Roger Goddard - From fine service to frontline funnyman

A Queenstown hospitality frontline icon in his heyday, Englishman Roger Goddard learned the trade from the best, doing the hard graft, 16-hours, seven days a week, as a first class, fine dining waiter on cruise ships around the world.

OE travels landed him in Queenstown where he’d found his people, eventually opening successful Queenstown Mall restaurant Britannia in 1986 with fellow front-of-house funnyman Doug Champion.

At 83, Roger is still providing the banter and entertainment, but these days at Frankton’s Abbeyfield Home.

Born during World War II in Brighton, Roger mostly grew up in Portsmouth where the bombing became so bad that he and his brother had to be ‘debombed’ to safety in Yorkshire.

“My earliest memory is getting onto the train crying, holding my little brother’s hand,” Roger says. Families took them in until it was safe to return. Even post wartime was tough. “I remember looking in the shop window at a Mars Bar and you needed a war coupon to buy one, so I pinched one from Mum,” he grins. “Next thing she was coming after me with the cane.”

At 15, Roger set off to join the Merchant Navy spending six weeks at the Navy Training School in London preparing for a 10-year-career as a first-class waiter on upmarket cruise ships like the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. “You soon grew up. It was tough with 16 of us crew sharing a room. You grabbed your food and sat on a box to eat it.”

He eventually worked his way up to work in the restaurants on the sought after RMS Caronia ocean liner serving American millionaires in style. “We’d do a five-month world cruise starting with Norway. I came from the days when waiters wore a white towel over their arm, a white shirt and bow tie,” Roger says. “I’d carve chicken at their table, serve flounder in white gloves. We served caviar blini and Crepe Suzette was made pouring brandy and lighting the flame at the table.”

Roger recalls one wealthy American, cruising the South American coast requesting four fried eggs covered with strawberry jam every morning. “I worked on 10 big ocean liners for Canadian, South African and South American liners.”

He then worked in Jersey as British Airways ground crew before working in restaurants in South Africa, paying $10 to emigrate to Australia in 1972. From there he and his girlfriend bought a Holden EK station wagon for $400 and worked and toured Australia, camping at beach campsites.

Sapphire digging in the bush out of Rockhampton landed Roger a 5-point sapphire and on the Gold Coast he heard about Queenstown. After many bus trips south from Auckland, a landslide blocking the road saw Mount Cook flying him to Queenstown for free. “It was July and freezing. There was nothing down the Mall, just one coffee shop. Coronet Peak wasn’t even really going. It was only Mickey Mouse then.”

Fortunately, he’d bought an electric blanket from Australia, huddled in bed fully dressed in his Queenstown Motor Camp cabin. Population was 3500 and there were three policemen, including Sergeant Maloney.

Roger worked at Ramada, on the Earnslaw, at Skyline and Trans Hotel Disco where he met Doug, working as a barman from 1975. “I couldn’t believe the money I was making working three shifts a day at times – up to $356 a week and rent at the hotel staff accommodation for $70, food supplied.”

They catered for huge conference incentive groups of up to 900 for the likes of Coca Cola. “Helicopters landed on the beach and flew people up to the Remarkables. No expense was spared, trestle tables, oysters, cheeses and 1500 T-Bone steaks for the barbecue sent to Walter Peak on the Earnslaw, the staff following in clinker boats.

Downtown bars shut at 10pm so Trans staff worked flat out until 4am or 5am. Staff raised heaps for charity fining any workmates caught around town smoking. Roger later ran the Travelodge bar, renowned for his late 3am last orders bell.

Ever the English entrepreneurs, Roger and Doug set up popular Hot Dog stands in the Mall by day.

They decided the old Bumbles Nightclub would make a great ship-themed restaurant and after a trip back to England where Roger sourced the old wooden decking, Britannia opened in 1986. The pair soon became renowned for their front of house antics and authentic nautical-theme and flavours.

At businessman Jim Boult’s birthday party in the private dining room, guest tables were supplied with water pistols. “The last time I saw Karen Boult she was filling a water pistol in our kitchen,” Roger chuckles.

Roger sold his share after 10 years, running a café on the Gold Coast before driving Queenstown taxis for 16 years.

Old Queenstown friends are his family now. “We worked hard but boy, those were fun, carefree days,” he says.