weekend

I've been in Mudgee for about a day and a half and have yet to visit the jobsite.  Mudgee is a small town about 150 kilometers west northwest of Sydney.  I left Brisbane on a flight to Sydney at 5:00 AM yesterday, but the more interesting flight was the one from Sydney to Mudgee, New South Wales.  I walked across the tarmac to board the plane and to give you an idea of how small the plane was, the mobile stair to the seats was only four or five risers.  There were a total of 18 seats on the plane and its motive power was twin propeller engines.  I think it only needed about 50 feet of runway to get airborne, but thankfully, the skies were clear and it turned into a very enjoyable flight.

The reason I haven't visited the jobsite yet is that the saftey constrictions here are more stringent than anywhere in the USA, and I'm required to have training for a "14 day induction" prior to being allowed on site and, even then, I won't be allowed to walk the site without a chaperone.  There isn't much more to tell. 

There is much more to do in Brisbane than here.  I'm told that Brisbane is the third most populated city in Australia and there are many things to do there within walking distance.  There is nothing within walking distance in Mudgee and although I haven't been to the jobsite, I'm told it's about an hour drive from Mudgee (in which direct I don't know).

I'm signing off for now and will post again if anything interesting happens.  I'm scheduled on a return flight to Brisbane on Friday, but the construction manager here is all ready making phone calls to keep me on for an additional week.

So long for now.

this week

I will be spending the following week at a field site in Mudgee, New South Wales.  It's about 1000 kilometers from Brisbane and it should be interesting to see Australian construction techniques.  I will post more when I have an opportunity.

This place is great.  I miss my wife.

That's all I have to say.

Del

A Brand New Day

I was brought here for political reasons.  Company political reasons.  My boss in the states is firing five (5) emails a day to my boss in Australia to bring all six of us back early to the states because he can't handle the workload without us.  Though I hate being in the middle, I can't say I'm not enjoying myself.  I'm working plenty of hours--between 50 and 60 hours per week--and I have little time to do anything.  But the money appeals to me as well as the weather.  The weather is conducive to motorcycles, but it's $200 per day to rent a bike and, frankly, I'm uncertain about riding on the left hand side of the road.

Gotta go for now.  I hope to give more after the weekend.

Del

The first picture is dawn . . . right before I leave for work.  The next two (2) pictures are the pedestrian bridge I cross on my way to work.

I might go to the zoo this weekend . . . there should be some good pictures from there.

Thanks for tuning in.

Del

yesterday

I promise to bring several photos to this blog--the ones I don't bring, I'll distribute with CD's for anyone who asks.

When I ride the elevator, it's a 50-50 chance who I'm riding with doesn't speak English.

It's a multi-cultural place . . . there are chinese, japanese, korean, indian, pakastani, saudis, celtic, brits, new zealanders, south africans, mongolians, and Americans.  Oh, yeah, there's some Australians, too.  But there is a shift going on here.  Something that is detrimental to this city.  It's being overrun by everyone except for the Aussies.

I must sign off now . . . 60 hour weeks mean an early wake-up call.

Del

And . .  . I still haven't run into an Aussie I don't like.  These people are bend-over-backwards friendly.  You should visit here.



Del