A Hostel bursting with Seamen

One of the things we love at Planet Inn Backpackers is to help our guests feel like it is their ‘home away from home’.

This was certainly the case for Fiona O’Sullivan from Kenmare in Ireland, who thought that she would be spending her 21st birthday quietly with just her boyfriend, Ger, and possibly regretting being in Australia away from her friends and family.

Thanks to the determined efforts of our other Irish lasses, Dee, Aiofe and Ciara, we resolved to dedicate our party night to helping Fiona to celebrate her birthday in style with many of her backpacking friends, who have effectively become her surrogate family.

Fiona was kept in the dark about the surprise party and her movements were carefully engineered so as to ensure maximum impact!

While Fiona was out, a whole team of helpers put in their efforts to decorate the bar lounge with balloons, streamers and disco fever accessories. Every member of staff was involved in some way and Tony invited other friends along to swell the party revellers.

Fiona returned home to find it looking completely different and to be greeted with a large crowd, shouting “Surprise!”

Sam did a great job as DJ and Wayne found a new role as a ‘chocolate crackle maker’.

The craic was mighty, as the Irish like to say, and the karaoke certainly provided some extremes in entertainment standards!

Fiona also enjoyed the traditional 21 kiss salute from all the boys!

One of Tony’s dive buddies, Britney, dropped in with some friends and brought in some of the American sailors from their visiting ship – the USS George Washington, making Fiona’s 21st birthday a truly international event, which we hope she will remember fondly for many years to come.

The full image gallery for the evening appears on this Planet Inn website on the Photos 2009 page.

Latest News on Miss and Mr Club Red and Planet Inn Backpacker Contest

These lovely girls are featured in our Miss Backpacker Gallery.

L to R : Jane Strand, Claire Boardman, Sarah Arkell, Lynsey Moore.

This guy is our first handsome entrant and is featured in the Mr Backpacker Gallery.

Scott Hillis

The following have agreed to enter the contests and we are just awaiting the right photos to add them to the galleries : Richie Evans, Alysha Wearne, Aoife MacSharry, Jason Le Signe.

Come on people – don’t be shy! Especially the guys!!!

Mr & Miss Planet Inn Backpacker Contest!

We are very fortunate to meet so many nice people in our Industry and particularly so many attractive ones.

A lot of you will no doubt remember me waffling on in a drunken stupor at our bar that I have often thought we should shoot a Planet Inn calendar.

Why?

Politically correct answer: Because we all appreciate beauty!

Now of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder and we can all be beautiful on the inside, blah, blah, blah.

So it’s up to you guys – here’s the deal. Over the course of this year, let’s say by August 31^st, I would like you to submit a photo of your entry for the calendar. Yes OK we’ll have blokes as well as girls just to keep everyone happy. A panel of judges will then agree on the best shots.

No – better still… I have an idea! My website guru, Peter Butler, will probably shoot me for the logistics of this, but we shall let you guys, the former guests of Planet Inn, vote on the best ones to be included on the calendar.

I will then organize for the calendar to be printed and it will be available by mail order through the website for a minimal price to cover expenses plus a donation to a worthwhile charity.

The Rules: (There has to be a couple!)

1. Anyone can submit a photo but the person in the photo has to agree to the use of their image, so we will need their email address to verify this.

2. The person in the photo must have stayed at Planet Inn/formerly Club Red or Redbackpackers.

3. The person should be alone in the photo. Otherwise we would need you to obtain permissions from the other people in the picture.

4. Preference would probably be given to an image that depicts an Australian background or something typically Australian, so as to make the calendar more nostalgic, though of course if the photo is good enough, that might not have to apply.

5. Preference would be given to pictures of smiling (or pouting) people in bikinis or beachwear (or even lingerie), though again a classy shot with a nice dress, hiking gear etc might be just as appealing.

6. We will set up a gallery on the website so you can all keep track of the entries.

7. Contestants who feature on the calendar will receive a promotional pack including gift vouchers, souvenir items that can be mailed overseas, free Club Red Membership and of course a free calendar. (Total value will exceed $200). Entrants who don’t quite make it to the calendar will also receive a mystery consolation prize!

8. Images can be emailed or posted to us or posted on our facebook site and may be edited for resizing purposes.

9. Contestants may be from any of the 13 years for which we have now traded but entries for this competition will close at midnight on August 31^st, 2009.

Note that if we are flooded with entries, we may feature multiple photographs or even produce an accompanying booklet.

Let’s have some fun!

To see the latest entrants, go to our Gallery pages : Miss Backpacker of 2009
and Mr Backpacker of 2009.

 

Whalesharks at Ningaloo Reef

Whaleshark Season in Western Australia runs from late March until usually the end of June.
If you have the opportunity to snorkel alongside one of these gentle giants of the sea, believe me it is an experience you will remember for the rest of your life.
If you haven’t snorkeled before, don’t worry – as long as you can swim competently, the Instructors at the various Whaleshark Tour Operators in Coral Bay and Exmouth will look after you.
At the same time every year, these beautiful creatures visit the North-West Cape and feast upon the myriad plankton and krill that fill the waters of the Ningaloo Reef when the coral is spawning.
They are actually the largest of the shark family, but unlike the man-eating legends of Hollywood’s spin, these graceful fish are gentle and harmless to mankind. If only the converse was true as well. Certain countries are still known to commit barbaric acts towards them.
They can grow up to 18 metres (about 60’) in length, though the ones who visit Ningaloo each year are typically between four to twelve metres, and weigh up to 15 tonnes with a mouth that can be over a metre wide. If frightened they will usually dive and have been known elsewhere to achieve depths of 700 metres!
The various tour operators take you to the outside of the reef, and after testing your skills with a practice swim and snorkel, they give you a great lunch on board. Then they have spotter planes in the air, looking for whalesharks. When they find one, they radio the co-ordinates to the boats.
The skipper will position the boat so that the snorkeling group can enter the ocean directly in the path of the whaleshark. Imagine your excitement as a living creature the size of a small boat comes into your line of sight surrounded by a host of other smaller fish.
I had the joy of swimming alongside a whaleshark that measured around 8½ metres and looking it in the eye. The sense of tranquility is truly amazing.
Of course you will also see plenty of other wonderful creatures during the day in this very special marine park.
Don’t miss this spectacle. It’s not cheap but you won’t regret it. Call the Planet Inn staff and we can book ahead so you don’t miss out.
Tonaldo the “Inn Man”
22nd March, 2009