The Planet Inn 13th Birthday Party was a Blast!

Around 15 ½ years ago, a guy named Steve decided that he was going to turn the old house into a backpackers. That wasn’t the first time this property had hosted international travelers. Many years earlier it had been a lodge and was known as ‘Travelmates’.

2½ years later, on March 1st 1996, I took over the hostel, which many of you knew as Redbackpackers, then Club Red Backpackers, and now Planet Inn.

The party was a fantastic occasion with a huge turnout and brought back many familiar faces to their old stomping ground.

Former staff attended, such as Big Dan and Annika, Little Dan, Andy & Tor, Keef and Shaz, Josh, plus a very pregnant Deonne with hubby Dave and their lovely girl, Molly. I was hoping we might have celebrated the first actual birth on the premises but she kept her legs crossed tightly!

Needless to say, the bar did a lively trade and there were a few blurry-eyed faces and slow-moving people the next day.

Special thanks must go to Mel and her backyard blitz team. We did a big cleanup job on the beer garden in preparation for the party, with new plants, fence repairs, furniture painting, mulching and the restoration of the ‘beach’ area. Mel and I were still grubby from shoveling mulch and sand half an hour before the guests arrived! Talk about cutting it fine!

So, if you didn’t make it to this party, don’t worry – parties are a regular event at Planet Inn!

Cheers,