TUESDAY 9 JANUARY     RV2

John arrived back early with our worker. The latter only managed to work for a couple of hours before knocking off with an upset stomach. Too much booze last night before he left Alice Springs?

Brickie arrived in with a forklift on his semi.

The guy from Newman got four of the compressors working. The other would need replacing. I was soooo  sick of compressors!

K reckoned that two drums of paint for the wet mess deck had gone missing from here over the Xmas break.

Two people from BHP – environment and safety types – arrived, to find out about yesterday’s fire. Not sure what business it was of theirs, but I gave them detail – minimal! Word travels fast, it seemed – maybe a train driver saw the smoke?

John was back to Hedland for more purchasing – again with the Acco – and to meet the late plane again. Another over night at RV1 for him.

The numbers moving into RV2 really began to increase, now the kitchen was approved and serving the proper range of meals.

I was really starting to feel a much greater sense of remoteness than I had at RV1. It may have had something to do with the outlook from much of the place being limited by the low hills that surrounded much of the camp. At RV1, one looked to distant ranges and it felt much more open and less confined