So here I am again, I’ve had a few people asking me if I’m still alive and when the next blog installment was going to be so here it goes. The hostel has been full for so many weeks now and times have been fun in all sorts of ways. One of the funniest things is the names people have from other parts of the world. Considering the complexities and unusualness of my name you would have thought that any name which I came across would be on a par, but no. One morning Mark turned to me and said “This person’s having a laugh aren’t they?” Obviously I was quite intrigued; the Ozi Inn had received an e-mail from a Fanny Cancel checking in during September! We were in hysterics, surely no one uses the ... read more

Hello all, So, I haven’t blogged for a bit but between working and working, sometimes there just aren’t enough hours or my ‘wittiness’ decides to take a nap due to the lack of sleep. I am currently suffering the after effects of too much wine and dealing poker games until the early hours but I’m feeling quite chirpy! The hostel is coming along nicely, Mark has been making improvements such as a new electronic door opening system. Guests think this is wonderful from a security point of view and of course they are not wrong, but the simple fact that Mark and I could then chill out in the back yard undisturbed by random peeps wandering in is much more appealing! The Ozi Inn has been running at full to almost full capacity for the last ... read more

So this is my take on the whole running a backpackers hostel thing. I have to say aside from CD Engineering in Namibia, this is the best job I’ve ever had. For the following reasons 1) Because Verlie and I run the place ourselves, and as several people (quite correctly) have pointed out to me over the years, I have at times not quite seen eye to eye with my “line managers” and seem to have an issue with authority. We are our own bosses, and in that respect this job is perfect! 2) I can literally, fall out of bed and be at work. This has been my fantasy for many years, and is a far cry from an hour or so commute each way to Enfield, every day. 3) We get to meet some ... read more

Blogs are like buses, you wait 2 weeks for one, then 2 come along at once! I'm blogging this now as Verlie is off to Singapore tommorow and I will be "Sans Laptop" for a few days, so.............. At the very start of this blog, a few months back, I wondered what tales the coming pages would hold, the highs, but also the inevitable lows that we would document. I was, and still am fully committed to making this blog an accurate representation of our experiences, and not just the good bits to make you think we are basking in everlasting sunshine, that we never have to work, and everything is wonderful, this blog is a document of our lives and as we all know, life isn’t always so perfect. I’m writing this from the relative ... read more

Ok, First things first, here are the slideshows from Kings Park and Little Creatures Brewery that should have been in the last blog, sorry about that! So we settled into Backpacker life in our second week, we found what we believed to be the cause of the strange looks and curiosity coming our way in our first week, namely the area we were sitting in was the usual smokers table, and I’m not talking about woodbines……We’ve since got to know everyone and made friends, so our initial concerns about our age, and general not very approacable demenour were unfounded, I say OUR age and demenor, I really mean my age and demenour. We went on a couple of day trips on the local trains we went ... read more