Week 12 - The Final Stretch

So this is the sum up of my last full week on tour! I'm in Darwin at the moment which is only a chilly 34 degrees (note the sarcasm!). We are staying at the Luma Luma Holiday apartments which is fine (but we all wish that we were staying at the Mantra across the road!). But at least this is our last lumpy pillow motel room before we come home!

We started the week at the Carnarvon Civic Centre with one show. When the audience came in I was really happy because they seemed to know a lot about Tashi and were talkative and excited. But when the show started it was a different story. Not sure what was going on but they didn't seem like they were with us, almost like we were all in two different rooms! I think they were quite a distracted audience and people kept coming in and out throughout the show. To make matters worse it was so stuffy and hot up on stage especially with the lights shining on us. During the end of the show I started to get a headspin and my hands and feet went tingly, I thought I was going to pass out! Thom had it even worse, he threw up after the show and looked very grey. It was one of the harder shows of the tour and I'm glad we only had one show that day! Afterwards we went and had lunch at a cafe (I had a toasted sandwich and a milkshake). I can't really remember what I did for the rest of the day. I think I watched Masterchef repeats and went for a walk. Had room service, more Masterchef and then bed.

Carnarvon

On Tuesday it was time for our biggest drive of the tour - 643kms to Karratha. We passed lots of mountains with flat tops that looked like they'd been lopped off. There wasn't much along the road, only two roadhouses I think the whole 7 hours. We packed our own lunch and had a little picnic. Hot hot hot! The sun is so searing on your skin even through the tinted car windows. Finally around 330 we arrived at our accommodation for the night, Comfort Inn and Suites - pretty standard hotel room. After dumping my bags I headed back to the others in the carpark. We could hear some yelling and then two other guests ran around the corner with their phones. Thom came back into the carpark from around the back where our rooms were and told us that a little girl had just been hit by a bus in front of the hotel. I think it was a little girl I'd seen as we drove into the street. We cautiously went around the corner and there was a big mining bus and her tiny little body on the ground in front of it. Later from a news story I read I learnt that she was 7 but she was a tiny tiny Aboriginal girl. The bus was a mining bus which was lucky in a way because there were so many witnesses and people to help. The guest from the hotel who ran around earlier was an army officer so he was helpful too. She was still making noise and moving so we knew she was alive which was a bit of comfort. Strangely, a new bus arrived to take the miners away before the ambulance did. It felt like forever before the paramedics arrived but it was probably only about 5-7 minutes. The police and paramedics are so impressive, dealing with stressful, horrific situations in the best and most reasonable way. I got a bit upset when the girl's mum turned up because she was, understandably, distraught. I went and stayed in the bathroom for a bit to get away from it. Eventually they put her in the ambulance and took her to the hospital. Later on from the news article I read that she was taken to a hospital to Karratha in a serious condition and then flown to Perth by the Royal Flying Doctors. At the time of the article she was in a stable condition which was a great relief. It was all a bit full on to experience a few minutes after turning up after a 7 hour drive! Afterwards I felt a bit weird.

Once the road was cleared for traffic again we went to this area by the water which was really beautiful, especially with the sun setting and the purple sky reflecting off the water. We stayed for a bit but there were bugs biting us!! I have lots of insect bites all over me from WA, so itchy!! A few of us went to pretty much the only bar in town and had a drink - $14 for a beer! Mining prices are ridiculous. Then it was time to get our microwave meal from Coles and go back home. I got a delicious creamy risotto, quinoa, spinach thing. We are becoming quite the connoisseurs of microwave meals over the past three months. I was so tired waiting to get back in the car. After the long drive and the bus accident all I wanted was a hug from my Will! But oh well. More Masterchef on TV, then Snog Marry Avoid and Sex and the City.

Sunset in Karratha

 On Wednesday we were up again to drive 3 hours to Port Hedland. Before we left we had coffee at a cafe which said 'No Hi Vis Allowed'! We stopped off at the venue to get some sandwiches from the Tuesday leftovers and then checked in at our accommodation. It was pretty good, we got a free breakfast here as well and there was a pool! The rooms were pretty standard too. After getting some dinner from Woolworths (microwave thai chicken curry and japanese soba noodles) Neridah and I went for a look around the town, checking out the visitors centre, and a lookout. There was a special plaque about a ship that had sunk off the coast of Port Hedland in the 1800s. Apparently one of the guests aboard the ship had on him a Cursed Rose Pearl which was found in Broome. The legend was that whoever owned the pearl was murdered. He boarded the ship with it unbeknownst to the captain and the whole ship drowned (about 200 people). The pearl has never been found and it is believed to have dissolved back into the ocean.

In the afternoon we headed back to the venue for the lighting plot. The theatre was quite nice and intimate which was great. In order to get there we had to drive a fair way, about 20mins into South Hedland, past the salt mines and through a lot of roadwork. Apparently the head tech at the theatre has to pay $900 a week to rent half an apartment in Port Hedland. Mining prices strike again.

Port Hedland Salt Mines - Imagine what it would be like to lick it!

 We didn't have a show until 5pm the next day (random time!), so I spent the day working on job applications and an application for a 3 month physical theatre/circus course in Bristol, UK! I found that Typo in the city has positions so I applied there, fingers crossed. I also put in for Cotton On and emailed an afterschool drama place with my resume.

When we got to the theatre we found out that we had about 25 people in the audience, which was a bit disappointing because originally we had two nearly booked out shows at 1030am and 1pm but all the schools pulled out at the last minute because of NAPLAN. I don't mind playing to smaller audiences (I think because of all the band tours playing to about ten people in a school) but it is a shame because it means people are losing money considering the cost of getting us around, accommodation and food for only 25 ticket sales. The audience were great though. There was an afterschool group that all came and most of the kids were indigenous boys and they all thought it was hilarious! It was nice with a smaller group because it really just felt like a group of people telling a story to another group of people (which is what it is really!). Second last bump out! We also found out that one of our shows in Darwin was cancelled, so now we only have one show at 1245pm. And it's in the 1000 seat theatre, which isn't really suitable for our show. From the sound of it they are very disorganised in Darwin. Seems a bit silly to travel all that way and stay for 4 nights for one show but at least I get to visit the Northern Territory which I've never been to.

On Friday our flight didn't leave until 525 so we had to fill up a whole day in Port Hedland! Neridah, Thom and I decided to go on the tour of the BHP Billiton Mine even though it was $45 (need I say... mining prices). WOW! I wanted to run the tour myself! We drove around the mine site in a bus and while it was good to get inside and see all the machines and goings on, for $45 we expected better. The PA system in the bus was crackly so you could hardly hear anything and the guy doing the talking was just reading off a piece of paper. He didn't even use his voice properly! Or look at us! We all wanted to find out more about the mining process, where the iron ore went to, what the machines did etc. He basically just read out the names of the machines from off the side of them and relayed confusing facts from his printoff. I wanted to go up there and do the job for him! We had a big group of mums and kids with our tour who all seemed to live in Port Hedland. Some of them knew more about everything than he did! One asked if the mine ever shut down, perhaps in the last cyclone? He replied that he was fly in fly out and that he wasn't here in the last cyclone. It was a bit disappointing. I don't understand! I assume they were mine workers but why would you pay someone a mining wage to run a bus tour?? Why not get someone who can actually be a proper good tour guide and pay them less? It didn't make sense to me. I realise that it doesn't really matter to them how good the tour is, it's just an extra way to make money and they don't really need the business anyway. But if you're going to do something do it properly! The best part of the tour was the adorable kids who were talking to us and their mums who were really nice and relaxed and lovely. When we got off the bus the driver said to me "see you later, as long as those kids go with you!". I felt like saying they were the best part of the tour! haha rant over.

BHP Billiton Mine - lots of brown stuff

 After that we met up with the others at the Esplanade Hotel for lunch. I had a steak sandwich which was okay but the menu said toasted sourdough but it was just white bread! Oh well, the fillings were nice. We went to an area called Pretty Pools which is kind of a beachy area a bit like Redcliffe. Finally it was time to take the cars to get petrol and go to the airport. So much hi vis everywhere! All I kept thinking about was Will and knowing one day he will probably be doing this too. I don't know how I feel about that but I guess you have to go where the work is. It felt kind of sad but also... happy? Seeing all these people boarding the planes to see their families (or go on holidays to tropical islands I imagine). It seemed very lonely. I was thinking about my boy always hopping on and off planes going back and forth, living in a little tin house and working in these tiny little towns by himself. But oh well. Such is life. There were all these signs about wearing condoms everywhere, everything feels very regulated and restricted in the mining industry (which is understandable). In some towns the miners aren't allowed to drink or even go into the town. It's a very weird foreign culture for me.

There were about seven of these posters in the ladies toilets alone!

We all thought we were hopping into the normal sized Qantas plane until we got onto the tarmac and saw our actual plane. A tiny little Air North plane! Little planes don't scare me that much but as we tried to land for our stopover in Broome we got a lot of turbulence and then a beeping sound went off. The pilot told us that the mist alert had been activated. We had to ascend again because of the weather and wait ten minutes til it cleared. It was a bit scary and we were all happy to be on the ground (but I'm sure there was nothing wrong really). Broome was a weird airport, just a waiting room and a big outdoor kind of picnic area. Lots of backpackers and tourists everywhere. So many itchy bites on me! I keep finding new ones all the time!

Finally we arrived in Darwin around 11pm. We picked up our hire van (big tarago kind of thing) and headed to our accommodation. Bit of a weird hotel but it will do. Bedtime!

This morning I went down the shopping area and had breakfast and then decided to walk to the Botanical Gardens. Google maps told me it was 15minutes but the entrance was another ten minutes walk from what google maps thought! So I ended up walking about 30 minutes in the sun and the heat! By the time I got there I was so sweaty and hot I didn't want to look at the gardens at all! I bought some water from the cafe and found a shady spot and sat down. After wandering around a bit I went back to the cafe for lunch. I had a yummy fresh Vietnamese salad and a juice. It was a really cute wooden building which used to be the Wesleyan Church. It was fitted out really nicely with old scientific drawings of plants and flowers and simple wooden tables. I read a magazine and relaxed. After being refreshed it was time to walk 30 minutes home! By this time it was 34 degrees!!! The walk wasn't particularly inspiring and when I got home I made a beeline for the pool!! Now I'm sitting in the air con finally back to my normal body temperature! I don't think Darwin is the best place for me to live! (also, apparently the highest recorded temperature in Port Hedland is 49 degrees.... what the!).

Tomorrow we are going to Litchfield National Park and the Mindil Beach Markets so I'm looking forward to that. One show on Monday and then our flight home leaves around 2pm on Tuesday! Soon I will be back in Brisbane (which will be cold comparatively!). I can't wait!

Talk (and maybe see you, Luisa!) soon!

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