Day 57 Yandi Mine Site Day 4

I’ll start this Blog by answering some readers questions, because quite frankly I don’t know what I am going to say today!

 Lorraine & Michael asked if they test the guys and girls before work each day, Sure do! Before each shift they have to all do a breath test, if they blow over .02 they can’t start work and have to stay in their room or at the camp, they do not get paid for this shift, and if they repeat the offence 3 times in a year they get a written warning on their record. Some sites go further than that, they make them do a cognitive test each day, basically they have to stand in front of a computer and with a mouse they have to follow a moving ball. Apparently if you are impaired in any way (Alcohol or drugs) it is really hard to follow this ball! If you fail the test you get another go at it, if you fail the second one you have to provide a breath test and a urine sample and you are not allowed to start work until the samples are tested!

 Brad asked what the pay is like up here, why mate? You need more money to finish MANLAND?..... Well the pay is excellent, iron ore is the second highest paying minerals job, the only industry that pays more is the relatively new (but growing) natural gas industry, mark my words in 20 years time Australia will be the worlds largest natural gas supplier (if we don’t sell all of our companies to overseas countries!) Brad you are a boilermaker, depending on your qualifications and expertise you could expect to earn between $55 to $95 an hour! A couple of years ago (Before the GFC) some sites were desperate for tradesmen & were paying Boily’s $120 per hour! Marc, as a rigger or driller you would easily fetch $50 - $75 an hour, there is some money to be made up here! I have mentioned in previous blogs that while you are on site there are absolutely NO out of pocket expenses, all flights, meals & accommodation is provided, you want me to line up a job Brad?

 A couple of you (including my wife!) commented on my reality TV show, Brad wants to know what would happen to the losers? Well they would lose naturally! The whole point of the show would be to see who gets out alive & first, the losers just lose, as soon as the first person got out, that would be it, switch off the cameras & get ready for the next series, the losers would just have to fend for themselves..... they should have tried harder! Brad you are signed up for series one!

 Some great suggestions for the bananas, especially from Marg & Norm, Ness spent most of this morning washing sheets, doona, floors & walls!.... they were yummy though!

 Ness spoke to Hardo (Tim) yesterday on Skype, (Facebook chat that would be James) Tim was supposedly studying, but had plenty of time to chat! Hey Hardo you would love it up here, lots more women working in the industry, come up here and find yourself a mining Momma!

 Last night we had dinner in the mess, we sat quietly & watched a bit of TV (they have tv in the mess but no where else) one of the mine superintendants that we had met came over and sat with us for dinner, his name was Blake, well I’ll be stuffed! If this bloke could not talk! Now Ness is known for liking a chat, but this bloke could talk the legs off a table! He did not shut up for nearly 30 minutes! Honestly we did not get a word in! We managed to excuse ourselves and I got outside and was exhausted from listening to him! The funny thing is that the other day when we first met him Ness and I both agreed that he is exactly like Brad Atkins..... Looks like we were right! Photo of Blake coming soon....jeepers did he have some stories to tell, even I was exhausted after listening to him.  James and I were worried about his dinner going cold, he obviously wasn’t.

 Hey here is another thing we saw today, we went over to another part of the mine site today, we have to be escorted by another vehicle as our car does not have flashing lights, & a flag etc. We drove past a stockpile of iron ore and there was a dozer working on it. Now I am not exaggerating here but the dozer was working at a 45 degree angle on this stockpile, Ness could not look at it and even I was surprised to see where he was working. We took a couple of photos, click on the link at the bottom to see this dozer! I was sure it was going to topple over itself...very distressing; apparently that is why they pay the dozer drivers the big bucks.  They deserve it just for the nerve they have.

 Keep the questions and comments coming, I don’t want to run out of things to answer!

 Goodnight, Bear Grills is on SBS tonight, pity I don’t have TV! Where is the nearest JB Hi Fi? Oh only about 7 squillion kilometres away! Nooooooooooo! I feel so isolated, please let me know what Bear does tonight!  Someone please let him know....

 James

Dozer at 45%.... 2

Day 56 Yandi Mine Site Day 3

Happy Easter, hope you all got eggs & have a great day whatever your faith or beliefs, hey I know I keep harping about this Easter thingy, but have you noticed that even non religious people are happy to have the holiday! Maybe people that don’t believe in Easter & Christmas should not get the holidays?

 Another day on the Yandi mine site, you know the fact that this place is so isolated can lead to a “Trumans World” type of existence., it is the same thing day in and day out, the site works 24hrs a day and 7 days a week, there are no public holidays and there was very little acknowledgement that it was Easter. And because there is no TV here you are isolated from what is going on in the outside world! Ness & I have been listening to the ABC to try to keep up to date with things. Is Kevin Rudd still Prime Minister?

 The other thing is the hours that they work, there are only two shifts in a 24hr period 6am to 6pm and 6pm to 6am, so 12 hour shifts! I don’t know about you but I think I would go nuts sitting in a truck for 12 hours straight! I reckon fatigue would be a major cause of a lot of accidents!

 Filled up our water tanks today, we can carry 250 litres with us, and some caravan parks have dodgy bore water, so it is better to fill up at a reliable water source than have to drain tanks that have yucky water in them. We also have a filtration system on the van that makes our water drinkable.

 Hey Ness sent out the slideshow from our wedding today, some beautiful pictures, have a look at it when you get a chance. I looked great! Yes you did darlink!!!

 Does anyone have a recipe for bananas? But before you send it keep in mind we have no flour, only cornflour! So if you know how we can use 4 bananas before they go off let us know. Have sugar, milk, dried fruits, spices, oats...and lots of other things, but only cornflour!!  All you cooking gurus, let me know what I can do with very ripe bananas. Can bake, grill, roast or microwave...

 I decided that I was not going to tackle a goanna, have you seen the size of these things? I reckon they could carry Daniel away! They are huge. I will have to save my Bear Grills skills until another day.

 I’m going to come up with a new reality TV show, it will be a combination of Bear Grills, The Bush Tuckerman (Remember him?) & the Bush mechanics. Contestants will be dropped off in the middle of no where, with an old car that is only just running, a weird hat (Les Hiddins) and no food and water. The winner is the one who drives out & is still alive! The losers just lose! I am starting to worry about my husband, this isolation is certainly getting to his brain.

 Another thing that has been on my mind lately is the boat people, now there is a good chance here that I might upset a few people with my views but they are just my views!

I reckon that the Australian navy should be able to sink their boats! What better deterrent than that, I mean I am all for humanitarian aid, but if people want to come to Australia they should do it the right way. And currently they know that even if they get picked up in a boat they will end up at the Christmas Island resort. So I reckon let the navy blow them up and that might deter them a bit more. Dunno why I mention this but I thought I would share it with you. Now I am really starting to worry....best I get some DVD’s happening.

 There are a few skilled immigrant workers on this site, and I support that. These guys are boilermakers that learnt their trade in Asia, for those of you who have been to Asia you will have seen the conditions that some people work in, imagine the difference when they come over to Australia to work, clean conditions, awesome money, and much much safer.

 Ok, it seems I am waffling today, just random thoughts. Feel free to send more questions this week as I am sure I will run out of things to say.

 Rob did you find out what the public holiday is for next week in Vietnam? Campbell.... Burt Bacharach at the Opera House.... Now that is a concert I would die for..... NOT! I’ll pass and wait till Engelbert Humperdink comes out to Australia! Hey Juan, are you reading my blogs?

Lorraine there are lots of wild cattle on this site, any suggestions to get them away from trucks & Machinery? Ilsa, are you back yet? Box & Mrs Box....How is Dubai this time of year? Let me guess....Hot & Sandy? Bonnie I know you read this, say Hi to Jack from us & tell Egg that he really needs to get a Discovery 4. How is Singa’s Mary & Pete...don’t eat too much! J

 Susanne, we are in your home state, bet it has not changed since you left? Naomi & Mark you guys have not commented or questioned yet.

 Hope you are all having a fantastic long weekend, think of us in the caravan of love in the middle of nowhere with no TV! (We LOVE it..... may not come back to civilization!)

 James & Ness

Day 55 Yandi Mine Site Day 2

Good morning, man what a shocking night’s sleep I had last night, I won’t be talking religion in this blog as I think higher powers are doing payback by keeping me awake!

 But you all have to read Angie’s comment on yesterdays blog, especially her son Adrian’s summary of Easter & Michael Jackson..... I nearly choked with laughter! Hey the foot washing sounds creepy Ange!

 Today we had an early start, first one for a while, do any of you do mornings easily? I normally do but seeing as I only had 3 hours sleep I struggled this morning! This morning’s session was held out at a part of the site where they get the iron ore and crush it down to the right size for transport, so they have conveyor belts, crushing plants, screens & a series of shipping containers that double as storage and office buildings. These facilities are relatively new and came about as a result of two fatalities a couple of years ago. Its funny how it takes for some companies to have an incident or death for them to do something about it!

 The money out here is just amazing, I don’t just mean what they get paid, but the infrastructure, the vehicles, the equipment. They must be making a fortune to keep this place going. We were speaking to one of the managers and he said that this site was one of the cheapest to get the ore from ground to port! (that means it makes heaps for BHP).

 Did I mention that Melbourne beat St George yesterday!.... 17 – 4  And that Collingwood beat the Demons by 1 point!!  YEAH!!   We only know this as we listened to on the radio....no TV. :(

 Are you all getting Easter eggs tomorrow? I know one person that does not buy eggs for her kids, she buys them pyjamas! How disappointed would the kids be to wake up on Easter Sunday & instead of a yummy chocolate egg, a brand new pair of Jammies!

 Braidy asked why it is a bunny that lays the eggs and not a chicken or a duck. Well Braidy thousand of years ago there was a dinosaur that only ate birds. One Easter a very smart duck decided that he would try & trick the dinosaur and dressed up in a rabbit suit, the dinosaur came looking for ducks to eat and could only see a rabbit. (the duck in a suit) the dinosaur said “any ducks around here?” and the duck said “no.... they don’t live around here any more!” and the dinosaur left and never came back. The duck was a hero and every Easter all the ducks dress up in rabbit suits and lay chocolate eggs. Cool huh!

 Maybe I’m wasting my time working in safety, I should be writing children’s stories?

 Dan is still at Heather & Brad’s not sure he will want to come home, yesterday was a footy party & today Brad has taken him fishing! Paradise for a 13 year old! Hey Dan, can’t wait to go to Bonnie Doon next holidays.

 Do any of you know much about the Pilbara? It’s history & how it came to be such a big area for mining? Aboriginal people have been here for over 30,000 years, but it was not until 1618 that European ships visited the Pilbara, they were not impressed, mainly because of the lack of fresh water.  Iron ore was thought to be scarce in Australia until the early 50’s when Lang Hancock discovered huge deposits up in the Pilbara. There are some interesting stories on the internet, but apparently the WA government constantly opposed Hancock’s attempts to open up the Pilbara & establish mining and rail facilities, it paid him royalties on ore bodies he discovered, but never allowed him to actually mine the ore, (Corrupt WA government) instead farming out his finds to other companies (BHP, Rio etc. Probably a good thing in the long run though as Rose would have got a hell of a lot more money if he actually owned mines!

 Now it is going through a boom time & Ness & I have seen new projects & construction at most of the sites we have been to in the last few weeks.

 Ok that is my little history lesson for today, I have to get changed and get on my bike, all this food at the mess can’t be good for the waist line. Gives Ness a break from cooking though.

 Georgia, it is school holidays, what are you guys doing? Lesley, get the kids to ask more questions, Shona is Sam home yet? Mum have you got the garden back in shape yet?

 Campbell what did you buy Karen for her birthday? Happy birthday for yesterday Karen. Arama, the new job must be good..... you are quiet. Rob do they celebrate Easter where you are? Brad & Heather how is the kids camp going?

 Speak to you all tomorrow – stay cool & drink water.

 James

Day 54 Yandi Mine Site Day 1

Who would have thought that Hot Cross Buns could be such a controversial topic? To toast or not to toast, that is the question.

We will just ignore the Americans as firstly they didn’t know what HCB’s were until they came to Australia! But why would you spoil the flavour by toasting them? I mean if you want them warm nuke them for 30 seconds, but to have them crunchy & toasted...Yech!

I vote for toasted...and only nuke them if I can’t toast!!

 Rob reckons I am eating them the wrong way? Dunno about that Rob but give them to me straight from the pack any day. I am so lucky that you are so easily pleased.

 And Sandy Wilson likes to Post her HCB’s, Post some to me Sandy.

 Day 1 of work here, it’s going to be a long week. Have any of you worked with someone that just does not seem to have their heart & mind in the job? That is what Ness & I are dealing with this next 8 days and then a further 8 days next month. Most of you know that Ness is very organised (No I did not say anal!) and she does a great job liaising with clients, and we had no reason to expect otherwise..... That was until we turned up at security and said we were here to sign in and they had no record of it! Lucky Ness had the original site access forms with her. The second thing that worried us was the person we are working with said “I’m still trying to work out a schedule for your talks” What the.... they have had(4 months to be exact) months to work out the schedule, and they do it now!

 Speaking of security & signing in, one of the things we had to do was have a breath test, I did mine & came up .000, Ness had a go but she did not have enough puff, she had to try it twice before they got a reading, and who says that she in full of wind! I was blowing too hard...then realised I should be doing my Yoga breathing. (No comments required)

 Hey Nikki & Brad..... Go Melbourne Storm!.... hahaha, laughing all the way to the fridge! Marc you owe me a carton too! Pity Brisbane won in the AFL though, but it was a good game to listen to on the radio.

 There are a lot of goannas roaming around the camp,(not just little goanna’s...really big ones, will get some photos) my Bear Grills senses feel like jumping on one & eating it raw, wonder what would happen if I tackled one? Bear could do it!

 There is a pool, a gym & a basketball court here, I should be exercising but it is too hot! Sat in the van most of the day with the air con on high!

 My sister Lesley wished me a happy Easter, Les I am working Good Friday, Saturday, Easter Sunday & Monday. Sure I’m happy.... but not because it is Easter!

Actually should you wish someone a happy Easter? I mentioned this before, I am not religious but for those of you who are, is Easter a celebratory time, or a sad time? I can’t imagine I’d be too happy hanging from a cross with nails through my hands & feet!

 Ness and I just had a discussion; can any of you tell me where Jesus gets shoved into a cave? I thought they crucified him and then put his body in a cave? Is this right? And then he escaped from the cave & this was his arising? Wish I listened more in religious education at school.

 Ok I better go to work, they have asked me to shorten my sessions to 30 minutes, makes a mockery of their Mission Statement “Production will never come before safety” I mean they are asking me to cut it short or leave out some of my message just so they can dig dirt! But it also means that I get paid the same whether it is 30 minutes or 3 hours..... but don’t worry, I will point this out in my feedback report.

 Nothing else interesting today, stay tuned for some exciting news regarding the professional photos that were taken at the wedding, Ness has a surprise for you all that she will share with you in the next few days.

 Had a question from a blogger that will remain anonymous, she wanted to know the fart count for the miners up here! I must say they are quite well behaved, when we sit in the mess there are not too many noises or smells, but the wet mess is outdoors, and probably for a good reason, you mix a couple of hundred blokes, some great food, and then wash it down with beers, and the farts are flying thick & fast.

 Until tomorrow, goodbye..... now where is that Bear Grills DVD that shows me how to wrestle goannas?

 James & Ness

Day 53 Yandi Mine Site

Ok folks, we spent the night in Newman WA, and after driving through town on our way to the caravan park we saw the local constabulary shooing a few of the locals off the school oval (as has been the case with my last few blogs they were drinking!). We wondered what we would find at the caravan park.

 We were a bit worried as the first park we pulled into told us that they can’t take caravans as they are doing construction works to expand the park. Now what has happened is that with the mining boom, small caravan parks have discovered that they can make more money providing accommodation to mine workers. So they have all expanded and have hundreds (yes hundreds) of dongas! (single person accommodation) all the caravan spaces are now taken up with rows and rows of dongas.

 So we moved on to the next caravan park where they too had dongas but they still had caravan sites. So we booked in for the night.

 It’s funny how one industry can be so dominant, everything in Newman has something to do with mining, most of the sporting clubs are sponsored or supported by the mine, the schools, in the local newspaper there are a lot of community functions and initiatives supported by the mine. And then there are the support industries, businesses that rely wholly & solely on the mine for their work.

 Newman is the home of Mt Whaleback iron ore mine, it is the biggest iron ore mine in the world, they have been digging this hole for over 30 years and have recently discovered that there are another 30 years left worth of resources! The caravan park we actually stayed was the village for some of the Whaleback staff...they had 300 dongas!!

 So as we were setting up the van for the night there was a constant stream of mine vehicles and workers returning from work or going out for night shift.

Hey talking about setting up the van here is a quick lesson for you non caravanners.

1. Ness gets her bike out (it stays inside van while travelling), arranges inside the van and moves items that we store on the bed while travelling (computers etc)
2. Ness & I both pull out awning & outdoor chair for Ness
3. Depending on time of day we cook, read, do blog, have a beer, make love! In your dreams!!! :)

Most of the time we leave the car hooked up to the van but sometimes we unhook, this is a simple task and we have it down to a couple of minutes now.

 Leaving is just a reverse of the above!

 So an uneventful night in Newman, Ness got up early and went to the supermarket and came home with an 8 pack of hot cross buns, excellent breakfast, straight from the packet with butter.... Yum! Ness toasted hers, a habit she apparently gets from DG.

 Left Newman and saw a scruffy looking hitch hiker standing on the side of the road, we smiled at him and he smiled back.... but we kept going! It was about 130km from Newman to the turn off for the mine, and we cruised along at 100km/h, we were overtaken by a couple of cars, but not too many.

 Arrived at the turn off to the mine site and guess what?.... The bloody hitch hiker was there! No way! I said to Ness. We smiled at him again but then pulled into the mine access road and kept going, I felt sorry for him but we were going a different way..... But if I see him again I will stop and pick him up!

 My mum got back from Scotland last night, Welcome home Mum & Bert, I hope the trip was good and you caught up with everyone. You will have to read the last couple of months blogs to catch up on all our news.

 Newsflash!.... Bradley found his key! For those of you who don’t know, Brad (my son) has his motorbike license and a perfectly good motorbike. But he lost his key a week ago, so has been back on buses and trains to get to Tafe. But he found it hanging on the gate (it fell out when he was jumping the back gate to get into his mums house) so he is back on the road.

 We made it to Yandi mine site, this site is owned by BHP but the major contractor is HWE, so basically BHP pay HWE to get the stuff out of the ground for them, smart way of doing business huh? Anyhow the mine camp that we are in this week is an old camp that has just been tacked on to bit by bit as it got bigger, the room we have been given sure has seen its share of people, the permanently red dirt stained vinyl floor & old furniture has had its day, but at least the air conditioner works! We will take some photos of this camp, not as flash as some we have been to. Not to mention the baby blue vinyl couch that is now actually brownish red from the dirt...Lovely!!!  So happy we have the caravan.

 Anyhow when we arrived we parked the van outside our room & were told the electricians would be there soon to hook up power, when the electricians arrived they said it would be easier if we could move the van nearer to where the power supply was, so we hooked the van back up and moved it, the only problem is we are now parked just feet away from an 11,000V sub station! What the!..... does anyone know the effects of getting too close to a sub station? Will my hair go curly?

 Ok, off to the mess, will give a report on the food here tomorrow night.

 Dangaz, good to see that you got there ok, whatever you do don’t drink XXXX beer, it will make you turn out like Uncle Brad! Have a great time and make sure you buy Aunty Heather & Uncle Brad a present for staying with them.

 Marc, you sure you don’t want a career change?  Plenty of work over here driving big machines and digging big holes!

 Shona, well done for waking up at 2am to go to the airport and pick mum up, especially after I woke you at 11pm to see if you were going! Doh.

 Heather, the moral of this story is that if you had got out of bed first you would have taken Daniel with you and left Brad at home waiting for the tradies (by the way, what time did he turn up.... have you ever noticed if they say between 10am & 1pm they will always turn up just before 1pm!)

 Sandy & David, how is normality going? Hope you got back into it easily.

 Marc & Christopher, want to let you know that your movies are being well used, but the best bit is WHERE we are watching them..... Nothing like watching a new release movie in the middle of the bush! (we can turn the volume up really LOUD!)

 And what about Jackie from SA (not Sth Australia!) who is currently in Singas have not heard from you either.

 Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it! Or should it be commiserate it? I personally don’t but I do love a nice hot cross bun!...... Oh and those eggs with cream in them...Yeh!

On a serious note sorry to hear your bad news Sarah F, hang in there kid, life can be tough sometimes. Sending you lots of love and hugs. xoxo

Love from us...... In the middle of red earth! I seriously have red stains on my hands from the iron ore.  And I seriously have red feet with thong marks...have been trying to convince myself it is a tan....but it just looks a little wrong, not to mention dirty!!!

James & Ness