004 - Whyalla

OK… finding our groove now.

After a few days and nights of pretty rubbish weather, not diabolical like the crap battering Queensland at the moment, but really just cold and windy shite, we were met with glass-like water and a still breathless morning.

A view from the higher point in the park. If you look closely, you'll see the Big Green Lizard right at the end of this line. Worse places to wake up...

Today’s plan was set out in two halves. Myself with the Big Kids and then an afternoon of “jobs”.

One of the few excursions we’d lined up prior to leaving was a tour of the steel works in Whyalla, upon which pretty much the entire town’s economy is built on. In fact, as I learnt today, it uses more power than pretty much any other user in the state of SA. Maybe we can blame the crap we had to endure on the way back from Flinders last year on them?

Unfortunately tours of the steelworks are limited to 7yrs and over which meant our #3 simply couldn’t come along, no matter how much he said he’d pretend to be 7. So B fell on the sword and I took Sam and Evie on a ‘school excursion’ to the plant.

It turned out to be essentially a bus tour for 2hrs in which we weren’t allowed off the bus during that time. That in itself is why sub 7yr olds weren’t allowed… seatbelts without boosters. Still, I doubt the tour would hold much for them other than a frequent sighting of heavy machinery. And being housebound, I didn’t get to verify the realism of the final battle scene of Terminator 2, which I’ve always been a little dubious about. I mean really… surely that area is too hot for a opionistic and smarmy teenage John Connor to be running around in?

Back to the tour…

I’ll let the pics tell most of the tale but I found it very informative. The lady driving the Coaster Bus knew more about iron ore, coal, coke, process engineering, economics and commerce than any Uni lecturer I ever knew and was very good value. Even diplomatic fending off a Grey Nomad’s question as to why we were “shipping the good stuff off to China”. Quickly responded with “take that up with the board of the company sir”. I could read between the lines of her tone of voice, and yet she said nothing to contravene company policy. Very shrewd and well played.

This shot just reaffirmed to me why I was no good at Process Eng at Uni. Pipes just going everywhere, turrets burning off "something" and really some black magic making things happen.

 I really didn't hear too much from Sam the whole trip. We've given the big kids our two old iPhones as cameras and he didn't stop snapping and looking around. Based on his journal, I think he loved it.

"Quick Dad... there's a heap of smoke!".. "It's steam Evie"... The result of dumping around 35,000L of water (a miniscule 35kL in my line of work) on a hot truck of 18hr baked coal...

..which can be seen here being dumped into the "hotbox" before taking the worlds biggest shower. It was hot. Real hot.

It was good to see these reed beds being used to filter the water used to cool the coke (18hr baked coal), taking out contaminants and recycling 65% of the water used in the process. I reckon it'd put a smile on a few people at work to see this kind of process being used.

For those of you wondering where the scrap metal from the tip or the local 'scrappie' ends up, it's here. It plays a vital part of the steel production process, reducing the need for raw materials and making each bit of natural resource go that much further.

The lady boasted about how long this train was (55 trucks I counted) and how long we'd have to wait for it to pass. She'd obviously never parked at Larapinta Dve in Alice Springs before when the trains come in... I mean, she didn't even turn off the engine.

A shot from Hummock Hill showing the extent of the 1000+ha site. An undertaking of epic proportions.

On Hummock Hill they had those touristy binocular things. Sam and I tried to use my phone to try and take a pic of the "Cape Ships" where the ore was loaded onto offshore (due to their size). Not sure it worked out, but we had fun trying to take the shot.

And we returned to find James tearing around on this bad boy. He was loving it and I could almost read "screw the steelworks" in his smile.

In summary, a great tour and recommended. A great insight into the industry that is critical to “life as we know it”. More steel and metal than I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s easy to see how 2500+ people are employed here. I particularly enjoyed spending the time in the bus next to Evie (Sam was more than happy looking after himself, admiring the heavy machinery and metalwork). Moo at one stage turned and said how she “wanted to be a steel worker”. I took particular inspiration from this as I’ve always told Evie she could be whatever she wanted. I hadn’t banked on that being a worker at OneSteel pouring buckets of molten slag, but if it is, then awesome. Fine by me. Talking to the (elderly) lady driving the bus with Evie, she affirmed this position and told Moo that she’d be a great addition to the steel works. It was a nice little moment.

  

Coming back it was homework hour and I had set myself to try and solve an issue with a leak in the plumbing to the dunny. Surely an area of my expertise one would say? Nup… no matter what I tried, couldn’t resolve it. So we’ve found a work around until we hopefully can get someone who knows a bit more than I on these matters in Port Lincoln later in the week. Sam was great at “School in the Sun” whilst Evie was… umm… not so much. This year of homeschooling will bring it’s challenges I feel.

Sunnies and hats in the classroom?? Very proud of Sam's commitment early on in this undertaking.

Following this, we decided to try out hand at “raking for crabs”. I had no idea (and some would argue I still don’t) what the hell this was about, but sure enough… off we went. Basically, you take a rake (which we borrowed from the front office), head off onto the flats at low tide and scratch around until you find some crabs. And I tell you… it’s pretty cool fun. Like a giant treasure hunt for crustaceans. And B and I gauge the success of any venture on the amount of whinging. Given there was none, this was a huge success. So much so, after a few jobs tomorrow, I might head back out there to try and find some more.

Taken from the shore... believe it or not, B, Sam and James are out there...

A little closer up. Great fun

I didn't think he'd hold one, but he did. James and the 'Giant' crab.

Unsurprisingly, Evie was more than brave. Quitely, I think the crab was bricking it. As it should. It went in the pot with the other 'size' crustaceans.

I’m not sure if it’s a compliment to describe your wife as “The Crab Whisperer” but B definitely handy with the rake and finding them. The kids loved it, and we danced around for an hour or so on the flat just enjoying the sun and the adventure.

My fun was cut short when one of the rakes decided to separate at the handle and separate some of my thumb. I’m glad it wasn’t one of the kids when it happened, but we were on the way back in anyhow, so Moo and I headed in a little quicker than the other 3.

On that note, I think it’s going to be important over the next year or so to ensure we still find one-on-one time. Evie and I had a great chat and catch up whilst we trekked in, and I’m looking forward to many more of these small moments that I would definitely otherwise miss driving a desk.

B and the boys returned with our “bounty” of 5 crabs which in comparison to the Nomads near us who had 20 odd in there pot might have something to say about our 3 little scouts than anything else. Still, I reckon we had more fun.

B cooked them up and then Evie and her smashed the shells to pieces trying to get the crab meat. I can now use the term “basket full of smashed crabs” with far more realism now.

As we sat in the camp kitchen with Matt (remember him, the disgustingly good looking other Matt travelling with his family), his family and a few nomads, we swapped tales and tips on where to go in the future. I must admit, I can get used to this kind of lifestyle. The kids and adults alike making friends as people flow in and out of your life. I hope one of the big lessons our kids learn out of this trip is the ability to meet, learn and interact with new people, accepting their differences and opinions.

But a great day. A real adventure day. Here’s to hoping that there are heaps more of them.