Week one!

Hello Tourism Studies, welcome to my summer blog! I will be spending this summer working right in Nanaimo’s downtown, patrolling the harbour as a Wharfinger (pronounced war-fin-gher!) for the Port of Nanaimo. Today was day one, and all I am sure of is that this summer is going be very interesting. The job entails everything from responding to radio call-ins requesting moorage in the harbour to getting out the scraper and cleaning barnacles off the dock posts. Throughout the summer I will be posting on my weekly experiences (good and bad), and telling the most interesting (good and bad) anecdotes from each week. My co-op is actually a late start as it is already the middle of May. My summer thus far has consisted of a trip to LA, and a trip to Lacombe...one is sunny, the other is in Alberta. On to the job itself; today was training day, and it was a lot to take in. I think that the tasks that I will be required to perform this summer will use some of my abilities, and will hopefully help me to develop some of my “weaker” skill sets. Everyone that I work with seems to be very cool, and they all seem to have a very good balance between having fun at work, and gettin’er done. I hope to be able to learn from everyone, and also to contribute my own little bit of unique input to the office. The port itself is very directly involved in the organization and management of the inner harbour. However, as a wharfinger I am involved much more in the tourism side of the port, helping guests plan trips, suggesting attractions and points of interest to visitors. By the end of this summer, I hope to have garnered some very solid experience helping tourists build itineraries that match their needs. Start of week one...I’ll keep you posted!