Lunch.... (In WA it is called "Crib".. Don't know why...)

At breakfast time there is a separate area in the canteen to make lunch.

This are will normally be swarming
with workers getting lunch.

You have access to bread and bread rolls, and cold meats and cheeses. Frozen pies, pasties etc. There are different types of salads (of which some combinations are really odd) and leftover meats and vegetables from the night before. Some camps have leftovers already in plastic containers ready to go. Usually, there are cakes and sweets and of course, plenty of chopped up melons and whole fruit. It is pretty simple and does not vary a lot. After 4 weeks you get very tired of the same foods day after day. But, generally it is as healthy as you want it to be. Keeping in mind that all of this food travels from Perth, which is 2 days on the road. So things don't seem as crisp and fresh as hoped..

My Crib. Healthy in comparison to my fellow workers

Fly out day....

5 weeks and 3 days this time..... Too bloody long....! Trying to align my break with school holidays. I will be home for 10 days though. Most companies allow you to manipulate your length of roster a little. Some do not...
We work 4 weeks on and 1 week off, or 5 weeks on and 9 days off. We fly on our own time.
This is how my usual fly out day plays out.
3.30 am. Alarm... Usual breakfast, pack food and off to work.
4.45 am. Catch bus to work.
6.00 am. Prestart meeting and off to work Work until 9.00. Pack up.
9.30 am. Catch bus back to camp. Arrive 10.30 am. Final pack and shower
11.45 am. Pick up by bus to airport. Check baggage and time for a mid strength beer. First one in over a week. No heavy beer at Karratha airport. Just like the MCG. Too much trouble.....
1.15 pm board. 1.35 pm take off. 2 hr flight to Perth. Arrive 3.35pm
5.00 pm flight to Melbourne. 10.30 pm land.
11.30 pm - 12.00 am. Home in bed...
18.5 hours.....! But I am home...

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Thought I would throw in a picture of us core drilling into concrete.

2 days of rain, then everything clears. Like nothing happened.. Except......

Unseasonal rain....
200mm of rain in 24 hours, 80% of the annual rainfall.. Just for me.
This will push the job back as all the electrical switch boxes, electric motors and cabling will need to be replaced.

The light tower is revealed. As are generators, the huge pump
that couldn't, and directly under me, 2 scissor lifts
and a boom lift.

As soon as the rain passed, I could wear thongs again.. So I am happy.....
As the water was pumped out all sorts of things turned up.

Flooded basement.

Lucky they moved their crane.

Uh-oh. A brand new Tadano 70 tonne
crane emerges.  Approx $800+K
These machines are full of electronics
so it is knackered. 
 Back to Perth it goes...

Wet, wet, wet. Unseasonal rain.....

  Unseasonal rain.... What a surprise... Mud everywhere.... Big coaches, mini-buses and work utes loaded with workers spray muddy water as we track into our work areas. Yesterday it was dust with water tankers spraying the ground trying to control it. Apparently in the Pilbara it would only rain once during winter and the daytime temperatures would be warm to hot. This year it is different... Maximum of 18 degrees and overnight lows of 16. Should be in shoes I guess but thongs will do...
  Never get comfortable in this game. The only thing that is guaranteed in this line of work is that things will change.... constantly. From accommodation, workgroups, workfronts. Our smoko huts slowly reduce in number as the workforce becomes smaller. So you will be moved from smoko room to smoko room. The main downside is that it is not really possible to lock in holidays or breaks. If you wish to take the family on a long holiday, it is easiest to ask, then expect to resign, hoping that you will be picked up again afterwards.
 With the 2 large contracts on this site getting closer to completion, I keep anticipating the "tap on the shoulder". I have been here on site for 5 months and have been waiting to be de-mobilised for the past 3 months...... It can be draining and all consuming sometimes, but there is a promise that other work is available on other sites. Or, the possibilty of being a part of the commissioning  crew who get involved with firing up everything and make sure it works before it is handed over to the client. Or the punchlist crew (defects), who can remain for a while fixing and modifying even after hand-over. These blokes are usually distinctive. They come home everyday covered in red iron ore dust. There clothing and boots are permanently stained browny-red.
I am almost keen to go, rather than wait and see the workings of another site. Apparently this site is the best because it is close to civilisation. Most are in the middle of nowhere..... Remote and desolate.
  Finally, Toyotas everywhere.... Everywhere......!!
Land Cruisers, Prados, Hi-Ace vans, Coaster buses and Utes.
Every model and every configuration. All with Bull bars, Flashing beacons, Roll bars, Noisy reversing alarms, whip aerials with a light on the top and one colour only. White..... and latest models.
And I forgot. Reflective Yellow tape and Bold numbers on the side and back.
Parking is always reverse to the kerb. Safety First....

Car park in Camp. 100+ Toyotas.

Land Cruiser.





Unusual Ute. Single cab...!

Prado.

Moved camp..

Just moved to another camp. All 15 blokes in Searipple Camp were advised that we were moving the next day. Rio Tinto decision...
We moved to "Gap Ridge Village". One of the largest camps in the Pilbara, 8km out of town.

Gap Ridge: Central Dry Mess. Wet Mess and Gym at either end.
Indoor Boot camp, Cycle and Boxing Gym on the left.
 4 Basketball, tennis and soccer courts. Security gates
and on-camp Medics.

It has 2100 beds. Built 5 years ago for $212 Million and is so large that it has 3 separate gyms and 2 Wet Messes. It is very organised and a little sterile but comfortable and clean with Category 4 rated Dongas. There are many rules here and we have to tolerate a 15 minute video/induction before signing a document agreeing to all the terms and conditions. There are "Golden rules" which cannot be broken. No fighting, no explosives and yep, urinating and defecating in public. There would have been a reason behind this rule being included. Charming.... Usual rules in the Food Mess. Minimum dress standard is thongs, and a shirt with sleeves. Anyway, the food is fresher and appetising. Packing up to move in 2 hours was challenging but I have settled in. I need to cull some stuff in case I need to pack up quickly. I am close to the Laundry, Gym and Wet Mess. What more can I want....
In the FIFO world there is something called "erms". Electronic Recruitment Management System..
It is a blacklist that all companies and accommodation suppliers use. If you muck up especially in camp, you will be blacklisted and not be able to get accommodation. All FIFO workers need accommodation.. So we are warned by our respective employers to not muck up as they cannot save us once we are listed...

My New Donga

 

4 Dongas in 1 Cabin. Another cabin behind.


 

Out door Wet Mess. Under cover with
Big fans and Plasmas playing sport.

My desk.

My bed. Door is open to the ensuite
Toilet is 2 steps from the bed. Perfect

Typical Laundry. Plenty of machines.

Changes to the weather. End of another swing.

Installing a Gantry crane at the Screen house.

I thought it was hot to warm all year around up here... It's not...
I wanted to wear shorts and thongs every single day of the year..!
I walked into my Donga to find warm air coming out of the air-con......, and walked out in the morning to find the outside colder than inside......, This is very unfortunate. Not paradise after all....
Dropped the air-con from 24 to 21 to stop the hot air from driving me insane.
As the 5 week swing finishes, I have gone from anxious, waiting for the "de-mobe" to relaxed, waiting for something to happen. As it happens, lots have moved onto other jobs rather than wait to be pushed. (Gorgon/Barrow Island - $50+ billion dollar gas plant, Gladstone/Curtis Island - $20+ billion gas plant and then Wheatstone - Gas plant and Darwin - gas plant) There is plenty of work around so changes may happen, but it is a part of the cycle. I packed up excess clothing etc. and am flying them home.


5 of 15 Helicopters that I counted for Offshore platforms

It is still odd to be boot camping (my new passion) and watch 2 Qantas planes come into land. This is a town of 17,000 people and it has commercial jets coming in and out everyday. To drive into an airport with nothing around it, and see 15 Sikorsky Helicopters (Big.. 16-20 seaters) servicing the offshore platforms sitting there. This place is a hive of activity.


Went to a Social Club function.
Salami, cheese and coloured pickled onions.
Bring back the 70's. Tasted great...
 

Strangely enough, the constant noise of generators, vehicles reversing, triple locomotives connected to 2 kilometres of rail cars, cranes and machinery are now familiar. I am no longer outside my comfort zone.
Heading home for 9 days.... Lets see how the family cope with a stranger in the house..

Ground hog day...! and General observations

Ground Hog Day....
There is always something to look forward to in a normal life at home. There are weekly cycles that are great indicators that life as not stood still. Things to look forward to. Maybe the weekend. Maybe just seeing your children at the end of the day or a meal that you have been looking forward to.

Last piece of ducting being craned in

Out here every day is the same..... From the moment you walk into your Donga after your flight back. There are no changes during a week that make any day feel different. No indicators that life is travelling along. No weekends, no children's sport or training. Bed time is too early to watch regular TV shows. You do your washing on a week night or on a Saturday night. It does't matter. The meals served in the Mess hall are the same every night (except the random seafood night). Time just stops... I have all the technology available to me to help me keep life in order but without a calendar in my face, I have no idea. I call home to check in on my other life and have to consciously try to work out what day it is so I can ask appropriate questions.
And then all the 3.30 wake ups in a row. 13 days without a sleep in. A day off. Then repeat.
Your life is one day that rolls into another... then another...
No complaints. Just a part of this lifestyle.

Next 2 cardumpers shells being built. We are the front runners
on this contract. But they are not ready. These are big cranes...
2 conveyor tunnels are in the foreground.

Other general observations.
Short hair and very few beards.
Lots and lots and lots of goatees.
Tattoos, including chests, backs of hands and necks. Young and old. Male and female. I do feel like the odd one out.
And a favourite...In the evenings at camp. Garish t-shirts with mismatched board shorts. Probably christmas and birthday presents that were never allowed to be worn at home. Some blokes really need their mums or wives to give a little guidance..

I can see why uniforms exist...