The Nomad

Lihir Island, PNG. MOPU Project

2011-05-02T15:01:00.037+12:00

Lihir Island showing the town of Londolovit and the mine site on the eastern side.
The oxygen plant and compressor building under construction.
.
Work is well under way on the grind thickener tanks.
.
Standing on top of the NCA tanks, with the mine pit area in the back ground.
Working the gantry crane rails, inside the compressor building.
.
The diesel generation unit for the processing plant.
.
Camp 4. My second home.
.
Geothermal vents near the pit wall.

Check out the hair on these cute kids.

A family outside their home on Malie Is, near Lihir Island.

.
Some local boys in their fishing boats.

FPSO Ningaloo Vision, Western Australia.

2010-05-11T14:32:00.039+12:00

After the Kupe project I got a position on the FPSO

Ningaloo Vision.

Ningaloo Vision leaving Singapore for Western Australia.

Diagram of the FPSO operation.

A tanker attached to our stern, ready for the off take

of crude oil.

. The operator preparing for the off take.

The tender boat taking the off take line to the tanker.

Port side on the Ningaloo Vision

Crude Oil being off loaded via the floating off take line.

The Helicopter coming in with a crew change.
.
View off the starboard bow. Lots of activity here.

The Super Puma used to fly us to the Ningaloo Vision

from Leamonth in WA.

Kupe Update.

2009-09-20T15:27:00.014+12:00

The Kupe wellhead platform on the wharf ready for

transporting off shore.

Preparing for the lift.

The platform ready to go to the offshore site.

A view of Mt Egmont while flying to the off shore platform.

Flying over the Kupe Site.

The Ensco 107 rig lowering the Jacket into place on the

sea bed which will support the platform.

Lifting the Kupe wellhead platform onto the jacket.

The weather was pecfect that day for the lift.
.

I worked with this team for a few months.

Kupe Gas Production Station. Sth Taranaki.NZ. 2009.

2009-08-08T16:36:00.029+12:00

Leaving home for Sth Taranaki.

Looking over the truck load out. Deethaniser column. (right)

Sunrise at 7.ooam. Its going to be another great day.

The EWP makes work easy.

Lots of progress, the plant is really taking shape.

Snow down to low level this morning. It was cold but a beautiful day.

Slug catchers with the Tasman Sea beyond.

The Amine columns.

Looking over the tank farm and pipe rack 84.

A couple of good work mates.

Commissioning office.

Emergency flare stack.

Another view of Mt Egmont from the Kupe site.

On my day off I got a closer look at the mountain.

Genesis Energys Power Station, Huntly N.Z. Jan/Feb 09.

2009-03-01T16:35:00.017+13:00

Heading towards the turbine hall to start work on the
Unit 2 Condenser Retrofit.

Working on the water boxes.

The Riggers and Fitters removing piping.

Preparing the new modules for installation.

I spent 2 days working out of this platform.

Installing the winch and aligning the tracks.

Winching out the first module.

Extensive rigging used to lift out the old module.

Preparing the inside of the Condenser.

Winching a new module into place.

Dominican Republic July,Aug & Sept 08.

2008-10-22T10:40:00.036+13:00

Two of seven Mills to come out the Pueblo Viejo Gold Mine
to make way for the new plant.

Unloading the tool container.

Our Dominican team starting to break down the first Mill.

Every afternoon the rain and thunder rolled in.

Looking into the Ball Mill.

The mobile crane arriving at Site.

Ball Mill coming apart.

Lifting a 44 tonne Mill Shell through the side of the building.

Two Ball Mills dismantled and ready for transporting.

Transporting a Mill shell to storage yard.

Small Ball Mill.

Lifting a small Sag Mill down off the plinth.

Dismantling a small Sag Mill for transporting.

Some local kids in Maimon.

These two were selling sweets on the side of the road where

we stayed in Maimon.

We went to Santo Domingo for the day to take in a bit of history.

Looking into the Oldest church built in the New World

over 600 years ago.

Christopher Columbus Statue.

Andy, Me and Salvador checking out old canons and stuff.

Christopher Columbus house over looking the bay.

Old Monastery.

What I like to do when Im not working.

2008-10-21T16:08:00.022+13:00

When Im not working offshore I like to explore good ole NZ
by motor bike.

Ride to Whangamata with a mate of mine.

A Sunday afternoon ride with friends.

Mt Ngauruhoe.

Mt Ruapehu.

Rerewhakaaitu. Not a very happy camper here.

Breakfast at Pukenui, Northland. A cup of black coffee and

a custard square.

The Te Paki sand dunes, Northland.

Looking down 90 mile beach from the Te Paki stream entrance.

Self portrait while on the bike.

Traveling Around Chihuahua State. Mexico. 07/08.

2008-10-20T20:04:00.043+13:00

Taking delivery of my new company car. A VW Bora.

Large statue on the Eastern side of Chihuahua city, called

the Gateway to Chihuahua.

Some kids selling watermelons on the side of the road.

A delivery of Kenworths.

Heading East from Chihuahua. Great roads for driving in the
early morning with no one about.

Chihuahua Desert.

Ojinaga Desert.

Canyon in the Ojinaga Desert.

Calf roping at a small town South of Chihuahua.

American paint horse competition at the County Fair, Chihuahua.

A military check point. These were everywhere around

Mexico. Trying to catch drug runners.

The notorious fence between Mexico and the USA.

I met this Hobo sitting on the side of the road in El Paso.

He was thrilled to receive a few bucks from me.

Heading West from Juarez towards Nuevo Casas Grandes.

Driving through the Northern Chihuahua desert I came up

behind these guys who must have left home in a hurry that morning.

Paquime Indian ruins at Nuevo Casas Grandes. The Paquime

Indians were around during the period of 1060-1340.

Driving through a snow storm on my way to visit friends

at Matachi.

My friends Bob & Sandy Rulewicz from Connecticut. Outside

their missionary training school at Matachi.

Palmarejo Project. Mexico. July 07.

2008-10-16T19:29:00.041+13:00

Flying to Temoris, then a 1 hour drive to site.
After the Mali project I flew to Chihuahua Mexico to work on
a Mine Site in Palmarejo, which is in the Sierra Madre Occidental.
My main role was Quality Control on all the structural steel being
supplied to site for the new processing plant.

Flying over Chihuahua, heading for Temoris in the Sierra Madre.

Large cactus.

Looking up the road at Palmarejo. The little red store and

school next door.

Looking down on the Tiny town of Palmarejo. The church

right in the middle.

View while driving from Temoris to Palmarejo.

The Copper Canyon in the Sierra Madre, on the way from

Chihuahua to Palmarejo.

Some interesting rock formations on the road to Temoris.

The site being prepared for the new processing plant.

Forming the concrete plinths to support the Ball Mills.

Leach tanks being fabricated on site.

A linesman working on a new pole that was put in at the

man camp.Don't try this at home.

Doing my QA/QC work at Palmarejo.

Black Widow. I saw lots of these under the steel.

These kids were playing on the side of the road where I

stayed in Palmarejo.

This little old Mexican guy lived in Palmarejo and hung

around the construction site.

Back in Chihuahua, structural steel beams ready for sand blasting.

Ball Mill shells waiting for dispatch.

Tanks & beams ready for dispatch to Palmarejo.

Dye penetrant crack testing on a stainless steel elution column.

Bins heading to the rubber liners before being sent to the

Palmarejo Site

More Structural Steel in Chihauhua, for Palmarejo.

Fabricators & Welders at the Chihauhau workshop, Mexico.

Traveling Between Jobs.

2008-10-16T12:18:00.028+13:00

While coming back through California I caught up with
Barack and we discussed some financial and other
important political issues.

Istanbul, Turkey.

Shopping in Dubai. These were all made of scrap pieces of

steel, and stood about 1.8m tall.They were really well made

and priced in the thousands. I'm a Predator fan from way back.

Dubai. I didn't get to stay in this famous hotel.

Nelson Mandela Square, Johannesburg, S.A.

On our way back from Mali.

Wendy & I on the Shotover River Jet boat. Queenstown,

good ole NZ.

The Remarkables, above Queenstown.

Singapore. Nice blokes, but they didn't have much to stay.

Singapore. The ice cream was so good compared to what

we got in Mali.

Singapore.Two cute birds.

Singapore. Crickey look at these little beauties

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co,Santa Monica Pier, LA. Lunch was Awesome.

Fourou Church & Meeting People. Mali. Feb 07.

2008-10-15T19:19:00.023+13:00

Mother and baby at the church.

The church music team. All their instruments were hand

made and sounded great.

Once I got out my camera the kids mobbed me.

These ladies all shopped at the same place.

Did I look that scary.

Everyone was in their Sunday best. The shelter behind was

where they held the church services.

It was Sunday and these two were heading to Fourou for

the Monday market.

Heading to the markets too. They really appreciated it when

I stopped and took the time to talk with them.

The local timber merchant making a delivery.

This guy had a load of bean like things that have a yellow

powder in them used for spices or flavouring in cooking.

These boys were tending to a small herd of cattle. The young

ones in the front lead me by the hand through the scrub to show

me the herd.

Bathing and washing clothes took place in the same pond

where cattle were drinking.

This was a common sight in these villages. Straw shelters

for animals and people.

This family just stared at me in the ute, but that all changed

to smiles when I stopped and joined them for a photo.

Some villagers making mud bricks.One by one they cast

them in a mould, then leave them in the sun to dry.

I just had to have a go at one of these 3 cylinder Malian

convertables.

Bananso Village. Mali. Feb. 07.

2008-10-15T15:37:00.021+13:00

Heading to Bananso village, the road was no more than a
dusty track through the bush. I was invited to Yacouba's
home.Yacouba worked on my team at the Syama mine site.

My friend Yacouba in front of his home.

Cooking is all done on an open fire. Food and grain stored

in the little shed.

Yacouba's family.

1 of Yacouba's 2 wives and his sons.

Yacouba offered me his 8 year old daughter for my second

wife. Without offending him, I declined and told him 1 wife

was enough for me.

Villagers happy to see us and be in a photo.

Everyone came out of the woodwork to be in the photo.

Dry and dusty, and everything made of mud.

This is not as easy as it looks.

Fourou Village Market Day. Mali. Jan.07.

2008-10-15T14:58:00.015+13:00

Every Monday was market day. People came from all

around the district to sell their stuff.

Garlic.

Old timer selling dried fish.

All the ladies wore their best dress on market day.

Plastic beads.

Cooking pots etc.

These kids followed us all around the market.

Little cutey. (left)

Fourou Village by Bike. Mali. Dec. 07.

2008-10-14T14:52:00.026+13:00

We hired these bikes from 3 local guys that worked with us
at the Syama site and went and explored the surrounding
countryside and the local village of Fourou.

Waiting for an action shot.

Not quite the worlds fastest Indian.

The main street of Fourou.

Typical village scene.

This guy stopped for a pic too.

Father and son in front of their little store.

These boys were very friendly.

There was always someone interesting along the road.

Women gathering firewood. The men were all sitting in

the shade.

Curious kids on the road into the village.

These kids came to check us out when we stopped.

More curious boys.

Fuel stop. Petrol was sold to us in old whiskey bottles.

Boys watching over their cattle.

The village well.

The villagers made everything out of mud & straw.The

little hut on the left was used for food storage.

We came to this river, where the only way to cross was by

these little boats.This guy even took his scooter across with

him.

Some friendly farmers came over and posed for this one

when I stopped on the side of the road.

Syama Mine Site, Mali. Nov.06 to July 07.

2008-10-14T13:14:00.041+13:00

Official opening of the project.

Malian army were present during the official opening by

the President.

Malian hunter, was used for site security.

Standing near the airstrip with ore stock pile behind.

Team working on the crane.

Rigging the Manitawoc 4100.

Removing old tower crane.

Cutting off the counter weight arm.

Top of the tower crane.

Our quad bikes with coca cola tool boxes mounted on them.

Malians cleaning out a floatation tank.

View of the main part of the plant.

My Malian team.

Working on the Jaw crusher.

Eric, the crane driver from Ghana.

George, a rigger from Ghana. He could climb like a monkey.

Supervising can be tough going at times.

3 Kiwi's with the Ghanaian & Malian workers.

Dismantling this unwanted building.

My Ghanaian friends. Spot the white dude.

A couple of interesting characters I worked with.

(The hecklers from the Muppets)

We constructed this new water tank for the camp.My guys

really enjoyed learning new skills.

On my 3rd tour to Mali I gave up my quad bike for this

new land cruiser.

Refurbishing jaw crusher components.

Mali, West Africa. Nov.06

2008-10-13T22:15:00.021+13:00

Leaving NZ for Mali via South Africa.

I couldn't resist that smile.

Check out the view from up here guys.

The local chook vendor.

Driving through the streets of Bamako.

Payless Plastics

Lots of street vendors.

En route to Syama.

Common mode of transport.

Leaving on our first R&R.

This guy wanted his photo taken.

Stopped in a small town during our 6 hour drive to Syama.

The push bike has many uses.

Our taxi driver in Bamako.

Kazakhstan Oct.06. Snowing.

2008-10-13T21:59:00.011+13:00

The town of Rudnyy where we stayed, 2 hours from the
Russian border.

Kazakhstan Oct. 06

2008-10-13T21:15:00.017+13:00

View of mountains above Almatey.

Large military statue in Almatey, with wedding party.

Trucks en route to site.

Driving to Varvarinka through endless kilometers of wheat fields.

Site security guard.

The Varvarinskoye construction site.

Concrete plinths ready for Mills.

Getting familiar with the mine site and equipment.

Our team of Kiwi and South African engineers.

New Sag mill and Ball mill from Germany ready for installation.