Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
panic in Rome
It was two years ago, July, summer. I was sitting on the grass at Villa Borghese, cross legged with a book in my lap. The heat was stultifying and I was wearing as little clothing as I could realistically get away with in public. My hair was stuck to my neck and I was sipping from a waterbottle while reading through a "Guide to Europe" book.
I had a year stretching ahead of me and only a few weeks of it were solid, looming out of the emptiness like words floating in a vast universe... volunteering in July, La Tomatina in August, London for Christmas, New York for February, home sometime around April. The rest was....what? I had to determinedly avert my thoughts from a sense of panic.
I remember thinking at the time that I felt like I was standing on top of a very, very high diving board, blindfolded, with only my faith to tell me that there was water in the pool below. I dithered for a bit, then took a breath, opened a page of the book, liked the sound of a town called "Matera", and headed off into my adventure.
There were more moments like that, when I'd wake during that hour of the morning that doesn't exist on the clock (sometime between 3 and 4, there is a second midnight when the witches really do come out, and Alice's Wonderland is just around the corner) and I'd realise how far away I was from home. But that first moment, in Rome in the summer in a garden in the daytime, was the one that has stayed in my memory and that I am proudest to have overcome.
My life right now is a little like that moment in Rome, A lot of choices facing me and nobody else to tell me where to go. This time, however, it's the exhilaration without too much of the fear. I've trodden enough paths real and imaginary that I am confident in my footing, even as I am gaining the wisdom to be less certain of the destination.
I'm still a little trepidatious, but when I look back on my journey of two years ago, I feel satisfied and proud of the way I chose to travel and the places I chose to visit. And really, what is life but an extension of that trip?
A very wise man (ok - I'm pretty sure it's Dr Phill but let's not ruin the mood) says that the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour. With that in mind, I'm stepping forward to the next stage - willing to let it reveal itself as I go, trusting that I will be up to the challenge.
I had a year stretching ahead of me and only a few weeks of it were solid, looming out of the emptiness like words floating in a vast universe... volunteering in July, La Tomatina in August, London for Christmas, New York for February, home sometime around April. The rest was....what? I had to determinedly avert my thoughts from a sense of panic.
I remember thinking at the time that I felt like I was standing on top of a very, very high diving board, blindfolded, with only my faith to tell me that there was water in the pool below. I dithered for a bit, then took a breath, opened a page of the book, liked the sound of a town called "Matera", and headed off into my adventure.
There were more moments like that, when I'd wake during that hour of the morning that doesn't exist on the clock (sometime between 3 and 4, there is a second midnight when the witches really do come out, and Alice's Wonderland is just around the corner) and I'd realise how far away I was from home. But that first moment, in Rome in the summer in a garden in the daytime, was the one that has stayed in my memory and that I am proudest to have overcome.
My life right now is a little like that moment in Rome, A lot of choices facing me and nobody else to tell me where to go. This time, however, it's the exhilaration without too much of the fear. I've trodden enough paths real and imaginary that I am confident in my footing, even as I am gaining the wisdom to be less certain of the destination.
I'm still a little trepidatious, but when I look back on my journey of two years ago, I feel satisfied and proud of the way I chose to travel and the places I chose to visit. And really, what is life but an extension of that trip?
A very wise man (ok - I'm pretty sure it's Dr Phill but let's not ruin the mood) says that the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour. With that in mind, I'm stepping forward to the next stage - willing to let it reveal itself as I go, trusting that I will be up to the challenge.
Friday, March 19, 2010
boots shmoots
there was a young girl from perth
with new boots, pants and bright orange shirt
but her feet were getting so sore
as her boots rubbed more and more
she couldn't even outrun a man of large girth
with new boots, pants and bright orange shirt
but her feet were getting so sore
as her boots rubbed more and more
she couldn't even outrun a man of large girth
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
il cuore dell' Australia
Well, here I am on site. This'll be a quick one because it's getting late and I'm tired.
The people here are great. I'll introduce you to the team in a later post, but it seems like a close-knit team. We eat together and everyone is prety supportive. The camp itself isn't as integrated as Coyote was - there's no way you'd ever get to know everyone on site and when trying to find my room, I asked four people - none of whom could direct me there - and all of whom I later discovered were only a block or two away from me!
Our offices are brand new - so new that I don't even have a computer yet and am working on someone else's. They moved in a week ago, so the aircons are all in perfect condition, the desks are large, the rooms are clean and we're situated right next to the lunch room.
The landscape is beautiful. The dirt is a deep red, rocky, ever-changing, miniature gorges that are a gradual calming of the deeper gorges of the nearyby Karijini. I have a view from my room across to three hills, shaped like little mountains, pointy at the top. The rises and dips have character, some peaks knobbly and sudden, others smooth, others cut out in sudden edges like anvil.
The trees are small, the wildlife apparently is similar to what I saw in the Tanami - mangy camels and dingoes, healthy bungarras and grasshoppers, of course spiders and plenty of snakes. The skies are swirled with a mass of smoky grey clouds as the wet season struggles to make its mark so far south of the tropics.
The camp is huge, with lots of paths and lots of grass. I'm somewhere down the back, where it's quiet, dark and far away from the wet mess. (There are advantages to being the person who assigns rooms!) My room is s-p-a-c-i-o-u-s. There's even a little black leather couch and coffee table! Plenty of space for books and pictures and clothes. The bathroom is also huge, with a wide corner shower and a basin set in actual WOOD! Well, plastic made to look like wood, but the effect is pleasant. The bed is a king single and is happily situated under the remote-controlled LG aircon. There are plugs for phone and internet at my desk (yet to be tested for actual function so we'll see if they work once I get some cables). The tv has more stations than I've bothered to look at yet, including 3 movie channels. It's all very new and clean.
The gym is also large and well equipped. Classes are held every evening, a variety of walking, core strength exercises and more. There's a 25 metre lap pool, hard courts, and a kitchen that serves an abundance of tasty, healthy food. I've been issued a crib pack which comprises a cooler bag, several containers, a water bottle and a cup for the fair trade coffee that is available from the site crib.
You might also wonder what I do. I work within the REG - the "resource evaluation group". My team are geologists, drillers and field technicians. Basically they find and analyse which bits of dirt the others should dig up. Mostly I spend my day emailing people to tell them that if they'd stop bugging me for five seconds I might actually get a chance to book the travel they're asking about. I'm dealing with some remarkably impatient and often stupid people, but mostly they need to be disciplined so that they stop changing bookings for tomorrow and then asking in the same breath about the status of bookings for next month. One girl in particular springs to mind - she has been thrown into absolute panic and despair at the thought of having to look up her own travel confirmations online. All this modern technology - how terrifying!
The core of my work is to book people's travel and accommodation, and confirm their site access is all in order. Sounds simple, but when you take into account the constant late notice and frequent changes, the lack of spare rooms and the panicked emails from people like the poor aforementioned damsel, it becomes quite time consuming. I'll also soon take on some of the work related to invoice approvals and then of course do all the other bits and pieces that come across my desk. A few of the team have already said it's not fair that I should be in the office all the time, so it seems I'll be given frequent opportunities to go out and visit some of the drill rigs as well.
First day on site: hectic, interesting, exciting. I'm especially dazzled by the beauty of the landscape and rejuvenated by my return to Australia's heart; the frizzled kiss of her heat waves, the dancing clouds of her skies and the deep reds, browns and greens of her paintbox.
Photos
The view of my room from the entrance
My little "lounge room" (that's the table you can see the corner of in the photo above)
The view of the entrance from my bed.
My pretty bathroom - you can't really tell but the towels and bathmat match the room!
The people here are great. I'll introduce you to the team in a later post, but it seems like a close-knit team. We eat together and everyone is prety supportive. The camp itself isn't as integrated as Coyote was - there's no way you'd ever get to know everyone on site and when trying to find my room, I asked four people - none of whom could direct me there - and all of whom I later discovered were only a block or two away from me!
Our offices are brand new - so new that I don't even have a computer yet and am working on someone else's. They moved in a week ago, so the aircons are all in perfect condition, the desks are large, the rooms are clean and we're situated right next to the lunch room.
The landscape is beautiful. The dirt is a deep red, rocky, ever-changing, miniature gorges that are a gradual calming of the deeper gorges of the nearyby Karijini. I have a view from my room across to three hills, shaped like little mountains, pointy at the top. The rises and dips have character, some peaks knobbly and sudden, others smooth, others cut out in sudden edges like anvil.
The trees are small, the wildlife apparently is similar to what I saw in the Tanami - mangy camels and dingoes, healthy bungarras and grasshoppers, of course spiders and plenty of snakes. The skies are swirled with a mass of smoky grey clouds as the wet season struggles to make its mark so far south of the tropics.
The camp is huge, with lots of paths and lots of grass. I'm somewhere down the back, where it's quiet, dark and far away from the wet mess. (There are advantages to being the person who assigns rooms!) My room is s-p-a-c-i-o-u-s. There's even a little black leather couch and coffee table! Plenty of space for books and pictures and clothes. The bathroom is also huge, with a wide corner shower and a basin set in actual WOOD! Well, plastic made to look like wood, but the effect is pleasant. The bed is a king single and is happily situated under the remote-controlled LG aircon. There are plugs for phone and internet at my desk (yet to be tested for actual function so we'll see if they work once I get some cables). The tv has more stations than I've bothered to look at yet, including 3 movie channels. It's all very new and clean.
The gym is also large and well equipped. Classes are held every evening, a variety of walking, core strength exercises and more. There's a 25 metre lap pool, hard courts, and a kitchen that serves an abundance of tasty, healthy food. I've been issued a crib pack which comprises a cooler bag, several containers, a water bottle and a cup for the fair trade coffee that is available from the site crib.
You might also wonder what I do. I work within the REG - the "resource evaluation group". My team are geologists, drillers and field technicians. Basically they find and analyse which bits of dirt the others should dig up. Mostly I spend my day emailing people to tell them that if they'd stop bugging me for five seconds I might actually get a chance to book the travel they're asking about. I'm dealing with some remarkably impatient and often stupid people, but mostly they need to be disciplined so that they stop changing bookings for tomorrow and then asking in the same breath about the status of bookings for next month. One girl in particular springs to mind - she has been thrown into absolute panic and despair at the thought of having to look up her own travel confirmations online. All this modern technology - how terrifying!
The core of my work is to book people's travel and accommodation, and confirm their site access is all in order. Sounds simple, but when you take into account the constant late notice and frequent changes, the lack of spare rooms and the panicked emails from people like the poor aforementioned damsel, it becomes quite time consuming. I'll also soon take on some of the work related to invoice approvals and then of course do all the other bits and pieces that come across my desk. A few of the team have already said it's not fair that I should be in the office all the time, so it seems I'll be given frequent opportunities to go out and visit some of the drill rigs as well.
First day on site: hectic, interesting, exciting. I'm especially dazzled by the beauty of the landscape and rejuvenated by my return to Australia's heart; the frizzled kiss of her heat waves, the dancing clouds of her skies and the deep reds, browns and greens of her paintbox.
Photos
The view of my room from the entrance
My little "lounge room" (that's the table you can see the corner of in the photo above)
The view of the entrance from my bed.
My pretty bathroom - you can't really tell but the towels and bathmat match the room!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
the next adventure
One of my resolutions this year was to write a blog post a week. I haven't quite been meeting that mark, but given the turmoil my life has been in for the past couple of months I think it's ok.
So, now I have a contract position on a mine - the money plus the lifestyle situation that I've missed ever since I last flew away from the red dirt. Coming home from Bali and flying over the northern soil put an urgency into me to head back to my other "home". In 12 days time, after inductions and driving courses and lessons in procedures, I'll be there.
La via รจ in corso.
So, now I have a contract position on a mine - the money plus the lifestyle situation that I've missed ever since I last flew away from the red dirt. Coming home from Bali and flying over the northern soil put an urgency into me to head back to my other "home". In 12 days time, after inductions and driving courses and lessons in procedures, I'll be there.
La via รจ in corso.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
la bella isola verde
This time last year I was in Ireland. It's the part of my trip that I reflect on the most - Ireland sank into my skin and hasn't left me since. I think I will forever look back on it as one of the most beautiful, joyful times of my life.
This year, I am at work after a refreshing 2 weeks spent with family and friends. NYE was no better or worse than usual, but a last minute decision to go to Tijuana Cartel 2 days later was the saving grace of the NY weekend. They were fantastic, energetic and fun.
As the first post of the year, it seems sensible to make note of a few of my hopes for the year ahead. I'm trepidatious in that I can hardly imagine 2010 being as wonderful as 2009 was, but it's early days yet and life has a way of handing out pleasant suprises to those who are paying enough attention to spot them.
I hope I can:
This year, I am at work after a refreshing 2 weeks spent with family and friends. NYE was no better or worse than usual, but a last minute decision to go to Tijuana Cartel 2 days later was the saving grace of the NY weekend. They were fantastic, energetic and fun.
As the first post of the year, it seems sensible to make note of a few of my hopes for the year ahead. I'm trepidatious in that I can hardly imagine 2010 being as wonderful as 2009 was, but it's early days yet and life has a way of handing out pleasant suprises to those who are paying enough attention to spot them.
I hope I can:
- manage to write here at least once a week. It changes the way I see the world.
- continue to build a career that is challenging but also rewarding.
- sate the endless desire I have for creativity.
- focus on few enough things that I make real achievements.
- drive myself into a healthy routine that includes more exercise and less wine.
- face the fear of heartache with courage and dignity.
- draw enough inspiration around me to live 2010 as colourfully as I lived 2009.
- guitar
- making my own clothes
- making arty bits and pieces for my home instead of always buying them
- taking long walks
- morning kayaks on the river, when the water is like glass
- appreciating every little moment for what it is and what it's worth
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