TUESDAY 28 NOVEMBER     RV1

Mid 40’s and very steamy after yesterday’s storms.

In the absence of anyone even vaguely resembling management on site, I had been instructed to sign off, on the company’s behalf, on Milestone 4. The FMG head honcho from Hedland arrived on site in the morning, and we duly signed the document. My signature was worth something like $6 million to the company! When I – reluctantly – took this job on, had not envisaged anything like that responsibility! For that matter, had not envisaged most of what I’d ended up doing…….

RV1 as it would look in another few weeks. Gaps at ends of Pods for possible extra dongas

There was much cleaning up needed after the storm. The wind had redistributed quite a lot of loose stuff. John had to re-do safety barriers blown down in the storm.

John took the Acco to Hedland with a load for the tip. A flying stone broke the Acco windscreen on the way back. Then he went to RV2 with a load of materials for there, on the Canter. Then he had to drive back to Hedland for the evening plane. This was two hours late, so he was very late getting back. When this happened, as it did regularly, I was in the habit of getting a plate of cold dinner makings – salads and meats – and taking it back to our rooms. Sometimes, he was able to get a meal in Hedland anyway, before starting back – it really depended on what whoever he’d picked up wanted to do.

The shower repairers said they’d finished here and went on to RV2 to do some that had the same problems there.

The guy who wanted my office signed the lease contract.

I spent some time on the phone, trying to chase up documentation I thought was needed for the Building Registers, from the SPQ manufacturers in Perth.

At RV2, there was a hunt for the RV1 disabled toilet that was supposed to have been transported there – which in turn was to replace our original one, which K had installed down there! K swore the new one was not there – but then he said that last time. Mystery of the disappearing toilets.

S drove BB to Newman to catch a plane to wherever he was going next. She could be spared for several hours – the men could not.

We were now into our last week here! Hard to believe……

SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER     RV1

Low 40’s and humid.

The company only had two men working here now – and us. The electrical work was progressing – slowly, as usual! Four men from the pool company were working on that. Two men from the comms company were installing TV’s and the central broadcast system for same.

Working on the pool

The mechanics company came to check and service vehicles, then go on to RV2 to do the ones there. They’d had good business from us, but it was invaluable having them come to the site to do servicing and repairs.

The forklift was U/S – having been borrowed – without permission of course – by one of the railway building companies on site. Mechanic said he would have to get in parts for it. Other site occupants raiding our gear containers and equipment had become a real problem.

Our two men painted the wet mess beer garden deck. Did more cleaning up about the place. They had removed a section of the deck wall and hoped that would be sufficient to pass muster.

Painting the decking floor of the wet mess

John collected BB from the morning plane, then took the Acco to RV2 with their pool shed and fence and came back with a bobcat borrowed from there, and some cement mix.

Apparently, BB had been in some discussion with FMG, who were now concerned that the 280 rooms would not be sufficient for the needs of the railway builders. Our company might have to commission and install eight more SPQ dongas at each village – there had been some provision for these on the original plans. That would add 32 more beds to each Village. That work could not happen before next year though. BB said he thought they might start hot bedding – when I looked mystified he explained that meant working in  shifts so two men used the same bed. My mind boggled – I just hoped they changed the sheets in between. All part of the great sense of urgency that was now pervading the place.

BB did a walk round of the camp, with P, and made a new punch list of all that still needed to be done. He and A had a talk about the Spotless security screen and it was decided that A would build it on site. Then BB took the bongo bus to go to RV2.

FRIDAY 24 NOVEMBER    RV1

Low 40’s.

I packed up R’s stuff in the office and dispatched it to Darwin on the company truck that was returning there. That same truck would load up R’s vehicle at Broome airport and truck it back to Darwin. A sad ending – we didn’t get to say goodbye. I hoped he would fully recover from whatever was ailing him.

John took a load with the Canter to the tip in the morning and brought back pool fencing. He had reported that the cab was getting extremely hot, took it to the mechanic in Hedland, who found a loose panel between the cab and the engine bay!

Off to the tip, with the Canter

In the afternoon, he took the Acco to Hedland and picked up the pool shed destined for RV2.

There was a steady movement of our surplus equipment and stuff to RV2. At least, I hoped it WAS surplus!

The men had commenced clearing and packing up the lay down area. This would become a part of the large car park area for camp residents.

Already a number of vehicles were being parked in the laydown area

Once again, the electrical company work was holding up other progress. The electricians had been missing in action this morning and only turned up in the afternoon. The Pod 3 TV’s could not be properly installed until the power points had been done.

Got word that the missing locksets for the Pod 3 doors would finally be coming – with BB from Perth, on Saturday.

About a week ago, I was approached by a guy from one of the companies that would be working on the railway line build, wanting to know if my site office would be available for them to hire. He was temporarily working out of one of the other assorted contractors’ offices that firms had set up at the side of the camp area. HO approved of that and said they would prepare a contract. It arrived today, for him to sign. So my office would not now be moved, but would stay and have to have services hooked up to it – water and camp power.

Safety shower installed outside the chemical store donga – a very pre-loved building

Also word came that the company HO had chosen could not deliver the roller shutter for the Spotless office until February. What now?

We appeared to have lost a batch of road signs that R had borrowed from a survey company, a while ago.

The semi took the trench digger, bobcat and concrete mixer to RV2.

Spotless was hassling me about a new griller that was required for the kitchen and whether it had been ordered – in turn, I was hassling V in HO about the same thing!

K came back from leave, so would be back at RV2 now.

MONDAY 20 NOVEMBER     RV1

Over 45 today, and there were oppressive storms late in the day.

A lot happened yesterday.

A man from the electricians had to make a special trip up from RV2, for a while, to sort out the Pod 2 rooms that had electrical issues and get them ready to occupy. It seemed that B, the man from that company who was normally here all the time, had taken it upon himself to take the weekend off, without telling anyone. The SPQ building in Pod 2 that had the problems had already had six hours of man time spent trying to sort it out and the problem was still not found.

After all that, Spotless decided to cancel the hand over ceremony and its forty guests. Good!

Someone got the Landcruiser tyres fixed yesterday.

The kitchen fence was finished and those men left.

Fenced yard around the kitchen loading dock and cold units

The gym was declared set up and operational, but was missing two gym mats. So today I had to phone HO to find some and get them to us, somehow.

Some of the equipment int the gym

Spotless had occupation of the main part of the wet mess, but the roller door that would block off the bar counter when required was missing, and there was still some other work ongoing.

Inside the wet mess

I ordered a roller blind thing from a company in Alice Springs.

From the quarry company I was told to order shingle stone – a 12 metre side tipper load – for “landscaping”.

One of the men had done a tip trip on Sunday.

A SPQ donga that was still at Fly Camp was moved to RV2. Down there, they also received 4 office modules and 2 kitchen modules.

Two of the company workers who had been based here were moved permanently to RV2.

I inducted 4 pool company men, here to install the pool, and a man here to install the TV system.

The kitchen compressor unit broke down again last night. The drinks display fridge in the wet mess was not working properly. There were just too many electricals related problems it seemed to me! The cooling man came and fixed the drinks fridge but said we needed yet another new kitchen compressor.  He was sure the repeated failures were due to power fluctuations.

John went to Hedland to return the light tower now that the cementers had finished doing the incidental paths. He also took in some of the semi’s tyres to be repaired.

The sewer company man was working on the sewer and water plants. He said they would train the Spotless managers in their workings. Why didn’t they do that in the first place?

A problem was emerging that some of the smoke alarms installed in the SPQ rooms were going off for no apparent reason. The heat? It was making the Spotless managers really cross.

John had an unusual and unforeseen job today, in amongst his two trips to Hedland. Last Thursday, when BB overnighted here, he nearly went through the base of the shower recess in his bathroom. He was not happy and ordered that every one be checked. So John and the Spotless second manager went round and checked them, by bouncing up and down in each shower. BB was a rather large man, but…… Of the 232 showers, 44 were lacking  bracing. BB was still running the show at RV2, so he got to deal with the manufacturers, about that, for which I was grateful.

I was starting to dream of having a cool – or cold – shower! No such animal in these parts.

SUNDAY 19 NOVEMBER     RV1

Hot. There was an early thunder and lightning storm and it was really humid.

It was our day off. We’d now been on site for nine weeks. In some ways, it seemed to have gone fast but at the same time seemed  like ages. Had we been normal FIFO staff with the company, we’d have been out on break twice now, for a week each time. But apart from our few days at Eighty Mile Beach, we’d stayed here.

Did the washing – nice to have access to a proper laundry with lots of machines, and not have to queue for use.

Apart from that, just relaxed around our rooms and the van.

At one stage, earlier in our time here, when it was a bit cooler, we’d debated whether we should try to visit Karijini National Park on our day off, and do some walking there. But it was over 200kms to drive, each way, so neither of us could motivate ourselves to do that. Had it been closer……