Gonna meet my new nephew! And have lots of lovely hot baths! And hang put with the Ashman and Ms. T! Go glad to be going back for a while.

And goodbye Tod and Kristen, we had lots of fun! Very soon I will be in Tokyo and we can catch up again!

Fresh goodies from the markets (with the exception of the Smith’s chips) make up our picnic here at the Botanic Park. Next up, we are going to hoop these calories off!

We are having Thai on Gouger St. for dinner, and plotting our plans for the next few days. They are here until Sunday.

This is the backyard of my childhood summer holidays.

I’ve been slacking off majorly down the beach. Wanna come join me?

Ladybirds pop up everywhere in the desert!

The year is drawing to a close, and its been a pretty interesting few months. I have learnt to do physical work daily like digging neat squares, carrying buckets and gear around, (un/)loading cars, pushing a sieve around and clayey sand through a sieve. I feel stronger but unfortunately mess food indulgences and the resultant kilos hide any suggestion of muscles. I have learned new systems and practices, and lots about archaeology and the land. Ive completed the first subject/semester of the anthropology grad dip (only three more to go) and it has been much harder than expected whilst working, which doesn’t bode well for the next few semesters, but, anyway I have learned a lot there too. I haven’t blogged much, but I’ve been taking plenty of photos. The 4 weeks on 2 off routine has been ok, but essays and bookkeeping for S have taken up the majority of the breaks.

But thats ok, cos now Im on holiday, until mid-March, when fieldwork starts again! Woooohoooo!

Tomorrow, im starting a road trip with S (formerly the VNM) from Moomba to the Sunshine coast, down to Bateman’s Bay for a conference and then back to Adelaide, spread over close to 3 weeks, and most of it close to the ocean. Ms. Indigorayz will come visit after Christmas for a few peaceful weeks of home cooking and slow days on the beach. One of the girls from work may drop in for a couple of days for the Tour Down Under, Kuri is also likely to pop in at some stage, and hopefully there will be a trip to Tokyo in there too? And then at the end, there is the Fringe and Womad in early March. Over the summer, well, there is lots of new stuff that needs some study, and im planning to work on my writing skills. Im planning to spend as much time as possible at the beach, go to yoga, and, erm, apart from the trips, not spend too much money. After Womad, fieldwork starts again. I hope that it will be month on month off next year, and that will give me time for study, bookkeeping and perhaps a bit of work with S….? Fingers crossed. But for now, its time for fun! And to pack.

This is hard work! Long days out in the field (not as long as I originally posted, but still 10hrs most days) then study in the evenings…. I am too tired to think much, and way too tired to blog. Im not feeling particularly creative, I have to say. But I am taking lots of photos, and enjoying the work very much. Enjoying the mess food a bit too much too, which is not to say that its good, but its hot, ready and no washing up. And after all day outside, its hard not to pile up the plate and then go back for dessert. I have a bit of weight to lose now before summer comes. I havent been able to hoop much either, I just study till I’m done and then fall into bed.

I have discovered that I am physically quite weak after years of sitting at desk and computer. These days I haul buckets of sand around, crawl around on the ground, haul gear in and out of cars to sites and back again, shovel and dig in (wet) sand, stomp on bushes, drive in the wet and the mud, and best of all, spend most of my days outside either standing, walking or sitting on the ground. It is great, but so tiring. Also tiring is the transition from life in Adelaide to life out here, plus study on top. I shoulda really waited for the study bit I think, but oh well.

I will be here for a while. There are some really great people here, and some people I can learn a lot from. I can be useful here. I might not stay in the camp forever, I might move into a place in town later in the year, or early next year. That would be good, and healthier too. I would like that. But for now, I will keep working, learning, studying, sleeping when I can.

(I was gonna add a pic to this, but cant get it to work just now, and too tired to try again… Oh well. No pic till later!)

This week has been busy.

On Monday I continued the battle (started last week) with the MYOB/GST monster. That battle was not finished.

On Tuesday I sorted stone artefacts. Or rather, I started to learn to sort stone artefacts. I will be a bit better at it next Tuesday. I can almost identify quartzite with confidence. Stone artefacts are actually pretty interesting, for a bit of an intro this page on European stone artefacts is pretty good. Of course, I’m aware that you might not find them as interesting as I do. I hope to learn how to make stone artefacts in the near future.

On Wednesday I wrestled again with the MYOB/GST monster, and again the battle was not done. I will have to continue it over the weekend.

On Thursday and Friday (today) I helped a friend paint his workshop. I’m currently still high on paint fumes and I know a headache is not far away. I really can’t be bothered cooking, and I’m hanging out for a quick dinner at the markets, but a storm is brewing and the wind is so strong that I’m likely to fly in one direction and take forever in the other direction. I wonder which way its blowing? (Oh, it’s coming from the North? Well that will just blow me over coming and going.) And then I will come home and watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer while I still can, and then try to get the paint off in a nice long hot shower while I can still have them.

(Hmmm, a storm from the North? I should investigate that further….)

Tomorrow is Saturday, so that means garage-sailing with Grant and Dad. The rain overnight and tomorrow morning will put a bit of dampener on that, but its my last outing before I go, so I can’t cancel! Maybe the miracle that happened a few weeks ago will happen again, the one where Dad rings at 6am and says “bugger this its too cold and wet, dont come over till 8am”. Fingers crossed. I’ve spent the last few weeks of garage-sailing doing my best not to buy anything, but last week I found a very cute and ultimately irresistible red jumper for $2, and then subsequently discovered it was mohair! Bargain!

Sunday will be spent wrestling (hopefully for the final time) with the MYOB/GST monster, with lunch at the fabulous Zen House with a Japanese lady recently arrived in Adelaide in the middle of the day. Looking forward to Zen House, and to finishing with the monster.

But for now, if you are an Aussie, you should look at this before it gets taken down: Election 2010 spoof.

Only a few days left in my home, my world, and then its all gonna change…

Today I signed a contract. Part of that contract is a confidentiality clause. I’m not publicly allowed to talk about what I am doing, or where I am doing it. I can say that I’m going to be working at Olympic Dam, but apart form that I can’t really talk about the details or the specifics of what I’m doing there. Nor can I take photos of where I’m working, unless it is part of the job, and in that case the photos do not belong to me, but to the company, and I do not have authorisation to use them.

In other contexts in which I might work in the future, the confidentiality clause works a bit differently. If the site is an Aboriginal one, then the confidentiality clause is pretty strict, and I need permission to show the photos or talk about the work from the traditional owners, who may or may not give it. In any case, it is illegal to advertise the location of a site of significance to Aboriginal people, possibly because there are cultural protocols, but definitely because there is the risk of vandalism.

Historical archaeology does not have the same cultural restrictions, but there is still some risk of vandalism. And in both cases, photos and any information discovered about a site are generally the property of the organisation that commissioned the work.

So as you can see, all of this makes archaeology a pretty poor source of blogging material. So I wont be blogging much about work. But seeing as I don’t blog much anyway, really, that won’t be much of a problem.

But anyway, today I signed a contract, and I will be working 12 hrs a day for every 13 out of 14 days, and that will start on July 15. The first stint will last until August 23. I’m not sure when I will work again after that, but if I’m useful, they will give me more work. And there is plenty of work. I am fortunate to be working with some of the top people in the field, and that will look stupendous on the resume. It will be a complete culture shock, but I love culture shock, so I’m prepared for that and even looking forward to it. Can’t wait in fact - bring it on!