Week 3

Day 14 to 21 – Sunday 31st January to Sunday 7th February

Well not even the tennis could brighten the day with Federer never really looking like losing. It was pretty amazing tennis at times but my 3-0 prediction with Mark, who went for 3-1, just about came off. Maybe if Murray had taken one of his set points in the tie break things could have been different but I doubt it.

Having missed Amy’s birthday last week, it was Jemma’s on Monday. She went out with Linds and Jo and the three of them called on skype when they got back from the pub which was quite entertaining. I’m still missing Jem big time but it continues to help to speak to her and see her on the web cam. I’m really looking forward to everything we’ve got planned for when I get back.

I’ve decided one way to pass the lonely hours is by making use of the Oasis facilities. Jemma is keeping up with her running and I don’t want to get left behind when I get home. So I’ve been doing some time on the treadmill. 20 minutes the first night then 25 the next time. I was pleased with that effort because I was ready for stopping with about 15 minutes left! Once I’ve done my run I jump on the bike for a bit then grab a sauna and swim 10 lengths of the pool. With a bit of luck I’ll start seeing the benefit round my belly!

Work continues to go reasonably well and I finally got a couple of meetings in this week. As seems to be the way in Australia these didn’t take place in Meeting Rooms in Company offices but at the coffee shop. Kind of demonstrates the more relaxed way of life here and the ‘serial networking’ approach. The first meeting was with a guy called Myles who has worked in the UK on similar contracts to me and he gave me a good insight into the maintenance market. On Friday I got to meet a couple of guys from SKM and ended up going on a site visit to the Gateway Upgrade Project. This is a motorway improvement contract including building a massive new bridge over the Brisbane River alongside the existing structure. Just the $1.9 billion worth.

Friday night was works night out at the Coro bar near to the office. Well I say ‘night’ but the plan was to meet up at 4pm. In true Aussie style though, the meeting time is give or take … there were quite a few people still strolling in at about 5pm. A few people came with wives, friends and girlfriends and so it turned into a good night. The Coro is a fairly trendy pub as Aussie pubs go and there is a seafood restaurant attached that has won awards. I’m not saying it’s pretentious but the toilets were something to behold – the urinals were glass panels with colour changing lights behind them. When I went back to the group I was told I should try the unisex toilets! They turned out to be glass walled affairs that turned to frosted when you went inside and locked the door! What’s that all about!

I ended up heading off for a Pizza with Ben, who is over here from Nottingham like me and his girlfriend Caz and Adam and Kerry from the Railways team. There was a good atmosphere in the restaurant and a good end to the week. I was left with a sore head on Saturday though.

The weekend has been a quiet one – well that is except for the storm on Saturday night. The thunder was immense and I’m watching pictures of flooding on the news as I write this. 89mm of rain in 24 hours in Brisbane and a whopping 415mm in the same period in Clagiraba. Shame because I’d planned to head off to the Gold Coast again. Instead I’ve spent a bit more time in the gym and got my run up to 30 minutes this morning. The other thing I’ve done is a bit of reading and I’ve finally got into The Lost Symbol. I bought the hardback pretty much as soon as it cam out but haven’t been able to get into it before now. I’m only 15 odd chapters in but it’s a decent read.

I’ve been speaking to Mark a fair bit and am really looking forward to heading down to Shellharbour next Saturday. I was watching the surfing while I was running this morning and it has really whetted my appetite for some time on the beach. Let’s hope the weather picks up – Mark reckons it’s supposed to from Tuesday – so I might finally get to use some sun cream!