End of Oz II

It appears this stint is coming to another end here in Australia, with my assignment drawing to a close and my pending mobilization to Papua New Guinea for the construction phase. The date has been set for 9-Sept, so I've started making arrangmements to get rid of furniture, sell the car, and send some things back to Canada for storage... This date has been a couple months in making, with an original forecast of June. But I was never that optimistic and have been telling anyone who asked that my mobilisation to PNG was 4-6 weeks away. Well, there was a hint of it before I left for hols but it was confirmed when I returned that it was really going to happen.

Of course I'm sad to leave once again, it's been an awesome year. But I always knew this was the end game. Reuniting with Aussie friends and coworkers from 2006 was great, plus I've of coursed made many more the course of the year.

Life will be a little different in PNG. I'll be living in the national capital of Port Moresby in company supplied apartment style townhouses. I've seen a few pictures and have heard good news about the arrangements from coworkers who have already made the move. The work will be a lot more intense with the work schedule being 7days per week and 11 hour days (77/week). We do this for 6 weeks and then get 3 weeks off, with the standard arrangement to fly back to Calgary (or somewhere of equal or lessor value). It'll take some getting used to, the last assignment in Egypt was 56 hours per week....

We do get a half day off on Sundays, on which I'm hoping to hone my mid-irons at the Port Moresby Golf Club. Other than that I believe social opportunities are scarce due mostly to our work schedule and partly due to our limited mobility in-country. We won't have our own transportation but are instead given access to a pool of drivers and vans. I think most people use them to go shopping and whatnot, and not many pub crawls. I'll make an effort to change this though... I'm hoping my radio call sign will be something along the lines of Party Machine. Hah.

So that's the latest. Here's a picture of my favorite sushi bar whilst enjoying a bottle of cola. Hanachi on the Queen St Mall beside Wagamama and Strike Bowling. Order the sashimi plate, best in Brissie. I'll miss it.



-- Post From My iPhone

California

Apologies for the lack of blogging, but Facebook has ended up being a more convenient place to through pictures and quick updates. But, here's a significant post.

I've spent the last 10 days in central California to stand up for a friend in his wedding to a beautiful bride. A bunch of friends made the trip down from Calgary for the events. The newlyweds planned a great week between San Francisco and the Carmel area. We toured, we wine-toured, we golfed, we went to a ball game, we took scenic drives, we hot-tubbed, we cooked, we had push-up contests, we shopped, and most of all we enjoyed everyone's company with the happy couple.

Here are a few pictures.... Unfortunately they're not in chronological order, but they're here!