Hi, and
welcome to Whitby
Holiday Park.
My name is
Kayleigh and I work in Reception. You will see me sat behind my desk in front
of the door as you walk past reception. I have worked at Whitby Holiday
Park now for two and a
half years and have loved every minute.
I remember
my first day back in April 2011. I
started two weeks before Easter so you can imagine how busy it was in the
office with last minute touring and accommodation bookings being taken. So much for a nice gentle introduction into
the world of holiday makers!! As I
arrived I was greeted by the other girls in reception and by Sue, the General
Manager (who you’ll always see walking round the park making sure that
everything is alright).
No time for
talking as it is a busy day so once all the introductions are made it’s time to
sit down and learn the ropes!! First
thing on the job list is learning the booking system, a frightening thought for
some but after an hour of hard study and a few attempts at making a booking, I
was ready to answer those phone calls (as the phone had been ringing none
stop!) 10 minutes later and my first
booking was done! I had just enough time
to get that first booking filed away before I was on to my next one. Before I knew it I was being told that it was
time to hand over to the warden as it was home time. I could not believe how fast the day had
gone.
Before I
knew it my first week as a receptionist at Whitby Holiday
Park was over and I couldn’t
wait to see what the next week was going to bring.
Then Easter
arrived along with an influx of touring caravans, motor homes and people who
had booked stays in our static caravans.
So my first busy week/ weekend after only two weeks of being here,
nothing like being thrown in at the deep end!!
It had also given nice weather for the whole of the Easter holidays so I
was just about ready for whatever was to be thrown my way.
12 noon
arrives and so does the first touring caravan, followed by at least three
more. So one by one we got them all
checked in and directed to their pitches.
Next up was a static, but unfortunately it was not quite ready,(plus
check in time for accommodation is not until 4pm) so they went for a wander and
I think ended up in the club house for a cheeky afternoon pint!! The rest of the day continued without any
problems and by the time it was time to go home, just about everyone was in.
On Easter
Sunday we had a fun / sales day where there was activities held outside on the
green for all the kids (big kids included) as well as stalls to raise money for
the Great North Air Ambulance, and stalls advertising what static caravans we
had on site for sale at the time. Again
the weather was lovely so as you can imagine the site was full of people not
only staying on the site, but there were plenty of people walking through on
the Cleveland Way
walk heading either to Robin Hoods Bay or
Whitby.
Before I
knew it the Easter holidays were over and the park went quiet for a couple of
weeks before the first of two Bank Holidays hit us!!
By this
time I had settled in nicely and was getting along well with all my colleagues
and was starting to get to know some of the owners and seasonal tourers on
site.
Then summer
was upon us and it was constantly busy for the full six weeks with people
passing through the office all day asking questions and getting booked up for
later in the year.
It wasn’t
long before it was the end of the season and time to say bye to all the touring
customers and seasonal pitch owners with a gothic themed party in the club,
where there was plenty of dancing, drinking and eating done!!
With one
year over it was time to start getting the office and park ready for next
season. Winter is a busy time in the
office and with it being my first one I was not sure what to expect, but still
every day the phone was ringing with people wanting to make bookings for next
year already!
So last years
bookings and paper work were being filed away making room for those who were
already planning ahead and for the paper work that was to come.
The 1st
March was soon upon us and it was soon back to business as usual. I had now been here a year and was looking
forward to seeing what this next year had in store at Whitby Holiday Park.
I soon
discovered that many of those coming to stay on the site were returning
customers and I was slowly starting to recognise some of those that come all
the time, (because there is that many of you!)
We had a
good start to the year weather wise which is unusual for March and April which
meant that you all wanted to visit on the same days! Some of you we had to unfortunately turn away
as we could not fit you on as all of our touring pitches and static caravans
were full!(Which is a good thing for the park!)
But you all came back in droves the following weekend.
Unfortunately
by Easter the weather had turned and that seemed to be it for the rest of the
year. It had seemed we had had our
summer at the beginning of the year.
However, it didn’t seem to stop you all ringing up and booking your
stays with us! Although the weather
wasn’t very nice, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and there was laughter
heard throughout the park (and not just from the office!!)
We started
the summer by joining in with the rest of the country to celebrate the Queen’s
Golden Jubilee. We decorated the park
and all of you dressed up in your finest fancy dress to see who would be
crowned the best dressed Queen in our fancy dress competition which was held in
the club. As I remember a fun night was
had by all and a winner was crowned.
As this was
to be the summer of the Olympics, we held our own little mini Olympics, where
the kids in kids club did all sorts of mini athletics out on the green and kept
all the adults entertained.
With summer
well under way it was soon time for the annual Whitby Regatta, which meant that
once again the park was full. By 2pm on
the Monday afternoon everyone was lining the cliff top in anticipation for the
Red Arrows who were soon to be doing their last display. It only took one person to point them out in
the distance before the usual ooohhhs and aahhhs could be heard all along the
cliff top. Yet another amazing display
by the red arrows which was unfortunately to be their last at the Whitby
Regatta. By 10pm everyone was again
lining the cliff top waiting for the firework display to begin, and what a way
to end a brilliant weekend!! And
thankfully the weather even turned out nice!!!
With the
height of summer pretty much over and done with, the seasonal tourers were
packing up their motor homes and tourers only to return back for a weekend
break now that the kids were back to school.
September
arrived and what a change from the last few weeks. Although the park was still busy, it was
certainly a lot quieter!!
September
was soon over and done with and we were into our last month for you
tourers. October arrived with great
anticipation as all staff, static
caravan owners and seasonal tourers were all looking forward to the end
of season party. Christmas was the theme
for this year and as you can imagine there were some fantastic costumes. We had everything from pantomime characters,
to Santa’s little helpers and even the Christmas Turkey!!! Yet again another fantastic night was had by
all.
Once
everyone had recovered from this, it was soon time again to get those Goth
costumes out as the main annual Goth weekend was soon upon us!! Now if you haven’t been to Whitby for this weekend I recommend that it
is something that you do. Not only is it
a fantastic and busy weekend, but some of the outfits that can be seen around
the town are absolutely amazing!! You
cannot even begin to imagine the cost and effort that people put into making
these outfits!! Absolutely spectacular!!
And once
again it was soon time to close the touring field for another year (because the
weather was that bad) and was time to start getting things ready for another
fun filled year at Whitby
Holiday Park!!
You might
all think that once you have all gone it is a quiet time in the office!! How wrong can you be!! For us, this is when the work really starts
going. We have to sort through all the
paper work from the year just gone; get all the paper work ready for the year
to come; and of course get any maintenance work done that cannot be done
through out the year. All of this is
being done whilst still answering the phones and taking your bookings for next
year!! So not only is it a busy time,
but it is also a stressful time for everyone in the office!!( Which is why we
all look so tired when it is time to reopen the park in March!!)
With
Christmas and New Year out of the way it’s a hectic couple of months making
sure that everything is in order and finished before we open.
And before
we know it the 1st March is upon us and its time to do it all
again…………..
