Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Tropical Paradise....and BEER
So after 32 straight days on shift at the mine, I'm finally taking a break. 1 shift here is 12.5 hours, and most days have been either that, or more (ie a few days at 15 hour shifts). When you are working like this, days become irrelevant and a weekend is not a glorious time to kick back and drink yourself stupid, or to sleep in until noon and then have an 80's movie marathon. It's another day of the alarm clock going off at 4:30am and hauling my arse out for another day of fun with the other groundhogs.
People treat me like some kind of martyr around here, due to the fact that I've been her for twice as long as a normal long swing. The fact is, I have been adamant about being here the whole time, as I have a new research project that needs attention to keep things from getting stuffed up. So now I'm heading out today for a week of R&R (except for 2 days of training for the mine...so I guess 5 days of R&R). 2 of those days will be spent in Cairns, the portal to the Great Barrier Reef and the Northern Queensland rainforest. I'll be hooking up with a bloke from the mine (Dave) who has a bit of a reputation for being an avid traveler, and a full-on party animal. He just got back from a 5-week holiday where he rode a train from Moscow to Beijing, China. These Aussies are a travellin' mob. 3 of the guys I'm currently working with have been on 5-6 week holidays in the last couple of months. The 8 days on, 6 days off roster helps out in that regards, as 8 days of leave buys you 20 days off of site (6 days out + 8 days leave + 6 days out). Pretty good deal in my book. My mate (mate meaning friend...get Aussie-ized you deviants), Mick, went to a big music festival in Denmark, then to Pamplona Spain for the running of the bulls. Greg just got back from South Africa. My mate Scott is heading to Europe in a couple of months with 2 more folks from the mine.
Why do they travel so? First off, under the old industrial relations regulations, every full-time worker was guaranteed 4 weeks of paid annual leave every year. In the US, you would have to work for the same company for 15 years to get that. The rules are changing a bit under the new IR regs, but most of the mines workers will get 4 weeks of paid leave every year, plus sick days, holidays, etc. Now you may ask why there is a shortage of workers in mining with a sweet deal like that? 12-hour shifts to start out with. Second, alot of the mines are fly-in/fly-out, meaning you fly into a remote site for 8 days (or 7 or 14, depending on your roster), live in the mining camp, and fly back home for your time off between rosters. It's a great lifestyle for a single person, but if you have a family that you actually like, it could be a bit stressful. It's not uncommon to see married somen out on the prowl while their bloke is off at the mine on roster.
TRAVEL ADVISORY: If you go to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, or other mining centers beware if you meet a female in the pub. There's a good chance she's married and her other half would be less than impressed if you are planting his missus.
So at 6pm this evening, I'm out of here. 1 night in Townsville, 2 days in Cairns, then back to T-ville until next Friday. I'll have Monday and Tuesday to sleep in and burn, then mine safety inductions Wed and Thurs (all day). I think Mon or Tues I'll try to fenagle a trip skydiving! For about AUD$250 (USD$185) I can do a tandem skydive from 14,000ft. I get a bit nervous thinking about hopping out of a perfectly good aircraft (as Pops used to say), but it's time to finally tackle that little fear of heights that I have been harbouring for 30-odd years. I won't get a chance this time, but there are white water rafting trips as well out of T-ville/Cairns. Class 4 rapids, 5 hours of white-watering, AUD$150....cheap as chips, mate!!
I hope to post pictures from a ripper of a weekend when I return. Maybe it will be picturesque waterfalls from Crystal Cascades, maybe it will be me shitting myself at 10,000ft strapped to a human torpedo, or maybe I will just be passed out quietly from overconsumption with vulgar words and penises drawn on my face in permanent marker!
TRAVEL ADVISORY #2: Don't pass out while you're on the terps with your mates in Oz. If you are the first one down, you WILL end up being written upon in black magic marker, and you WILL end up with a phallus on your forehead/cheek!
Keep your dial tuned-in for the next installment...and I haven't forgotten the original story. It will be coming. Oh, and if you hear on the news about some American bloke plummeting to his death in a freak skydiving accident in Townsville, Queensland....that might be me! They don't call 'em extreme sports for nothin', baby!!!
So after 32 straight days on shift at the mine, I'm finally taking a break. 1 shift here is 12.5 hours, and most days have been either that, or more (ie a few days at 15 hour shifts). When you are working like this, days become irrelevant and a weekend is not a glorious time to kick back and drink yourself stupid, or to sleep in until noon and then have an 80's movie marathon. It's another day of the alarm clock going off at 4:30am and hauling my arse out for another day of fun with the other groundhogs.
People treat me like some kind of martyr around here, due to the fact that I've been her for twice as long as a normal long swing. The fact is, I have been adamant about being here the whole time, as I have a new research project that needs attention to keep things from getting stuffed up. So now I'm heading out today for a week of R&R (except for 2 days of training for the mine...so I guess 5 days of R&R). 2 of those days will be spent in Cairns, the portal to the Great Barrier Reef and the Northern Queensland rainforest. I'll be hooking up with a bloke from the mine (Dave) who has a bit of a reputation for being an avid traveler, and a full-on party animal. He just got back from a 5-week holiday where he rode a train from Moscow to Beijing, China. These Aussies are a travellin' mob. 3 of the guys I'm currently working with have been on 5-6 week holidays in the last couple of months. The 8 days on, 6 days off roster helps out in that regards, as 8 days of leave buys you 20 days off of site (6 days out + 8 days leave + 6 days out). Pretty good deal in my book. My mate (mate meaning friend...get Aussie-ized you deviants), Mick, went to a big music festival in Denmark, then to Pamplona Spain for the running of the bulls. Greg just got back from South Africa. My mate Scott is heading to Europe in a couple of months with 2 more folks from the mine.
Why do they travel so? First off, under the old industrial relations regulations, every full-time worker was guaranteed 4 weeks of paid annual leave every year. In the US, you would have to work for the same company for 15 years to get that. The rules are changing a bit under the new IR regs, but most of the mines workers will get 4 weeks of paid leave every year, plus sick days, holidays, etc. Now you may ask why there is a shortage of workers in mining with a sweet deal like that? 12-hour shifts to start out with. Second, alot of the mines are fly-in/fly-out, meaning you fly into a remote site for 8 days (or 7 or 14, depending on your roster), live in the mining camp, and fly back home for your time off between rosters. It's a great lifestyle for a single person, but if you have a family that you actually like, it could be a bit stressful. It's not uncommon to see married somen out on the prowl while their bloke is off at the mine on roster.
TRAVEL ADVISORY: If you go to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, or other mining centers beware if you meet a female in the pub. There's a good chance she's married and her other half would be less than impressed if you are planting his missus.
So at 6pm this evening, I'm out of here. 1 night in Townsville, 2 days in Cairns, then back to T-ville until next Friday. I'll have Monday and Tuesday to sleep in and burn, then mine safety inductions Wed and Thurs (all day). I think Mon or Tues I'll try to fenagle a trip skydiving! For about AUD$250 (USD$185) I can do a tandem skydive from 14,000ft. I get a bit nervous thinking about hopping out of a perfectly good aircraft (as Pops used to say), but it's time to finally tackle that little fear of heights that I have been harbouring for 30-odd years. I won't get a chance this time, but there are white water rafting trips as well out of T-ville/Cairns. Class 4 rapids, 5 hours of white-watering, AUD$150....cheap as chips, mate!!
I hope to post pictures from a ripper of a weekend when I return. Maybe it will be picturesque waterfalls from Crystal Cascades, maybe it will be me shitting myself at 10,000ft strapped to a human torpedo, or maybe I will just be passed out quietly from overconsumption with vulgar words and penises drawn on my face in permanent marker!
TRAVEL ADVISORY #2: Don't pass out while you're on the terps with your mates in Oz. If you are the first one down, you WILL end up being written upon in black magic marker, and you WILL end up with a phallus on your forehead/cheek!
Keep your dial tuned-in for the next installment...and I haven't forgotten the original story. It will be coming. Oh, and if you hear on the news about some American bloke plummeting to his death in a freak skydiving accident in Townsville, Queensland....that might be me! They don't call 'em extreme sports for nothin', baby!!!
# posted by K-Fleet-13 @ 4:24 PM 
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Yea, we're the only nation that works our friggin ass off for nothin. More vacation is what it's all about.
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