MONDAY 8 JANUARY     RV2

The day was overcast and humid and around 40 degrees. So much for me hoping that the worst of the hot weather was over.

The Spotless manager at RV1 sent through a list of defects they’d had surface, plus some items best classified as wish list! But an urgent problem was a SPQ with a major electrical fault, and this needed urgent attention. K emailed HO asking for instructions about this. I wondered if it was the one that had been faulty weeks ago, when first connected up – and that the electrician was supposed to have fixed.

There were a lot of defective door locks being found here – as there had been at RV1.

Late morning there was drama at the rubbish pit. Spotless put a lot of rubbish into it and left it – presumably thinking our men would burn it later, with our stuff. But there were embers from yesterday’s burn and they re-ignited. The flames headed off north into the spinifex and burned some of the bush. When someone eventually noticed the smoke, K raced off with some of the men to put it out. He was not happy with Spotless. I was not happy with Spotless either – had to prepare an Incident Report for HO. Two of our men then had to stand by and watch the Spotless rubbish burn right down – it took them 90 minutes! It was a big “oops”, but kind of not our fault.

The Shire Health Inspector came to do inspections. He passed the kitchen – good news, because we can continue being fed! He found there was not enough open wall space in the wet mess deck area, and that fans would have to be installed as a result. He would not inspect the pool, because the lighting around it had not been finished! He headed off to RV1 to inspect their pool. I hoped it fared better, because that camp was fully occupied – compared to only a handful of people here – and they really wanted to be able to use the pool.

I sent off a request to HO to replace a dart board (wet mess) that had been damaged in transit, plus supply two sets of pool cleaning gear. Some of the trivial items we were supposed to supply still had me amazed.

John had to do a Hedland trip; enough stuff was needed that he had to take the non-air-conditioned Acco truck. Part of the order was for three drums of hydrochloric acid – apparently the guy who laid the sports court had used drums belonging to Spotless. John also had to pick up one of our workers from the late plane. They overnighted at RV1.

There was a really strong wind storm at night, but no rain.

SUNDAY 7 JANUARY     RV2

We worked. Without a vehicle to go anywhere on a day off, there did not seem to be much point in not working. Just sitting around in our rooms did not appeal, nor did sharing recreation facilities with the workers, when the place became properly functional. There was plenty of work to do.

I got a couple of the men to move the genset – had noticed its exhaust fumes were being brought into the office by the air con unit. Not healthy!

Not the best position for genset – under the A/C!

Despite it being Sunday, I managed to get onto the company in Newman that would come-  next week? -and fix five coolroom compressor units that were not functioning here – two in the kitchen, two in the extra kitchen storage containers, and one in the wet mess. They definitely did not travel well! I suspected the uncovering of faults was going to be a reprise of RV1 – with me in the firing line.

The men had dug a temporary rubbish pit – authorized by FMG – yesterday. There would possibly still need to be some loads taken to the Hedland tip, but the pit should alleviate some of the rubbish volume that had been an issue at RV1. The men gathered the burnable rubbish from around the site, took it to the pit. Late in the afternoon, K lit a fire in the pit and left it to burn down overnight.

John spent some of the day doing bunds – leak proof ground covering for stuff that was not to contaminate the soil. He did it for the genset diesel drum, and the fuel, oil and paint storage areas.

Sometimes, John got to use the big toys!

They should all, of course, have been done way back, before any spillable chemicals  were brought in but this was not the sort of detail that K was strong on overseeing.

MONDAY 4 DECEMBER     RV1

Low 40’s, with cloud.

In the morning, John took the Acco to Hedland. He took the water man to the morning plane, then went on to do his last tip load! In the afternoon, he was back in there on a purchasing run. It would have been interesting to keep a tally of how many kms he had driven, back and forth to Hedland, whilst here!

I finalized the office pack up. The computer and phones and printer would remain, because some of the men would remain here working for a short while yet. They would then have to organize the move of those things to RV2, or Leonora.

I phoned the Shire Health Inspector to come and do the final inspections of the wet mess and pool. He would come Thursday. Until he passed it, the pool could not be used – another source of complaint by camp occupants.

Darwin promised me a lockable first aid cabinet for the paramedics room – to be sent on the next truck. The guy there had delayed getting what I asked for until HO had approved it!

And that – effectively – ended my work here!

At RV2, Spotless had arrived and begun to unpack their stuff there. That would really put them under pressure down there – the Spotless management people were so pushy! I wondered how happy S would be about having to share her office with them, as I’d had to. But BB also arrived at RV2 today, so he might put Spotless back in their place…….I hoped!

The distant Fly Camp had been re-invented as a storage area for railway making machinery and service centre for same. 

SUNDAY 3 DECEMBER     RV1

We worked again today. There was plenty to do.

About 40 degrees. Daylight Saving started today – WA was experimenting with this. Didn’t make much difference to us up here.

Today, it was twelve weeks since we started work with the company, eleven weeks here on site. Over that time, we had each grossed about $30,000 in wages!

Brickie was down from Darwin with the semi. K wanted him sent down to RV2 to pick up the steel and form work from the bush where John hid it and bring it back here.

The water man arrived to fix the sewer plant.

Our men couldn’t finish doing the formwork for the paths around the pool and wet mess toilet areas because the materials they needed had been taken to RV2 by K!

A load of rubbish was put up on the Acco.

The mechanics were here to service the vehicles. The bongo bus was due a service but they couldn’t do it because it had been taken to RV2.

The electricians had to go to RV2 to get things they needed that had been moved down there.

The fencers finished the sports court and moved to RV2 to do the one down there.

Spotless were back with more complaints. Now they thought  we should get them a new deep fryer because the one installed in the kitchen was not efficient enough. They mentioned that they were getting many complaints from the room occupants because the TV’s were not working – which could not happen until all the electrical work was finished.

The beer garden deck of the wet mess

I was flat out finalizing as much as I could of the Building Registers and packing up the office. Some documents still to come for the Building Registers I had directed be sent to HO – someone there would have to complete the things, and I attached detailed instructions about what was still to come and where it fitted. Tomorrow, John would send one box, from Hedland, to Alice Springs – containing the Registers; warranties for RV1 items. like washing machines, fridges etc; and other items of value, including computer file back ups on thumb drives. Four other boxes of general office supplies would go to RV2, for later trucking to HO. A couple of boxes of supplies would go to RV2 for use there, plus the contents of my desk – in case I returned. There were eight boxes of office and general supplies to go south to Leonora and the company accommodation business there – which it had been decided H and M would manage for the company. I was pleased they had ongoing work – nice people.

The amount of money that had been wasted through the original over supply of office needs was almost criminal!

FRIDAY 1 DECEMBER     RV1

The first day of summer. Ha! Mid 40’s today.

The shower men finished the showers here. These were passed as satisfactory by a Spotless manager and the men then left to go back to RV2 and finish there. This shower business had really been a saga.

The sports court fence was built. The wet mess toilets were plumbed. The electricians were working on the car park lights, which would be up on tall poles.

Sports court fenced and awaiting surfacing

The lease man used my office for a while. The water had been connected and the wiring to power was in progress.

The Pod 3 locks were finally fixed and all those remaining rooms handed over to Spotless.

John took men to the midday plane, fetched some materials from town and then went back for the evening plane. He purchased some boxes I would need to send office supplies away; the original boxes having mostly disappeared over the weeks.

K appeared from RV2, raided the gear container and took tools and materials he wanted. We had been finding that, quite often, things that were needed here had gone to RV2! To me, that was the product of no longer having one project manager overseeing both sites.

The unpleasant OHS man from Hedland was on site. He strutted around then issued several directives related to our men’s use of tools, the fitments in the first aid room and the site in general! Now I had to try to get different desks, lockable cabinets and other gear for the first aid room. The easiest way, at this stage, was to get the Darwin company manager to get same and send them down on a truck, so I phoned Darwin.

I was still chasing the heating/cooling company about the compressor motor they were supposed to have been replacing.

The poo plant was – officially – leaking. That company would have to return to site and fix it.

WEDNESDAY 29 NOVEMBER     RV1

Low 40’s and steamy again.

In the morning, John did a shopping  run for all sorts of required oddments, and in the afternoon, an airport run.

Found out that it was R who used the missing borrowed signs, and lost them somehow – probably buried in the back of a container at RV2 – never to see daylight again! The company would have to pay compensation for them.

The two electricians left at 11.30, to query things about their work, in town, and to collect things they needed.

The pool man instructed the Spotless managers on how to operate the pool.

John and Spotless second manager started out to check the completed shower repairs. The first three they checked were still unsatisfactory, so the check was abandoned. I notified HO, the build company, BB, and the repair men now at RV2 and left it all to them to sort out.

More door locks arrived, having come on a truck load to RV2. Now, the remaining Pod 3 rooms should be able to be fixed.

The pool men left.

Aerial photos were taken by John.

The site office at RV2 had to be relocated to make room for ongoing works. I was curious about why it hadn’t been put out of the way of works in the first place, like mine had been here, but had no one to ask about that.

Two containers of our gear were moved south to RV2. The pool installers finished there.

I did a lot more chasing around of documentation for the Building Registers, and photocopying for same.