2 Seniors Find Hostel Is Not Just for Youth

You don’t always have to be young to feel welcome and comfortable at some budget facilities. Recently, a small Australian backpacker lodge made an effort to make some stranded senior travelers welcome, and because of their hospitality, the hostel was honored with the New South Wales Customer Service in Tourism Award.

Two women in their 80s, while on vacation at Terrigal Beach, a popular sun-and-surf destination 90 minutes from Sydney, locked themselves out of their vacation apartment with all their credit cards still inside.

After finding local upscale hotels out of their price range, they wandered into the Terrigal Beach Backpackers Lodge. The staff took them in until they could get a locksmith the next day. Meanwhile, they introduced the women to the young international travelers, and they even served them breakfast in bed. Unbeknownst to the hostel, the daughter of one of the stranded women later nominated the lodge for the prestigious award.

This isn’t the first award for Terrigal Beach Backpackers Lodge. In 1995 the lodge was also honored with the Central Coast Regional Tourism Award for Excellence and is now affiliated with the Australian national youth hostel network, YHA.

The lodge is in a two-story building at No. 12, Campbell Crescent, Terrigal NSW 2260, a block from the beach. It can accommodate up to 36 travelers. Dormitory beds cost $12.50, a single room is $26 and a double room is $31.

Terrigal is a popular weekend destination for residents of Sydney. It offers swimming, surfing, diving, deep-sea fishing, rock climbing, horseback riding and sea kayaking.

Hostel guests are eligible for discounts on attractions in the region, including Old Sydney Town, a re-creation of Australia’s original European settlement, and Reptile Park, where you can see a variety of wildlife from saltwater crocodiles to koalas and kangaroos.

You can contact Terrigal Beach Backpackers Lodge at 011-61-2-4385-3330. Bus service from the Sydney International Airport to Terrigal costs $17, takes 90 minutes and drops you off one block from the hostel. Rail service is available from Sydney to neighboring Gosford for $6.50, where you can catch a local bus to complete the journey to Terrigal in 15 minutes.

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The South African backpacker bus service, Baz Bus, is posting information on its routes and rates on the Internet. Baz Bus is geared toward independent budget travelers.

Passengers are dropped off and picked up at hostel doors. Once they have purchased a ticket to a final destination, they can take as long as they want to get there, hopping on and off when they choose.

A ticket for a complete Baz Bus journey from Cape Town to Johannesburg via Zululand and Swaziland costs $141. You can also buy tickets for portions of the route. Cape Town to Durban, for example, would be $103.

Buses depart Cape Town five times per week. Passengers are permitted to bring their bikes and surfboards.

You can visit Baz Bus on the Internet at https://www.icon.co.za/~bazbus/ or for further information, contact Baz Bus, 8 Rosedene Road, Sea Point, Cape Town 8001, South Africa; telephone 011-27-21-439-2323.

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Izon is a Toronto-based freelance writer. She can be reached at https://www.izon.com.