Under, Down Under

I'm typing this from an internet kiosk in a small town near the Queensland coast in Australia. I've just started my new job this week and wow. It's been wonderfully overwhelming! I'm loving the new office and I'm learning so much already about open cut geology and mining operations.

My trip to Australia was great. The company paid for business class seats and I had to get used to the air hostess calling me by my name. The food was amazing and your whole body could actually fit in the seat. My first stop was Brisbane at the head office. A small glitch in baggage labels resulted in my suitcase only arriving three days later. This meant I appeared at the corporate head office, on my first day, with a wonderfully colourful bunny t-shirt. Cue hilarious laughter! My HR contact at the office was very understanding and we had a good laugh about the entire situation. Especially after we realized I was also wearing purple Winnie-the-Pooh socks featuring the adorable Eeyore. I dressed comfortable for the long flight, all right? :-)


Other than my lost baggage, which was luckily recovered just in time for my flight to my future town, no other major travel hiccups occurred. It'll just take a bit of time to get my new house and mobile sorted out. In the mean time, I'm staying at the single quarters camp. This is great since I get fed three times a time and don't need to clean anything.


I've found it amazing how similar the geologist's role is from underground to open cut operations. The principles are very much the same - daily mapping, checks between actual and expected geological conditions, short- medium- and long-term planning and modeling, working with engineers and production teams. It's only the setting which is different. And I'm really enjoying being out in the sun versus the dark underground, but I can imagine that the hotter weather apparently coming in February is going to be a bit of a challenge.


Being away from home (and really away, not just a short 2 hour flight) is definitely an adjustment. But, with technology these days I keep in contact and it helps with the homesickness :-).


It's time to head back out into the heat - there's a reason Queensland is known as the Sunshine State!