A day in a life as a backpacker at Pacific Coast Lodge and Backpackers

Imagine, you moved to Mount Maunganui, you stay at Pacific Coast Lodge and you work in one of the restaurant down the road. Today is your day off. Yay! What would it look like?

Morning

On a regular day this can be one of best times to get to know your fellow backpackers. Usually starting around 9am, all the backpackers come looking for a cup of coffee or tea then gather in the kitchen or TV room. This is a good time to share travel stories and meet new people from all around the world. Also, if you are an early riser catching the sunrise at the beach is one of the most beautiful sights. Or would you prefer to catch morning waves with our free surfboards?

Afternoon

On a weekday, it can be quiet around the hostel in the afternoons as many people have jobs in the Mount. This means the common areas aren’t as busy, so it is a good time to catch up on cooking, playing a game of ping pong, or enjoying your choice of show in the TV room with the hostel’s Netflix account. In the summertime, you will also find most of the backpackers down at the beach enjoying the beautiful weather, suntanning, surfing, sharing travelling stories on the soft white sand…

Late afternoon

Dinner time is when you will see the most people at once in the hostel. It is very interesting seeing all the different meals being cooked in the kitchen. Not only does it smell amazing but cooking around so many people from different parts of the world can teach you cooking skills and recipes that you may have never come across otherwise. Not just meals are getting created here, friendships are too!

Night

Nightlife can be very different depending on the day, but it always starts with everyone hanging out in the common areas. In the nice weather, it’s the outside patio but it may also be the kitchen, TV room or game room. This is a good time to learn some of the games and music that is played in different countries. Grab our guitar, one of our boardgames, a deck of cards and let’s play together! Then, if it is a weekend, the group usually heads into town around 9 or 10pm. Karaoke nights, you said? Sing with us! With cold weather or a lazy weekday night the backpackers will all decide on a movie and will spend the night in the TV room wrapped in blankets with an assortment of snacks around chit chats.

Welcome to the Pacific Coast Lodge family!

Contact reception to get your discounted weekly rate and start living The Life! Because "Life is better in the Mount!"

Written by Meg, long term guest and PCL lover.

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