"Two cupsochino please."

Today was day 4(ish) of my cafe working life, and I got to leave early to celebrate the sunshine a bit. The Blue Duck Cafe is not the sort of place I would like to one day own, but my coworkers are quirky and the environment cannot be beat. The cafe itself is in the difficult position of creating good food really fast. Most customers are off of buses and need a quick bite of nourishment before departing for their crusie, therefore we have waves of hungry anxious people who want their coffee 5 minutes ago. New Zealand doesn't do filter coffee either, so all have to be whizzed thrrough the espresson machine. The set up is all wrong too, inefficiently laid out so as to delay coffees even longer. Most kiwi folks drink "flat white"s (espresso with steamed milk) or "long blacks" (an americano...) but lattes and cappucinos are popular.

Right now there is a short menu of hot foods: burgers, fries soup, toasted sandwiches etc and a kitchen to make the food as the orders arrive. Again, somewhat inefficient and cannot handle the volume of people. All this will changes soon as the cafe becomes buffet style. Picture a cafeteria rather than european style cafe and this is what we will become.

I've mostly been working with Martin, a 20 year old German philosopher type who is a perfectionist and insists on telling me that every coffee I make is wrong. (ahem.) and Kendall, nice bloke from Virgina who has good taste in music and a dry sense of humor. Rumor is there are two girls there as well but they have been on their days off.

I've met bunches of the "locals" many who have returned for another season or have lived here through the winter. There is a nice family vibe, and everyone seems to take care of one another. I don't have to pay to go on cruises, kayaking, and even helicopter rides! I can take the bus out of Milford for free as well. There are perks to being here indeed.

There is not a grocery, or a post office or book store in sight, but all and all a pretty cool place to be.

Off to my first Milford hike...

Cheers!