THURSDAY 18 JANUARY     RV2

Two more SPQ units arrived. Of course, having buildings trucked in again meant that the traffic controllers had needed to be re-activated, to sit at the corner all day, waiting……

Two of our workers went to RV1 to do repairs of assorted faults there.

Other workers were digging up and removing the wrongly placed cement spurs in Pod 3.

John took the other Acco load of rubbish to Hedland. I set up a new Variation Order for the tip trips – thought I’d seen the end of that, last year.

One of the workers decided not to return after his break. He’d found the heat too much.

Whilst FMG may have received Heritage approval to dig rubbish pits, they did not have an excavation permit to dig one at RV2. The pit dug at RV1 was shut down because it was not fenced. Talk about red tape.

I was well into a routine here, now. Early to bed, of course, because of the early start in the mornings. Up at 5am, into the work gear, over to the mess for breakfast. I usually had some fruit, then toast and marmalade. The toast was DIY, on the big rotating toasting machine. John often had a cooked breakfast, but that was not for me. After a cup or two of coffee, I would pack my lunch crib – salads, cheese, sometimes a piece of frittata or quiche with that, or some cold meat. Then, to work at the office at 6am. Fire up the genset if one of the men had not already done it, hoping that someone had filled it!!

Do needed reports and other paperwork in peace for about three hours – until it was business hours in any places I needed to contact, and especially it was when Head Office fired up, and the first of what would usually be several emails and faxes per day, hit the desk.

I usually ate my lunch at my desk. It was too hot to venture out to my room, most of the time, and I only had half an hour anyway. I did have to trek back to my room if I needed to use the toilet though, and it was a fair way between office and room, although not as far as it had been at RV1.

Work finished at 6.30pm. Back to room. Shower. Put on casual clothes. Replace heavy work boots with sandals. To the mess for dinner. Back to the room. Wrote diary, read, wrote letters on the laptop. Drink  a scotch and water night cap. Bed by 9pm.