Dust bunny

Oh my goodness.

Where to start!? After arriving here on Tuesday afternoon I have been like a wide-eyed frog and constantly on the go. I have been to mine sites before but nothing like this!

For those who don’t know, I have jagged a job as a technical writer for BHP and they have sent me to an iron ore mine at a Yandi (near Newman) in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The view from the air was enough to blow my mind. Imagine a bloodshot eye, except the eyeball is rust-red and the veins are dark olive-black, and then land yourself in the middle of nowhere amongst it. Coming into land, the 'capillaries' turn out to be a network of ancient waterways and creek beds, all dormant before the seasonal monsoon. Exhibit A:

The middle of nowhere, Western Australia

There are two parts to my new fly-in fly-out life here. The first is the camp where all the staff stay. There are a few old camps associted with this mine, but I have been lucky enough to be put at the new one. It’s called ‘Spinifex’ and could almost be taken for a resort. Indeed the word is that this is the best camp in the mining industry. It has a population of about 1600 and it is made up of rows and rows of little cabins (known as ‘dongas’).  Then there is the ‘dry mess’ (dining hall), ‘wet mess’ (bar), gym, squash court, barbeque area, swimming pool and mini golf. I have also heard rumour of an outdoor cinema, but I haven’t had the chance to properly check any of it out yet. That’s not because I don’t want to. It’s because I have gone straight into 12-13 hour days, catching a bus to site with all others on my shift in a mass exodus at 5.30am. Upon arriving home, I have had a shower, a bite to eat and gone straight to my air-conditioned bed.

My work site is at one of three massive ore handling plants (or OHP’s, if you will). I have a little desk in the corner of an office ‘donga’ and everything – and I mean everything – is covered in fine red dust. Including the staff. Everyone goes home at the end of the day looking like they have a bad fake tan. Before I got here I bought a lovely white cheese-cloth shirt, thinking it would be perfect for cruising around camp after work. Note to self: White + Pilbara = FAIL.

It’s also hot, hot HOT! And it is not even summer yet!

While on site it is my job to document safe working procedures for the Electrical Crew. This means I spend some of the day going out with the ‘sparkies’ to observe what they do, and the rest trying to make some sense of it at my desk.  Today was Day 3 of my 14 day ‘swing’ and so far so good. I think. I have definitely been dropped in the deep end. But the crew have been really friendly. To be honest, at this stage I still find myself going around with that kind of pasted-on smile that you get when new amongst a large group of people who know each other well, but it's all good. Luckily for me amongst this motley lot, I also know how to give as good as I get.

I was warned about the dust before I got here and so didn’t bring my big camera on this trip. I didn’t want to ruin it. I am kind of regretting that now as it would have been safe enough to use here at camp and, among other things, I could have taken some amazing pictures of the sunrises and sunsets. I’ll bring it up in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I’ll see what I can take on my phone. I do also have a little camera to use on site and so I will leave you tonight with this special special photo of me in my new work outfit.  Luminescent orange safety shirts are the new black, dahlingks!

The cat in the hat

Meanwhile, oh yes indeedy I already have a multitude of stories I could tell about this place (including the mystery of the boot print on the toilet seat) , so watch this space. :D xxx