Day 15 Moranbah
Monday, February 22, 2010 at 01:23AM Ok a little about Moranbah, this town was also established purely to service the surrounding minesites. It is much larger than Dysart though & even has a KFC, a Coles supermarket & a Target Country (Smaller version of a Target store)
The houses here are amazing, up the posh end of town you have new, modern very flash houses.... The mineworkers that have decided to make Moranbah the family town have all splashed out & built great houses.
But the old part of town is still there too, where the people that work in town live & there is such a difference.
The shopping precinct is newly built & has a great park area & new council buildings & library.
It is funny when we are in a mining town the majority of vehicles are 4WD’s usually with the company logo & an identification number on the door. The all have flashing lights on the roof & bull bars & driving lights. We were up the street the other day & I did not have my camera, but out of 20 – 30 vehicles parked in the street, 75% of them were mine vehicles. I’ll try & get a photo before we leave here.
We have set up the van & our Donga for the next two weeks, we could live just in the van very comfortably, but the donga allows us to spread out a little more & we don’t have to use our water. We still sleep in the van & cook in the van, & work in the donga.
That reminds me, Ness is cooking tonight so I will let you know what we have, she won’t tell me until it is made... so kind of a surprise dish hey!
We have a little verandah here & I have set up my bike on the rollers. Today I did a 40 minute ride & was soaked with sweat. The humidity is horrendous & today is a good day! Ness took the easy way out & went for a walk/run. We have to make the effort to stay fit on this trip as we do spend a lot of time sitting in the car.
Did my first session with the site this morning, it was an early start for Ness & I. Have you ever noticed how two businesses owned by the same people & doing the same thing can be totally different?
The site I am working at this week is so much slacker than last weeks. They were running 30-45 minutes late & no one seemed to really know (or care) what was going on.
But they are owned by the same company & do exactly the same thing.
Hey just to give you an idea of how much money a coal mine makes, the mine that we are working at this week recently had a record production day (24hr period) where they produced 210,467 tonnes of coal. Yes that’s right 210,467 tonnes in one day. The price of coal at one stage was pushing US$190 a tonne. So if my maths is correct 210,467 times $190 equals $39,988,730. Not bad for a days work huh? They celebrated by having a mug printed up for all employees..... probably cost them $500..... that leaves $39,988,230. So glad I have BHP shares.
The other thing we have noticed about this area is the number of Mine Camps that are under construction. These camps are designed to provide accommodation for workers that fly in from other parts of the state or country. Ness & I talked about this & we think it is sad that this is the way that a lot of companies are going. It is obviously cheaper for the company to feed & house workers in a camp environment than to offer them a moving allowance to bring their families to live in the area?
But the other thing is that it is encouraging the separation of a family member, the husband/wife has to leave the home for a period of time to work & then come home & catch up on all they have missed while they were away..... It’s just not normal!
A message for my mate Pete, the site we were at today had a tyre stockpile that would make your eyes water! Hundreds, maybe even thousands of truck & earthmoving tyres! I’ll try & get a picture for you.
Ness went shopping for food today, she was surprised at how many shelves were empty in Coles, I said they probably only get weekly deliveries so often run out of stuff. Makes us realise how lucky we are, if one shop at home runs out, we just go to the next one that has it!
Nothing happening in Moranbah, I was hoping that they would have a show or a fair or something that we could go to while we were here.... but I checked the local paper & there is nothing! So I’m guessing that I will run out of things to write about.
Dave & Lyndal.... ask me some questions, you normally come up with curly ones! Rob & Nikki.... you too! My sister, Heather...time for your next question & Brad Atkins.... ask something that does not have anything to do with golf! Rob & Juan, no more shoe questions! Arama & Meredith, some more from you thanks & Box & Lou.... did you go to the V8’s last weekend? Or are you going this weekend? Egg don’t ask... the Land Rover is going fine!
C’mon guys how often do you get the opportunity to find out about people you know & what they think on a particular subject. Or even just what they think!
Tomorrow is another day...... Slán leat to my leprechaun friends
James
Reader Comments (6)
ok-not a shoe one....
Maybe an immigration one then-I've got loads of those right now, do you have any idea how much paper work is involved for an American Citizen with permanent residency in Australia that is going to live and work in Vietnam!?!
Love the photos, especially Vanessa's windswept hair, Wood St and how much is that truck in the window, the one with the yellowey tail
Cam xx
Vietnam?? thats a long way away, Rob xx
Hey team
Wow, what a trip so far. Ask Pauline and Melissa if they know Fiona on the Gold Coast? Should set them off for a while trying to work out if they do! What does a dragline do? saw the picture and am curious. Oh and understand about the foodie thing...my exes family would all SWAP PLATES mid meal so they could taste each dish. First dinner I went to with them I almost choked - no bugger was getting my plate!!!! In all they years we were together I never got why they did that - in my family, first finished got seconds so we just inhaled food (I still do eat fast). Anyway, must be off....looking forward to next installment.
xxxxx
Mate, I'll bet most of those minning vehicles in the main street were Toyota's !!
The empty shelves in Coles reminds me of when I lived in Cairns 20 years ago, it was stinking hot so I went to a major electrical appliance store (can't remember exactly which one) and asked for a pedastool fan.
They said "come back next week, they should be in by then" !!!
I was NOT happy ;-)
James
I totally agree that flying workers into mine sites encourages family separation - BUT - sometimes it can be a good thing as absence makes the heart grow fonder - have you seen any employment ads for draftsman, project managers or boilermakers?