The Peak of the Season

Well, it's finally here, the peak of the tourist season in this area. Judging by the large bare patches of grass and gravel around the site, you wouldn't believe it. I've worked in the tourism sector for a number of years and I've never seen it so bad. I still firmly believe that it's "the calm before the storm" because in a few weeks, the whole area will be crowded with people and there won't be a single inch of grass/gravel which isn't occupied by a tent or a caravan. Mark my words, it'll be a blog-fest here when that day comes.

So, enough talking about the future and let us talk about the past. Last night was a bit of a bizarre one, to be perfectly honest. When I started my shift (I was on my own as Archie, the other night warden who does the Friday night shift with me had called in sick.) I walked into reception and had a chat with Alex. It's not something I get to do face-to-face every night, but it has to be said, I do enjoy the chats (gives me something to blog about) that we have and it gives me a heads up for what's happening on the site and who I need to keep an eye on, etc.

Alex said that he'd be in the office until eleven and he'd close the gate and lock up one block if I could concentrate on the other and lock that down when the time comes. I said that was fine.

So I walked round the entire site, surveying the grounds to see where everyone was pitched and who I thought we may have issues with later on. I locked down one block and was heading to the gate to switch the night-lights on, when I saw Alex walking down to close the gate. I spoke to him and asked him to have a word with one tent who I had spoken to twice in under five minutes, there was obviously a language barrier here. I didn't speak German and they didn't speak English. We closed the gate and Alex asked me to go and lock up the second block. There was nobody about, so I went round all the doors and locked them, when suddenly my radio kicked in

"Come in ___, do you copy, over"
"Yeah, go ahead"
"Right, I've had a word with that crowd and there was someone who spoke reasonable English there and I've explained the no noise policy to them, I doubt you'll have any more problems with them. . . hang on a minute. . . "

The "hang on a minute" was delivered in such a way that voiced confusion, so I headed towards reception to find out what was going on.

As I came out of the far entrance to the field I was in, I noticed several cars outside reception, all turning around and heading back towards the gate. It turns out that someone decided to open the gate and let themselves in, thus letting the four other vehicles behind them in in the process. Alex had spotted them all coming in, managed to stop the second, and subsequent, vehicles, but the first vehicle had refused to stop and drove on. Luckily, Alex knows his vehicles, so I was told to find a specific vehicle during the night and to inform him of it's location the next morning.

"Y'see Alex, that's why I asked for a lock for the gate."
"Yeah, you'll have one tomorrow night mate, rest assured."

As we both walked down to the gate to get it closed again, one of the folks turned back by Alex took the biscuit.

"Are we allowed to walk in then? Is that OK?"
"Are you being facetious?"
"No, I was only. . ."
"Well if you want to play it like that you can pack your tent up and leave the park now, if you want."
"No, no, no. I was just. . . There are no signs up. You're only the night warden."
"Excuse me, I am NOT the night warden. What about this one on the gate, which says no vehicular access after eleven o'clock?"
"But I didn't know the time."
"Well what about the one here which states the gates are closed at eleven?"
"That's too small, I never noticed that one."
"Well maybe (addresses the crowd) you should all learn how to read."

One male in the group tried to apologise for his friend's attitude. Alex was having none of it. I was then dispatched to find out where they were pitched up. Sadly, though I didn't get to remove them from the park during the night. They were only booked in until today, but I know for a fact that they would not be allowed to re-book.

It was a fairly hectic few hours between then and about two-ish, when one of the residents turned up with a convoy in tow. The guy had already been reported before, by Archie, a few nights ago. So I was ready to stick the proverbial pin in the balloon he was carrying. As the car-park outside the gate is still on our land, it's classed as private property. So when a Transit motor home with a red and white colour-scheme (think 'Starsky & Hutch' Ford Transit style) with a passenger who is passed the point of being classed as drunk wants to camp there for the night and enter the site in the morning, I wasn't having any of it. I sent the occupants further back down the road, outwith my jurisdiction. I didn't get to see who was driving though.

After that, all I had to deal with was some idiot who decided to start his car engine twice during the night to keep the heater on. I wasn't best pleased when I went over the second time (which was exactly one hour later) to tell him to turn it off. At least the second time he was more suitably dressed. The first time I spoke to him he was drunk and bouncing around the car-park area in his Y-fronts.

Last week, I had an argument with the cardboard recycling drivers. They tried opening the gate before six, I managed to stop them. They had it partially open, so I decided to close it back up again and walk off. The driver jumped out of his cab and informed me that he wasn't coming back again. Fine by me. I'd actually forgotten about it, until he turned up this morning, five minutes later than the previous week and had unlocked the gate before I got there. When I was speaking to Alex during the handover, he literally begged me not to fall out with them again. Because they didn't recycle the cardboard last week, they had to burn it. Last night it got emptied, luckily for them. But I've been asked (almost on his knees, so he was) not to upset Mr. Recycling Man.

I'll do my best.