contentsFun Never Stops On Gorgon
For the men and women constructing the Gorgon project on Barrow Island, when work is over for the day - or the night – there is no shortage of after hours activities.
With 10 to 12 hour shifts, seven days a week, it can be hard to tell one day from the next, so marking the weekend with a Sunday acoustic session in the construction village (CV) wet mess is a good way to break up the week.
Joanna Maddern, the project's Coordination Assistant, has been attending the sessions with up to 10 people from the LNG EPCM offices each Sunday. Not a regular customer of the CV wet mess, she said that the sessions are attracting a crowd.
"I've been every Sunday since I've been on the island this swing. I wouldn't normally go that much but the atmosphere is really great and the people that have been getting up on stage from the island have been really talented. It's very popular and packed every time I go", she said.
While professional musicians from Perth travel to site to entertain the workforce on the first Sunday of each month from 5 pm to 8.30 pm, the other Sunday sessions feature local talent from Barrow. A new stage has been ordered and quite a few workforce members have volunteered to play - both solo performers and some Barrow-formed bands.
The music rooms have been the catalyst for local talent forming bands on site and identifying themselves as Sunday evening talent. For the music lovers on the island, listeners, instrumentalists or singers, a space has been set aside in both the Main Camp and the CV for individuals to sing or practice instruments each evening, either their own or the drums and keyboard supplied. Supported by site and a committee of users, the drum kit, keyboard and amplifiers purchased for the music room in the CV are also used by the resident performers at the Sunday acoustic sessions.
A newer initiative is the Barrow Island Book Club which has just been launched by an avid reader on site. The attendance echoes the island demographic - predominantly male. The first meeting kicked off with discussion on Books that changed your life and a talk on a love of reading.
"I work outside all day laying concrete", one reader said. "My colleagues love to go to the wet mess or the gym after work. Not me, I love reading. I finish work, have dinner and then read. That's why I came tonight."
It's a diverse occupational group of engineers, concrete workers and administrators who will be reading a Dickens novel before their next meeting.
For those who are seeking a quieter place for the mind in a busy environment, meditation classes have been initiated by another volunteer from the workforce, held twice a week. They were popular from the outset and continue to grow steadily.
The walk track, which is parallel to the main road from the LNG plant site to the camp, has now been open for several months. Each day, a significant number of personnel punctuate the end of their shifts with a walk or jog back to camp. At just under 5 km long, the rocky and sandy track can be a mission when the sun is still hot at 6 pm, but it's the chance to get some exercise, some fresh air and enjoy the green of the Spinifex after the rain in February and March.
Another recent initiative is the Island Bus Tours on Sunday afternoons. Different contractors are invited to nominate up to 14 people each Sunday to join a three-hour excursion to the more remote southern or western fringes of island. The tourists learn more about the conservation and fauna protection activities that allow a resources project like Gorgon to co-exist with a Grade 'A' Nature reserve.
The mountain bike sessions are also popular. After an induction, people on site can borrow a bike and helmet and ride on the specified roads around the island with at least one other person. After riding with the beginners group for a few sessions, riders can elect to join the hares or the tortoises. The hares are serious cyclists, many of whom participate in cycling races when off the island.
Even for the non-racing cyclist, the bikes are a great way to see more of the island and get some exercise.
Rob Te, the Project's Emergency Management Coordinator, is a regular rider. "I like to ride for the fitness benefits. It gets your heart pumping and your muscles working and you're out in the fresh air. I'm a tortoise but you feel like you've had a workout by the time you bring the bike back to camp", he said.
Competing in popularity with the recreation activities are the sports facilities within the CV. The indoor-sized cricket pitch opened in Q4 last year, as did the multi courts which can be used for tennis and basketball. The first swimming pool in the CV was opened on Christmas Day and will be joined by another later this year. All of these facilities were augmented by the soccer pitches which were scheduled to open in early April.
There's a variety of exercise classes: stretch classes, core strength, spin, boxercise, weights, cardio plus the general gym – which is packed every night.
In the evening, the village population is swelled by residents from the Main Camp and the Causeway Construction and Accommodation Unit. Both facilities have their own gyms and classes, but continuous evening shuttle buses ensure everyone can take advantage of all the after-hours activities in the construction village.
