samuadib

Our second week in Tarkwa was spent taking the VPA system live and ironing out any issues as they arose. I tried my first “Local” meal on Friday and it was an interesting experience. My Lunch consisted of a starch called Fufu and a Fish and Beef Soup. Fufu is made by boiling starchy vegetables like cassava, yams or plaintains and then pounding them into a dough-like consistency. We spend our Friday evening at the rec-club playing pool and enjoying some drinks. The original plan on Saturday was for us to go out with Gert and Heidi again but that did not happen as Gert was called into the Plant to sort out some issues. As Andre van de Laar joined us only on Monday he did not get to go to the beach with us ... read more

My Trip to Goldfields Tarkwa Mine has been a rather interesting introduction to a number of new Things. My First Business Class Flight. My First trip into Africa outside South Africa. First Time that I live inside a Mine Compound.... read more

Once again one of my colleagues from the Mincom Brisbane office agreed to spend their day off showing me around. We drove out to Mount Tamborine and walked around the streets looking in all the little shops. For South Africans the closest equivalent would be Clarens in the Drakensburg. I bought some Australian wine at the Mount Tamborine Winery and we had a drink and a slice of pie at the restaurant next door. We then did a walk through the rain forest just outside of town. Next was the Canungra hotel for lunch. We then drove to Natural Bridge in Springbrook National park. It is a really nice walk through the rain forest and you get to see a lovely natural arch and waterfall. There were some locals ignoring the do not enter area signs ... read more

I spent my day on the Brisbane river on a cruise boat going to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. I walked to South Bank and had breakfast at a place in South Bank. The Cruise boat ride out to the koala sanctuary was really nice I had a seat downstairs with a nice window view and the breeze that comes with that. The recording used as a tour guide was fairly good. There are some amazing homes next to the river. One of the houses apparently sold for AUS$ 11 Million last year. Just look at the pictures and you will see why. The river was rather busy there was a whole lot of people with motorboats and people in those long row boats and some people water skiing. The Koala park turned out to be ... read more

I spent my Saturday walking through Brisbane with Kevin O'Leary today. We met up at around 10:00 at the Queen Street Mall and walked to the Queensland Art Gallery. We crossed the river at the Victoria Bridge. The Gallery was really interesting there are some amazing pieces of Art on display. We then went to Gallery of Modern Art which was more my scene to be honest. After all this walking we decided to find a place to get some food. Our first attempt was a Turkish place called The Ottoman but it was way to hot in there they have no Air Con and today was definitely an Air Con day. After walking around in we found Ouzeri and we had an amazing lunch. The Food was good and the conversation lively. We had a ... read more