I was a “fly-in, fly-out” worker on Monday, when I went to Kalgoorlie. I was in a cab heading to the airport at 5am, and only got home that evening at 9pm. The flight out was uneventful, even though the weather was somewhat stormy in Perth that morning. The airport was very busy in the morning, with many of the people waiting for flights dressed like mine workers. The plane to Kalgoorlie was full – and in the evening, on the flight back, I recognised a few people who’d been on my morning flight.
MPOW has a branch library in Kalgoorlie, some 600km to the east of Perth. The staff in that library are part of my team, but before Monday, because of the distance, I had only met one of them. It was great to finally put faces to names and see their library. It was very pleasant to have a warm welcome (complete with hot cups of tea and lovely homemade lime pie) and nice lunch – and a quick tour of the town, complete with a visit to the Super Pit!
I don’t think my photos convey the immensity of the place very well…
This is the viewing area of the Super Pit – Australia’s largest open cut gold mine.
If you squint at this photo you might be able to see a couple of the trucks used to haul earth and rocks. My tour guides, MB and TB, informed me that women are actually preferred as drivers of these trucks, as apparently they are more inclined to listen to instructions, are less reckless, and take better care of the trucks!
The huge cuts in the ground astounded me. People will go to such lengths to get hold of some yellow metal…
Managing a library is nowhere near as complicated or potentially dangerous as managing a massive gold mine but the challenges are enough for me, I think! I don’t think I would enjoy the stress of knowing that people could die if there was equipment failure or a lapse in concentration…
One Comment
Wow! It’s massive!