Perks of the job

My next break at home was a rather short ten days but I was determined to pack stuff in. The main motive was to catch up with Mikey (who I’d met on my first trip to Oz back in August). Mikey had been traveling around Australia but had popped back to Perth for a week or so on his way back to Blighty on 1 July; we were long overdue a drink together! I managed two catch-ups with Mikey which were both lovely and actually managed to fill nearly every other lunch and dinner spot in my diary for the entire ten days. It was great spending time partying with the girls, lazing about with some rig buddies, trying out a few new restaurants and bars, exploring more of my local area, celebrating a friends birthday and having precious Jim time (he’ll tell you that I fell asleep after two glasses of wine and was rubbish company and he might be telling the truth but its time all the same). I even managed to hire a car and NOT get hit by a Roo). I felt like I had made the most of the ten days and was happy to go back to the rig aligned on the same swing as The Cool Kids (three young, prankster-type guys who I hung out with at work). 

Girls night out!

Australia is currently in mid-winter and temperatures vary considerably across the country. Whilst my home town is still reaching highs of 24 degrees Victoria is averaging a mere 10. Along with the colder temperatures comes high seas (reaching 11m at times) and that means no drilling on the rig. We all know time is money and so instead of lounging around on the rig waiting for the weather to settle me and the team were flown off to spend a week in Geelong; working in the port arranging rock samples that had been shipped off the rig. 

Geelong is a port city located 75 km’s south-west of Melbourne. It has a beautiful foreshore, large Westfield and a cute main street which strangely reminded me of an American midwest town with its low buildings and slow pace. We were staying in apartments (I had one to myself and the three guys were sharing) and had an impressive hire car at our disposal. We were set to work in a warehouse alongside Russell and Gary. Russell, mid fifties, is the director of Victorian Shipping Company and Gary, early sixties, is the mechanic/welder/jack-of-all-trades in the yard. With no direct boss on site, working with the most chilled out guys you’ll ever met in your entire life we were in for an easy ride! On day one Russell drove us round to the local indian takeaway for lunch and told us we could come and go in the yard as we pleased and help ourselves to tea, coffee and biscuits. He encouraged us to explore Geelong, even printing us a list of the wineries and advising which towns were good to see.

Working in the Geelong base

The weekend came and we decided to take Russell’s advice and drive along the infamous Great Ocean Road, stopping along the way, with an aim to see the 12 Apostles (a collection of Limestone stacks off the shore of Port Campbell National Park). The drive was splendid; the GOR bends and twists though overgrown lush forrest to rugged coastline providing unprecedented views of the bright blue Southern Ocean merging with the clear skies that on show that day. We made it to the 12 Apostles around dusk and although it was misty the Apostles were striking, bold and appeared almost mystical. For a bunch of Limestone (my least fav rock by the way!) stacks they were pretty special and actually attract two million visitors each year and I was glad to be one of them! 

At the 12 Apostles 

My time in Geelong was enjoyable - I got to bond with the guys from the unit, have them spoil me with traditional Indian food, see a city at the expense of the company and meet two lovely old guys who were full of Aussie hospitality. I went back to the rig with eight days to go feeling like a had explored a fraction more of this country that seems to keep on giving.