
How do you figure that, he asked? Just a guess, I said. He quickly did some calculations… an overall average of 45 dishes per night over 140 days so far is 6300 brûlées, I work about 33% of the time as Duty Manager… he tapped away on the calculator on his phone. Actually, more like 2000 brûlées, he replied. Wow!
As the walkers only stay here for one night, the chef prepares the same dishes each and every night starting with a vege and lentil soup. For their mains there is a choice between a beef curry, chicken, or vegetarian patties… and dessert is the brûlée.
After their big walk, the walkers would enjoy any hot food so our meals were mostly well appreciated. After dinner they would head to their rooms by 8:30pm and return at 6am the following morning to make their lunch from the buffet and have breakfast. They would be gone by 7:30am, leaving the clean up for the lodgees, before the next group arrived from 1pm.
When on Duty Lodge Manager duties, I started the day at 5:45am and helped set up the walker’s lunch prep table with the Laundry duty person. We move onto breakfast once I had turned on the generator at 6am.
Aside from the peak of summer, it was dark at this time so I would wear a head torch for some extra light. There were overhead dim night lights but I found getting bowls of yoghurt and peaches out of the fridge needed better directional light. I couldn’t afford any spillages as we only had 15 minutes to prepare the table before the walkers arrived.
The only person who is up earlier than me and Laundry shift was the chef who started at 5:30am as he had to prepare the cooked breakfast using the gas cooker.
The hot breakfast consisted of streaky bacon, poached eggs, baked beans and muffins. There was a jug of hollandise sauce, and many walkers complemented us as they returned their empty plates asking how the chef found time to make everything? That sauce was delicious, they said. Hmmm… that sauce came out of a packet!
After 6am, Pots and Dishes shifts have started and dishes get collected and washed. At 7:30am the next alarm vibrates on my watch and the laundry shift and I headed off to strip the used beds of their linen, before the Pots and Dishes start cleaning rooms. By 8am, Bar and Host duties have started and they make up rooms as well, according to their duty sheet, and the laundry shift begins their day in the laundry washing, drying and folding linen, and preparing it into crates for the following day.
There were 24 rooms in total. Every one of those rooms required stairs to get to as Pompolona was nestled between two steep mountains at 400m altitude.
Rooms 1-16 had ensuites with queen or twin beds, and 17-24 had bunk rooms with four to six beds each. At around midday all morning shifts except Laundry finished and lodgees got a break until the evening shifts began at 6pm. Evening cook shift began around midday and Laundry shift just kept going until they finished, usually around 2:30-3pm.
It took a long time to learn all the duties as the lodgees must do all the duties, except for chef and management. As the Relief Manager, I had to do everything except for the chef duties. It was a lot!
When we had about five weeks left in the season some of the team were asking who was coming back. A few lodgees had decided to return. I had proclaimed that I was definitely not coming back for the hard labour. My body was covered in bruises, and I now had a new injury.
I had gone up to the waterfall at Pomp Creek and was sunbathing on a rock. It was lovely. I took off my shoes and dipped my toes into the cold water. I was surprised that many of the rocks were not stable and well, my foot slipped off one and then the big rock rolled on top of it. I hobbled back to the Lodge and didn’t think much of it.
I could not afford any major injuries as the Lodge Manager was on extended leave and I was running things, with the Chef helping me as needed. No-one else had the training to do the compliance. The job itself was very tough on the body and my back hadn’t stopped aching since the first day I started.
Still, I found myself thinking of something my brother told me. A top lawyer was asked what advice he gives to people to get ahead, and he said something like “I will give you the same advice I gave my daughter…. I don’t care what you do, just don’t be boring!”
The temperature had plunged with the change of season into autumn and there was snow on the mountains either side of us after a few very cold few days. My brother told me over the phone that it was still hot in Tauranga. It felt like we had just one week of summer here, some time in December. There had been so much rain!
I was back to wearing fingerless gloves and beanie, and for bedtime, there were half a dozen duvets on my bed and three hot water bottles to warm my feet.
Despite my foot injury, I had planned to walk to the next lodge that was over the Pass and down a steep track. I had arranged to spend a night or two at Quintin Lodge and rest up after the long stretch of work. It was my last chance to get there before the season came to an end. I had to do it!