Mon 20th – When Dust & Rain Collide….! D’oh In Doha!

(Me The Strongman with Jules & Prem to a shoulder each & Sarah & Jules after the pool incident on THAT Sunday!)

Well, woke up this morning to the familiar sound of rain hitting against my window. Took a few seconds and then realised that IT’S THE DESSERT! Very weird. The second thought was that the Stadium would be in lots of trouble! All very much open air, no roofs and with set, lights & just all round general stuff everywhere! We were informed that rehearsals were still going ahead and in we went. By late arvo, the rain had stopped but with the amount of dust that floats around Doha – desert sand and also due to the amount of construction going on – there was a nice, decent layer of grime everywhere! The Dust of Doha gets in everywhere – my spot is covered in it and it’s quite thick inside the lamp housing.

We’re at the point where they’ve pretty much doing full dresses each night – sometimes it’s without full costume or the volunteer but the show is now basically taking shape. New bits get added each time. We do stop & start but it now looks like we’ll make it for the 1st Dec, whereas a week ago….!

Unfortunately, one of the Asia trucks broke, like really broke tonight! There’s 6 of these trucks that roll on in and they have motorised lifts/winches in them that raise a screen with Asian decorations on them. They’re pretty cool but tonight, the truck I dome had it’s screen raised and I watched the screen wobble a little (or at least I thought I did) and then had that confirmed when one end just went “nope, see ya!” and collapsed! Nobody was hurt – luckily as there are hidden features in the truck when the sides open and the screen raises! It was a wee bit of a showstopper and it’s better that it happens now than next Fri! A couple of forklifts and EWP’s came on to secure it and make it better and then off it was dragged, looking very sorry for itself.

There’s been a few hiccups of late – which is understandable when you start putting all the very large pieces of quite a hard puzzle together. A Smurf was rolled over by a piece of ‘The City Of The Future” – not badly, even though he was stretchered off as a precaution. He was given a clean bill of health and just basically got bruised shins. I bet you’re all now having these horror visions – it wasn’t bad, he tripped over backwards and the piece was pushed onto him. A few of the Arab riders have also fallen off – one got a twisted ankle. They’ve slowly been adding more and more to the Desert Horsemen section each time we rehearse it – lights, music, costume etc. but it’s not helping the local riders. The Cowboys find it all highly entertaining and regularly update us. They were actually shocked to learn that it was us, “not you bunch of lads?”, chasing them around with “them big ol’ searchlights?” I think they amuse us just as much as we amuse them!

Got home from rehearsals to find that the washing I’d put in at 1330 just before we left for work was STILL going round & round! Since the first episode I’ve done a few more loads, just this time it decided to take me for a ride again! Everyone was very amused and kept coming up with advice – if I hear, “Cycle 6 – Quickwash” one more time I’ll kill someone as I put it on frickin’ Cycle 6! Or as Paul was taunting (cause we have the instructions in about 12 languages), “rapido, rapido!”

Stoop was a quiet one tonight. There were literally a few beers and then it was bed! Now, I’m going to go all macho for a second and show off! (You’ve already seen the attached photo). Tonight, Julia & Prem were being silly and probably talking about “rapido, rapido” so I managed to pick one of them up over each shoulder from where they sat on the stoop and then run down the road! It wasn’t until I was running down the road that I realised that I’m not supposed to be that butch! Very impressed with myself I was!

Doha a la Fat Camp seems to be working!

More Pics Of The & For The Masses!

Hello, hello - it's Fri night, bout 2230 here. I've got no updates ready to post and do plan to do them tomorrow - I'm determined to get some done as I do realise that I'm a few days behind! Tonight, there is definately a strong pull towards the Stoop - I worked all night last night (more on that in updates to come) and am wide awake as I slept until 1430, got up and went to work! To try and counter effect this, I plan to have a few, maybe many (!) and then get up earlyish tomorrow and go and see Casino Royale - that's right, the new Bond is playing HERE in Doha at the cinemas just down the road! GOLD! Ok, I'm being yelled at to go downstairs! My public awaits...! Cowboys also mentioned something about having their drinking boots on tonight...! (Trumpet's blarin') CHARGE.....!

(Photos are as followed (or as they appear before posting) Sarah, Adam & Jules @ The Pool Party, Me & The Elephants, The Qatar Slide Shot @ 'Welcome', Me, Sarah & Aziz @ The Pool Party, Self Portrait of me, rugged up for a dessert winter nite with my iPod in having sat in position for over 2hrs and having done NOTHING!, Adam, Jules (post being thrown in the pool) & me @ The Pool Party, Kev & I on The Stoop & Me & 'Dancing' Orry - even though it looks like he has a mobile in his hand!)

Quick Fix Of A Mix Of Pix

(A very funny & close up look at Adam one night on the Stoop!, standard shot of the Stoop @ peak time, my footprints in the sands of the Gulf Of Arabia, the "I have not been on the Roof" photo!, the star shaped cauldron that spins and get's set on fire by one of the Cowboys doing the Hero Horse routine, the 'Seekers' boat in which he returns to Qatar after getting lost in 'Asia', the 'Sun Stage' (foreground) and the Eastern Stage (background & directly below my spot possie) under construction & the Cowboys and their charges running the pattern.)

Thurs 16th, Fri 17th, Sat 18th & Sun 19th – A Canadian, A Frenchwoman, 2 Brits, A Contingent Of Germans & 2 Aussies Climb Into A Steel Structure..!

(Jules & I self portrait style on the Stoop - oh yeah, I'm now clean shaven! Too hot up in the LED Screen, Adam mixing it up with the Tigers & the 15th Asia Games logo - motto, "The Games Of Your Life".)

I’ve decided to group the above 4 days together as 1) they all pretty much involve the same stuff & 2) I have no idea what actually happened on what day as they have been long and tiring!

As the heading says, 0900 on Thurs a small army ascended onto ‘Lucy’ to start running power cable for all the lights that were currently rigged. I paired up with Bridg-eat (the way it sounds with a French accent!) and Kev went off with Canadian Bill! They from the North end, us from the South. All the safety lines had been installed overnight and it was great fun to be in climbing thru the structure. Another chapter in the great adventure this gig is turning out to be! There were a couple of moments where I had to get the head back into the place where you can easily hop around from beam to beam and not have to worry about the 70m fall – hey, if you fall from 10m, you’ll do the same damage as if you fell from 70m, just the 70m fall won’t hurt as much…!

It was a lot of fun and it’s a really quick way to pass the hours as it does require a decent amount of concentration. It’s also quite physical as you’re twisting and contorting your body to fit thru gaps and the ladder climb alone was great on the arms – feel the burn! Bridgette & I had a lot of fun. She’d only been in country for 2 days and was asking me the questions I had been asking only a week or so before! Nobody really fills you in on how silly the whole situation is and you need to be told these things in order to put it all into perspective. A nice quiet moment was sitting at the highest point, having a cigarette in the brilliant sunshine!

The whole day was spent up there and for lunch I had my biggest meal to date so far – I was starving as it’s also some of the most physical work I’ve done in ages. We got about half of the big searchlights plugged up – basically meaning we had work for the following day if we wanted it, to which we both said yes. 2 days are now out to 3…!

Polished off the other half of the searchlights the next day and then dropped down into the middle of the structure to run data for LX trusses that were yet to be rigged. Another whole day spent clambering around. When we got down, the job we’d been hired in to do was complete but Andy chased around and asked if we’d be happy to come back again to assist in the next stage as he thought we’d been a great help and the others had apparently said nice things about us. “They are saying to me but not to you that they are liking the 2 Aus-tees and say the only thing wrong is that you are not speaking the German!” Nice! Told you they were similar personalities. We had no probs coming back, cleared it with Philby & Jamie and headed off to our spots. This process carried on until Sun eve when there was only small tasks to polish off and Andy was almost sad to say that our services were no longer needed! Sang our praises to Philby who made special mention of it back to Jamie! Philby and the Germans go from gig like this to gig like this!
Kev & I are now interested in catching up with them all for a beer at some point. I think it would be a large, messy but fabulous night!

Night rehearsals continued to be bitterly cold – even when rugged up cause when you’re sitting up there exposed for 5-6hrs at a time with no shelter, the wind does bite into you. I surprised myself and found that I packed my beanie! It was such a weird sensation, working in the sun and sweating during the day and then rugging up & freezing by night! And it seems to be getting colder each day. Winter isn’t coming on gradually, it’s arriving each day. Even the days now are cool – the sun is still warm and has enough strength to tan but it’s nowhere near as hot as it was when we first arrived. After we put our harnesses on, Kev & I look like twin Michelin Men!

Sat arvo & Sun morn was spent running wheland cable along the LED Screen catwalks. This was quality time with Ollie & Johannes! Way to many laughs and smart remarks. Just 4 guys being silly. Ollie got onto a winner with the game “What can I pretend this wheland head is?”, my fav’s being a microphone ‘test one two’ and the electric razor! And we’re getting paid to do this!?! Was very hard and exhausting work but it’s an absolute hoot and I’d rather be out working – the extra cash is an added bonus and should easily cover the cost of accomm for the holiday!

Sun arvo we all swarmed over the structure as all crane work had been cancelled due to strong winds. The only problem was that the one crane that was strong enough to lift all remaining looms onto the structure was way down on the South side! It did one final big lift and then we all had to scamper round dropping looms and then running them to their required positions! Kev & I were assigned the task of running power for the two spots at the top centre of the Structure. Hauling a 50m loom through, up & over steel was NOT fun! Very heavy and adds an extra element to the thought process. Myself & Kev sang our way to the centre! That way, one part of the brain was doing the whole ‘this foot goes here, clip off onto that, twist leg around that beam’ part and the bit that would have been going ‘this is really heavy, oooh look, it’s a long way down’ was too busy trying to remember words to songs! And by singing, it’s far easier to be able to manoeuvre because you don’t have that little voice in the back of your head!

I think my favourite moment over the 6 days we worked was when we had a mini United Nations atop on of the towers. All stretched out atop the structure on beams and panels, getting a tan, swapping stories and just relaxing whilst we waited for the crane to drop off a load of looms!

My other funniest (and also frustrating at the time moment) was when climbing, the clip on my access pass broke and it went fluttering away to the ground - I was only 20m up at the time and as I had climbers above & below I had no real option but to keep climbing. One of the guys further down saw one of the Smurfs pick it up and wave it around at the bottom of the tower, yelled down for him to keep it and we kept on with the job. Upon reaching the ground some 3.5hrs later, hunted down the guy who had picked it up – he was actually pointed out to me by one of the guys on deck. Went up to him and asked if he had my pass, “Only my pass Boss” was the answer as he waved his at me! Fair enough! Asked him if he had picked up another. “Yes Boss”. Nothing more. “Do you still have it?” I inquired. “No, gave it to my friend!” He pointed out his friend and I went up to him and the above routine basically happened again! This time he had given the pass to his boss, not friend! Went to the boss who said that he’d handed it to my friend (!) who had been standing at the bottom of the tower. I asked him what he looked like and the answer was “White man. Taller than me. Bout you height and wearing hard hat!” Which describes just about all of us onsite! Very amusing and had the roles been reversed, it’s a fair call! I have now officially been classed by my race and found out that we all look alike! Got my pass back eventually though!

Wed 15th – Hanging In The LX Krankenhause Wid Un Germans Kevie & Tim – Kings Of The Smurfs!

(For some reason I am unable to post photos with this entry! Have tried numerous times and it's failed - you watch, when I press 'Post', you'll end up with 25 copies of the same pic!)

Got home at 1215am yesterday (or is that today…?) and had been requested to be back in at 0700..! Of course we could! Got in there and, of course, the winds were too high so what we were supposed to do was unable to be done so we were put on ‘stand by’ – off we went to have omelettes at the catering tent!

We then did little bits pieces but nothing that we were actually being paid extra $$ to do! Ah Doha! It’s crazy, absolutely crazy – I’d love for you all to be able to pop on over for a day to experience the atmosphere. It’s indescribable, something intangible unless you’re here. The really good thing is that no one is up to the yelling and Raaaarrrrrrr stage…yet! People are aware that things need to get done, that there are delays etc. So it’s still a relaxed atmosphere – somewhere, someone is getting a hiding over it all I’m sure!

LX Krankenhause is German for LX Hospital and it was kinda nice to hang out with the guys and chat and discuss theatre and a whole range of things. Andy is very much the gentle giant & very apologetic for having us waiting around. Ollie is hilarious and would become a close friend should I move to Germany or he to Aus! You know the voice that most guys put on when mimicking someone whinging (maybe it’s only me… and Ollie) – that high pitched ‘me me me me me me me’ that’s reminiscent of Beaker form the Muppets…? Well, hearing that done at the same pitch and in German from Ollie was hilarious! He kinda looks like a younger, fresh faced Meatloaf – I know that sounds horrible but it’s the best description I can give! There were a few moments where we paused & looked at each other and with out saying anything, acknowledged that, despite the language barrier, we had found the same thing funny and had a similar sense of humour! Olaf is pretty much the crew leader on deck but too has a great sense of humour and can speak German, English, Italian & French fluently! It’s not until to get on a gig like this that the inkling of “why didn’t I carry on language at school?” kicks in.

By lunch, we’d covered all the little gigs that the Procon & Bytecraft people had for us to do – this did also include a 45 min nap stretched out on a roadcase – I’ve been told there’s photo and am trying to track it down! We ate and then tracked down Philby and asked him if there was anything we could do for him. All he had were “shitty jobs” to which Kev & I went “fine”. He sort of did that double take and confirmed that “they’re really shitty gigs”, to which we went “Fine, you’re paying us, put us to work.” I don’t think he understood that we’d taken the gig to get us out of the house and oot un aboot! He gave us a list and stated that we may need a hand. “I could get you some Smurfs..?” Me and Kev looked at each other, smiled, turned to Philby and said “Sure!”

Off we went to the Smurf area, called out for Owen and 3 guys jumped up and came on over. “Yes Boss” was the first call which we put a stamp on. I’m not nobody’s boss – especially in that kind of situation – and neither is Kev. We’re just not like that – it’s me & Kev! We have hard enough trouble keeping ourselves in line, let alone others! Anyway, off me & Kev (who for some reason was quickly renamed Michael Jackson (I kid you not) by the guys) went with our contingent of Smurfs into the stands and proceeded to remove excess pipe & stuff! You can easily tell that the stories that we’ve heard that these guys die at an average rate of 70 per month when working elsewhere as they have total disregard for their own safety and it’s obviously an issue that their management has never raised or provided training for. One of the big things we got told on Day 1 was to always wear safety vests, helmets and steel caps whilst on site and that we needed to enforce this with the Smurfs in the hope that they would take back what they’d learnt/seen and hopefully get some form of basic safety awareness into their workplace. I kinda like the idea and myself & Kev proceeded to pass on ideas and hints throughout the afternoon.

They were a great bunch of blokes and we managed to secure another couple during the session – they were called over by Parkesh & Milloo to “come work for these boss”! Guess we made an impression. I’ll add in now that for the next 4 days whilst doing the extra work, Owen would find us each day and ask if we needed a hand. Saw Parkesh a few more times to and they were keen to come work for us again! In a weird way it was flattering but all me & Kev did was just take ‘em on board as equals and have a laugh along the way – the best way to work!

Rehearsals were bitterly cold! Such a wind that was ICEY, no better word to describe it. I had brought A jumper and pair of jeans with me but not winter clothes – I mean it’s the dessert right? As yet, they’re still sitting in my cupboard – not as of tomorrow night! Kev & I came down at the end of the night shivering like crazy! Home time was a beer on the Stoop and then bed. Some of the others tried to coach us into having more but after a 17.5hr day and being back in at 0900, bed was definitely the answer!

Just an iddy biddy photo update - The 'Rocky Outcrop' during the 'Asia' sequence, me having words with a Dragon, the LED Screen (it actually works - can you te llthe bits Kev & I plugged up...!) & my back after the dune bashing! Didn't hurt a bit, not even a day or two after! Very strange! There must be a way that I can post photos in the middle of a blog entry but I kinda have no idea how! Technology challenge #1036! Catch you all later and hope all is well in your respective worlds.

Tues 14th – A Varied 24hrs or (The Start Of A 2 Day Job On Doha Time!)

Only really had the chance to grab about 3.5hrs sleep before our alarms went off to watch the sunrise at 0500! Woke up frickin’ freezing – yes, the dessert can get cold at night! Despite being cold, it was grand waking up, seeing the view, remembering yesterday and then just going “Wow!”

Sunrise was pretty spectacular, very similar to the one seen previous on the roof! Sky was already quite bright and all of a sudden this orb just appeared and kept on rising really quickly! We got some good shots and played around - as you can see from the attached pic! Most of us then went for a walk in the opposite direction to the one taken last night. Was nice and peaceful – one of those nice moments in life where the four of us (Kev, Sarah, Jules & I) just kept our mouths shut and just wondered in and out of the water, up into the Dunes and back again without really uttering a word! Each of us probably taking something different back with us and just wanting to share it but not necessarily ‘share’ whilst it was happening. Very touchy feely I know but hey, that was the vibe man!

Had time for a quick dip before breakfast – some people weren’t going to but with a bit of prompting as to “When will you ever get to swim in the Gulf of Arabia before breakfast again?” soon sorted that out! Brekkie consisted of spicy sausages, omelets, weird juice and bread. Was pretty good food. We didn’t leave til about 0930, so I went for a bit of an explore up and over the dunes away from camp. Saw these weird little lizards that live/hide just below the surface of the sand! They dive out as you get closer and then appear to run along the sand before diving in and you can see tyem moving just under the sand! Very strange – I chased them around for a bit in a vain attempt to capture them on video but not to be! Bet I looked like a right fool!

On the drive back, once again I hung out the window and howled at the dunes and the wind – if you ever do it, THEN you’ll understand (especially if you’re a man!) There was one ‘funny’ moment to remember when the driver handed up the option of driving! Jules took up the offer and I can now say that I have hung out the window of a 4WD @ 80kmph whilst my friend Jules bashed over dunes in the Arabian Dessert to the sounds of “Full petrol”, “You must choose way” & “Relax, relax (pause) To fast, to fast!” from the driver! GOLD! You can’t buy that kind of shit!

Got home at 1200 and got the call that me & Kev were needed onsite to start work on the LED Screen from 1400! We were both kinda hoping that we’d start on Wed and be able to have a nap in the arvo! Wrong! Had a shower, a quick feed and then it was onto the 1330 bus to start another chapter in the crazy world that is the 15th Asian Games!

We got bumped around to a few different people to start off with until we got slotted in with the right group of people who needed our help! Kinda like a game of pinball for awhile but hey, that’s what happens when there’s all sorts of different bosses at all different levels and on different radio channels! Finally hooked up with the Procon boys from Germany. Procon – for you theatre nerds out there - are the German equivalent of Bytecraft but they have their shit together in the hire dept! From my understanding of the wider world, Procon actually own part of Bytecraft! Andreas (Andy), Maurittes, Ollie, Olaf & Johannes became our new work colleagues! Pretty good English spoken by them – a lot of German but it was all good. With many smiles, hand guestures & “um..er…how do you say..?” off me & Kevie went for another chapter in our Doha adventure!

It was a pretty quick afternoon – we got all suited up in our harnesses, prepped some gear and then made the vertical climb up to the very top of the LED Screen to start laying out power for the lights rigged on the top of the structure – some 80 odd meters up! This is a whole lot different to the 70m where our spots are. This is climbing through steel work, along girders, holding on for dear life whereas the spot possies are a bi-at-ch of a stair workout but (and don’t panic Mum & Dad when I say this) far safer! Please understand that I wasn’t in any danger, felt completely safe and felt the last of the 9-5 office worker drain from my body! (A good feeling I must admit – more on THAT at a later date!) On the climb up some ladders were missing rungs, some were made out of two halves, as in half was welded from the bottom and then another section lowered from the top and then welded – leaving about a one & a half rung gap in between! Some ladders were bent, some didn’t extended over the platform high enough and you had to haul yourself onto the next platform to start the next ascent! All very funny with many ‘colourful’ phrases uttered!

We got to the very top of the ladder system and found that the 45deg angles ladder/steps that connected the ladders to the catwalks was welded at the top end and at the bottom end (where we were) – tied off with rope to a beam…! Andy put a foot on it, it, well, lets just say it moved (!) and then there was much back & forth of German, some on the radio before we pulled the plug and climbed all the way back down! Ollie did gesture and suggest that myself & Kev should continue, “Make it safe for German ja?”. Please note that it was said with a huge grin on his face! Ollie is a very funny man!

Andy also noted that there were no safety line (lines that follow the path’s where we would be working and could clip our harnesses to) in sight. Big report back to Philby (in charge of LED Screen) and he cracked it..! The steel company doing it (CS Steel from memory) are shonky – guess it’s kinda like the lowest bidder wins! They’ve been leaving bolts, shackles & just stuff ALL over the structure – something you just don’t do! Nobody has been hit by anything yet but there has been ‘showers’ of stuff each day.

We then de-harnessed & went on coffee…. until we started Spot! That pretty much sums up the mood & work onsite. There’s still a chunk to be done everywhere but it is literally waiting for that guy to do that thing before they can come in with the stuff to make it OK for you to even think about starting your gig! Lots of standing by to stand by with many a false start in the mix! Oh well, onwards and upwards…!

At this point I must admit that I’m writing the next few entries nigh on a week after the fact as it’s been a long '2' days – read on and you’ll see why!

Mon 13th – Timmy Of Arabia & Other Assorted Adventures!

(PHOTOS - me @ sunrise, Kev & I at the 3 x Borders & me on a shoosha)


Day Off, Day Off, Day Off! Yay! We’re getting picked up at 1400 and being driven into the desert to go sand dune bashing, swim in the sea & camp out under the stars! It should be great and all food etc. is provided. We’re allowed to bring beer but I reckon a case between the 8 of us is plenty. I want this to be an experience, not another place I drank beer! Although it will be a cool place to add to the list.

Pulled up much better than I thought I would after Sun night – this Doha weather, climate & hours is just doing weird things to the body clock! Packed my daypack and hopped into a 4WD at 1400 and headed off into the dessert! We drove for around 50kms & stopped and had the option of going for a ride on a camel! Of course I took up the option. I’ve ridden one in Alice Springs and now the Arabian Dessert! Was only brief but a lot of fun! Whilst doing this our drivers let a chunk of air out of the tyres to allow for easier tread on the dunes. Don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before but Doha is flat, dead flat & we’d been keeping an eye out for the dunes & could see these little sandy hills up ahead. What we actually ended up doing was driving down into the dunes rather than up into them! It was quite strange!

Our driver had been doing it for 15yrs and it certainly showed! It was great – careening up and then over, hitting all the little rises & dips at speed! I sat in the front for awhile and it was bizarre watching the horizon dip, disappear and then right itself briefly before appearing on an angle again! The other 2 4WD’s with us stopped at one point and our guy went hell for leather up the side of this VERY steep dune and then back down again. The car felt as if it was at right angles! When we rejoined the group we were told to do it again as most of the others hadn’t been able to get out of their car in time to take pictures! So we got to do it again! Excellent!

We stopped at the top of this really steep dune that led down to the water. We all hopped out and then one of the drivers (by himself) just went crazy and basically launched himself off the edge, land, continue and then skid in and out of the water’s edge before driving back up to join us! He was at no point actually going forward, he was mainly either slewing left or right before he came to join us! He then asked if anyone wanted to try driving straight down the dune! The car was a manual and I’m crap at manual, especially one that you have to use your other hand to change gears with! Jess jumped in and you could hear her screaming all the way down! We then continued to dune bash and by this time I was in the backseat. I wound down my window, pulled myself out, sat on the door frame and hung on for dear life! Wow what a ride! At one point, Scott stuck his head out the front window and screamed back to me that we were doing 100kph! It was just the best feeling, something that I’d never done & am very unlikely to do again! Very ‘boy’ of me I know but it’s one of ‘those’ experiences that no matter how hard I try, I’ll never be able to explain. At one point, with the angle the car was at, I was basically standing upright as we plowed down and over sideways! Testosterone flowed once again!

We then stopped at another little bit of the sea and were told that Saudi was over the water to the right and that Emirates was over and to the left! Couple of happy snaps were required! All of us were running around like kids on red cordial at the beach. Grinning like fools and running around in the sand. The dunes were great to run down – you sort of sank halfway up your shin and as you took the next step, because it was so steep, it basically pulled you forward! Overall you felt as if you were walking on the moon or bouncing down! The climb back up was a bitch! The workout we’ve been having climbing the Arch was a good help! We then kept bashing away, me leaning out the window doing my best Alby Mangles impersonation! Ah, if only I had hair! Took a heap of photos – problem being that the light, shade & shape of the dunes don’t carry across well to digital prints. Sunset looked amazing, really deep reds as this huge orb sank behind the dunes.

We knew that we were camping and that we had the option of sleeping out under the stars. I was expecting, and would have been quite happy with, 2 man tents or 1 or 2 large tents. Oh no, this was done in style. There were around 10 tents set up around this wide, small sandy strip that was enclosed by the dunes. Some of the tents had tables & chairs, others had rugs laid down with long cushions set up like lounges. There was a volleyball court marked out in the sand, deck chairs, umbrellas woven out of palm and other assorted fronds! It was great and all of this overlooked the beach! Mohamed met as at the gate and told us to please make ourselves at home and that for today, “As you are having fun in my country that tonight, we will make this camp your country and you are free to do as you please. We will forget about everyone else until much later.” And we pretty much did just that! We were told that dinner would be about 2hrs away so we all went swimming in the Gulf Of Arabia! Very thick water and extremely salty. It was so warm too.

As we got changed to go swimming, everyone started asking what I’d done to my back…? Absolutely nothing that I knew of – I was aware that my back would probably be stiff tomorrow due to it being slammed around when hanging out the window. The guys took a photo of it and then showed me. There were these welt/blood blister type marks going diagonally down from halfway up the left side of my back! Hadn’t expected that! They were in the exact place where my back had been whacking against the door frame! They didn’t hurt (and still don’t!). In fact, for all the hanging out of windows that I did, getting slammed about, I only have a couple of bruises on my arms.

After swimming Mohamed & I sat down and had a big chat. Apparently there are only two places in the world where the dessert meets the sea – here in Qatar and Namibia in Africa! Also, Qatar only has a population of 700,000 and that only 30% were actually born in Qatar. They have over 120 different nationalities working in the country with India, Nepal & the Philippines making up the bulk of the 70%. Mohammed himself was from Egypt. He told me of how he is slowly building up his camp. He wants in include camels, 4 wheel motorbikes and have “a caravan that is very much like mini mart. You can come to me and buy cigarettes & Coca-Cola.” He then said that he likes to see all the tourists who come and see that they enjoy his country & camp as much as he does. He wishes that the government didn’t have all the access to the oil and gas because they don’t spend any money for tourism as they have an endless supply of income. It was a bit of an eye opener and honestly, if I wasn’t here for work, I probably would never visit!

His mouth nearly fell off his face when I told him that we have payed nearly 5 times more what he pays for petrol. Water is dearer than petrol in Qatar. A 600ml bottle costs approx 1 riyal (36c), a litre of petrol costs one half riyal or 50 dirham’s. He was amazed and very interested. This of course then led to a discussion about Iraq, America and the current wars. It was really interesting hearing it from, for use of a better term, the other side. He told me the bombshell that Donald Rumsfeld got ousted in the recent US Elections! I knew the Democrats had had some big victories but didn’t realise that Rumsfeld was a casualty! Excellent news all round!

We pretty much lucked out on our trip. The camp is big enough to hold up to 300 people – which would be great but would be a whole nother experience. There was the 8 of us and 1 other 4WD load of a Kiwi guy who’s working on the English version of Al Jazeera, due to launch in the next few weeks, his Swedish wife & 3 of her friends. It just meant that we all had some space and that there wasn’t hundreds of people. We were one of the first people to go as the Tourist Season is just beginning – on the Thurs they were having 180 people. Like I said, if I was on holidays, 200 people partying in the dessert would be fun but for all of us it was great to be alone, all by ourselves and have the freedom of the whole place. We were able to have chats to the drivers – basically just unwind.

Dinner was this huge buffet of koftas, sausages, kebabs, spicy chicken, bread & salads – all tasted fantastic and we all went back for more. Prob the biggest feed I’ve had since arriving. Traditional food, sitting cross legged on a rug, in a tent where the ocean meets the dessert – yep, pretty frickin’ cool!

Where 200 people would have definitely ruined the after dinner experience! We all sat around the camp fire and we were all offered Shooshas (no idea of spelling), which are Arabic pipes that produce flavoured smoke. They come in all sorts of sizes but these ones were about thigh high. They have a water chamber at the bottom and then one or two pipes/hoses coming out. The top chamber has the flavoured tobacco sealed in it and then a hot coal is placed on top to heat/cook it. An ornamental piece is then placed over the coal so it looks pretty and then you smoke away! They were excellent – far more unhealthy that normal ciggies but it was great. There were a few different flavours floating around. We were all sharing – mine & Sarah’s was Apple, the Kiwi & his wife had Strawberry. All very different and it was weird that the smoke actually tasted like it’s flavour – you now how things say that they’re ‘blah, blah, blah, blah’ flavour but they taste nothing like it? Well this did! Strange! And the Arabs have been smoking these long before the world of chemical flavours and enhancers.

One of the drivers called us across to one of the tents to show us a medium sized, white scorpion! It blended in very well to the rugs and it appeared to be dead – when the driver dangled a string at it, it’s stinger went up and it charged us! Well, off into the dessert ran 9 people! There were also these really chunky beetles. They were standard beetle size but were very tall and had hard shaped backs. I likened them to the scarab beetles in The Mummy! Some of the girls didn’t like that & combined with the scorpion, decided to sleep in the middle of the campsite on the raised platform where DJ’s play when there are larger crowds!

A group of us went for a walk along the beach around midnight – very dark and oh so clear. We saw numerous shooting stars and it was all very peaceful. Way around on the bay there was a huge oil refinery – basically attached to Doha but it was producing a large amount of light and you could see the huge flames but once we walked far enough away, the sky was fine. Now this is something that I’ve never noticed before in my travels but the moon changes shape/position depending on where you are – or so I’ve since been informed! Now, I’m aware that sinks drain differently in the Northern & Southern Hemispheres (thank you Simpsons and yes, I have tested it for myself!) but wasn’t in relation to the way the moon faces! In Qatar, when the moon is crescent shaped, the curve is either at the top or bottom – not on the side like it is for us! Which makes sense as a lot of Arabic symbols, flags, emblems etc. have the crescent moon on it as described above! Hey, call me strange if the above is blatantly obvious but aren’t you supposed to learn new things when travelling? Don’t even get me started on how the contents of Orion & The Saucepan were spilling all over the sky!

A little hesitant to sleep with the scorpions and with little room on the DJ platform, I pulled up a deckchair under a beach side thatched umbrella, gazed at the moon high above the Gulf, breathed in the fresh air and drifted off to sleep. Not a bad view and the perfect end to a fantastic day!

Sun 12th – Back On The Horse & Hair Of The Dog - Twistin’ By The Pool!

Myself & Adam have made a plan to get us through until 1530 when we have to catch the bus to work (we’ve decided to stay up!). We’re supposed to be walking down to the local shopping precient for hamburgers or any edible form of Grease in half an hour at about 1030 but I’ll lay London to a brick he’s asleep – just a seck, I’ll check……. Yep! Curled up amongst his computer paranphenalia, snoring his head off! Right! Nap time for Tim, catch you later!

Had set both my phones (one Aus # one Doha #) for a 1300 wake up…. Not to be. Adam came in at 1500 to get me out of bed!! Guess I must have been tired…! Rushed around, made the bus and felt all out of place and like my day hadn’t quite turned out the way it should have – basically started when I didn’t go to bed as planned after just one beer! We get there and are told that only the Hero Horse domes need to report to their position and that the rest of us were on coffee until notified otherwise! A dodgy Doha sandwich never tasted so good! After bout an hour, Prem comes on and releases all other domes as night rehearsals had been cancelled and we were free to go! The sweetest sounds I ever heard!

On our way out, Brad who’s on Costume LX and lives down the road comes up and asks if we’re al coming to Eligh’s 30th birthday bash? Which, of course, we knew nothing about! Eligh is on costume and also lives down the road and is pretty cool! We were told it was catered and due to kick off at our pool at 8pm! Bad sign, Bad sign!

On getting home myself, Jules, Sarah & Jess went a wondering up the street. Found a lady, with the full garb on, selling food from these big clay pots. Never one to miss an opportunity to try local food for local people, we inquired what it was. “To eat” was the response! She finally understood that we had no idea what she was actually selling so she let us taste test and thought it was hilarious watching us gingerly taste and then comment amongst ourselves! We ended up with this corn mash curry type thing with veggies & which had meat in it – what we are firmly going to believe was chicken…! We took it home, cooked up some nahn bread and tucked in. Really cheap and really filling! Shall be going back to her! It was a very tasty meal of what we named ‘goop!’

Once we’d dealt with dinner, we cracked a beer and decided to wonder n down to the pool as there was the beginnings of a racket to be heard! The pool was in full swing and people continued to flood in via taxi! Goodbye quiet night! (Now, I do remember stating that we don’t always drink… um, set that aside for at least this entry – next week will be different, promise, as myself & Kev start 10hr days on ‘Lucy’ before pushing a dome at night!) Eligh had got the party catered for by the little Cafeteria up the road and had also made up 2 x huge buckets of punch! A little light on the punch, heavy on the vodka! It was a great night. Got to properly catch up and chat with people that we’d met thru the Compound and also others we’d befriended on site. Very social & probably the first time that most of them had been able to let their hair down. The food was divine – falafels, great hummus, koftas, this black stuff – that was delicious but nobody knew what it was, nahn bread and a heap of salads.

Of course, there was the mandatory throwing of people into the pool! It was quite polite though as people did check or secretly check what people had in their pockets before being tossed in. Some people were forcibly told to remove things from their pockets whilst be held over the water! It was very funny watching Julia & Sarah attempt to team up and throw Bernie in – as revenge as he had literally tossed them into the water! (For those of you who don’t know Bernie, he’s 6 Foot 7 Inches and pretty solid!) They didn’t really have much success, even on the 2nd attempt! Sarah was basically slingshoted into the pool and landed pretty much on, if not past the half way point!

The above photos are Adam, Julia, Prem (SPot Caller & Myself) & me & Adam, well, being me & Adam!

I also met up with a couple of the guys (2 x Brits) we’ll be working with next week whilst on ‘Lucy’ – which is always nice to have a couple of familiar faces if entering into a pre-existing set-up like ‘Lucy’. We’ll most likely be working from a bucket, suspended from a crane at anywhere between 60-80m! Bring it on! We’ll be rigging the last of the moving lights, setting up 2 x followspot positions and then running all the control cable for said equipment. At some point we’ll probably have to go crawling thru the structure as well! Would love to have my camera up there but it will be a bit different than carrying it up 500 odd stairs! Should take around 4 days they reckon but have told us to be ready for 6 – I think it’s safer to be ready for 10 the way things have been going. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the extra $$ they’ve offered will cover the cost of my Accom and maybe some of the flights thru Singapore, Cambodia & Thailand at the end of this gig – oh yeah, for those who may not be aware, after the Games are done, I’m off on 2 weeks holiday (or is that extended holiday…?) Back in Aus early ’07! Tra la la la!

We did hear over the radios the other night that everything needed to complete the gig has now arrived in Doha! There was a big resounding cheer throughout the Kahlifa Stadium! It had taken awhile but now they only had time and people power to co-ordinate, with 2.5 weeks til Opening Ceremony, it’ll be tight but I can’t see it going pear shaped. There is a law in Qatar (pronounced ‘Cutter’) that only lets a certain number of trucks in the country at any one time. This is where the delays in getting most of the steel for ‘Lucy’ happened. Now I’ve heard, and only heard, and it was heard by the pool, that to quicken the entry of the required gear that a guy, with armed escort, flew to Syria where the goods were backed up, literally handed over a briefcase full of cash and loaded up container after container onto an ex-Russian military aircraft and flew off into the night…! It’s just so crazy that it has to be true! And having been here for nigh on 2 weeks and hearing the other stories floating around, I think it probably did happen but with far more cloak & dagger stuff than the story contains!

Sat 11th – It Suddenly Dawned On Me…!

Well, I’ve read over what I wrote last night and think I deserve at least a Gold Star as basic English, Grammar & punctuation are all in attendance!

Yesterday was pretty much covered in what I wrote last night – just bar my usual ramblings! Not that I like to tell a story or two – the people who are laughing at that last statement have just been taken off the Christmas Card List – for those of you in the know, I’ve NEVER had a Christmas Card List!

Last night was quite fun. By now we’ve all started to splinter into smaller groups and hang out with the people from other Villas. Some of the crew are, for use of a better word, ‘clingy’ and seem to be expecting everyone else to keep them entertained. “I’m bored”, “What are you doing today?” are common cries. As myself and a few of the others have said, we signed up as Dome Op’s, not baby sitters. I find it funny that some people just can’t enjoy some quiet time or aren’t able to amuse themselves. This early into the gig it’s kind of worrying how stir crazy people may become – especially if we’re able to help them along by pushing buttons as we go! (Not that we would…!)

My overnight shift got cancelled which was good due to the imploded feeling. I was up at Adams’s spot as that was where I was going to be working from and watched the Hero Horse rehearsal. It was gold as it’s a section that I won’t be able to see in show mode as it’s above and slightly behind me. Basically, the Prince (it’s supposed to be a real Arabian Prince but the Cowboys reckon it will end up being one of them!), get’s the flame from the Seeker and then gallops from the centre of the Field and then up a ramp (quite steep) all the way thru the stadium seating to a platform and then lights the Cauldron – the big grand finale. I have no idea what the Flame is called ie. Olympic Torch etc.

Figuring this was an opportune time to actually get some footage of it – it looks great in rehearsals so by the time everyone’s in costume, with lights etc. should be huge! Anyway, the 3 times the horses did the run I managed NOT to record it! Because it’s such a steep run, they can’t continually do it over & over and they have to gear the horse up before he/she charges away. The first time, I’d been following the horse around & around & around and turned away to see if I could get a clean shot all the way to the top, turned back and they were halfway up the ramp! 2nd time, my camera did that clever battery saving thing and went “I’m not being used so I’ll go to sleep” just as the rider went to press the record button, literally! Third time, Adam said something and as I had headsets on, turned to him to say “What?” to the cries of “Brother!” and him pointing as the horse bolted off again! Oh well, at least I’ve seen it, just won’t be able to show you guys. The Cauldron is very special. I do hope SBS televises it or they release a DVD copy here before we leave so you guys can piece together everything we’ll all be talking about upon our return – still some 5 odd weks away…! Ah….!

Upon arriving home knackerd & very grateful that we’d knocked off at 0130 instead of the scheduled 0530 it was beer first, shower later – which is the usual way as you come home with that “matter of fact, I got it now” feeling. Then we al disperse, come back refreshed and crack another. Myself, Adam & Paul fired up quite quickly and were the last ones standing! Now, before you get the idea that we are all a punch of piss pots (we have all earnt that title over many other occasions) and get drunk each night – we don’t. It’s pretty much a couple of beers. Some carry on, some go to bed, some come and write to their friends (!). Tonight though, Paul, Adam, Sarah & I got drunk! Quite happily put my hand up and say that (especially as I’ve already posted something to that effect!) It got to sunrise, quite quickly, and Sarah ran off to bed and myself, Paul & Adam decided that we’d go up on the roof to try and see the sun rise as it’s supposed to be spectacular and take photos. Please note that we are easily able to access our roof – it’s flat and has stairs leading to it from inside. We didn’t climb up pipes or do anything stoopid – we did that AFTER we were on the roof to get on top of the shack that houses hotwater etc.!

We got onto the roof hut to try and get an unobstructed view and waited for about 20 mins, figured it was hidden behind smog and then clambered down. Just as we were about to go inside this huge pink orb burst over the horizon and proceeded to rise quickly, changing colour as it went! Beautiful! We got some snaps but they not as good as if we’d still been on the roof shacks roof! Myself & Paul were covered in the white dust that is absolutely everywhere in Doha! I have a very funny photo that Adam has titled “We Were Not On The Roof).

That was bedtime but myself and Adam decided that there was at least time for one round of PS2! We then proceeded to make tea, play & chat –the first quiet time the Brudda’s have had. A good proper chinwag. Went for a swim at 0900 – this a good 3.5hrs after we’d stopped drinking, I don’t want you all to be shaking your heads thinking we just kept boozing on – we actually couldn’t as our fridge was empty and Bernie’s house was locked! Whilst swimming we had to make the choice of staying up or actually going to bed. We didn’t have to be on the bus until 1530 so we had options, but that, as I’m already into Sunday is for another day!

Sat 11th – Night Time Writings!

Well, I won't lie, I'm drunk, not hammered, just drunk! I could lie but you'd pick up pretty quickly that something was slightly off kilter. Mum, Dad, other responsible adults - it's either sit here and write you a quick note OR wonder the streets - just like home - except, if I get caught here on the streets a 'little merry', it's off to the jailhouse, deportation but after you've reciebed either a stoning or 20-30 lashes! This is true as today the story has circulated about the two overnight workers who were caught driving a forklit drunk on site.... not around anymore! And everyones a spy! Taxi drivers will drop you off at the lock up, pedestrians will call the cops etc.

Had my overnight shift tonight but was home by 0230 and found the street alive again - was saying the mantra over & over in my head "One beer then bed. one beer then bed" all the way home on the shuttle - but, 4 Guinesses & 1 Caronna later, here I am! Woke up this mornand felt like (and still do) that all the excitment, work, travel, heat, beer (!) had caught up with me. Felt like I've imploded. Walked up & down that frickin' Arch 4 times today - up & over twice, once to the top & back & once to my spot & down! Over 3000 stairs in an 8hr period! Thighs have now started to kick in!

Came up to my computer with Adam as he wanted to check something and found that, once again, I've managed to log onto the Net via a wireless conection that NOBODY else can aquire! So, this is being written directly to the Web, no edits, no chance to read over tomorrow and delete! If you hadn't already guessed, these Blogs will be entered whenever possible but there may be a couple of days gap here and there!

Anyhoo, can't say too long as there are guests on the Stoop (near 0500), and I'm only here as I got giddy with excitment that I could post yesterdays Blog and then thought I'd give you a brief update on today (technically yesterday!). Myself & Adam have also said we'll get a round of PS2 in before bed - Hmmmm! Of well, gues the imploded feeling is now well & truly squashed! Night y'all.

Fri 10th – 580 Stairs & A Whole Lotta Nuttin’!

(The attached photo is the view upwards from my spot possie during plotting!)

Myself & Kev (separately) counted the stairs today – silly thing to do as now it feels like an even longer climb! I’ll be doing slightly less than Kev (it’s 240 to mine) as he crosses over the top to his spot but, as part of safety & the ‘buddy’ system, I’ll walk with him to the top and then watch him clamber down to his spot and stand and enjoy the view & breeze before making my way back down. Today was the 2nd time up, the first time being what we’re calling an ‘Up & Over’ before climbing up for the rehearsals. So, at the mo’, myself & Kev are doing 1,000 odd steps a day. Like I said, now that we know the numbers – my calves are about to explode!

Was very humid up there tonight. As in just sitting brought on rivulets – nice! Up there for nigh on 5 hours and all we really did was try and focus all the domes the same – which is silly as the Caller used the one dome to compare all the other domes…. When you’re in a theatre, this may make sense, but when there’s 16 of you scattered throughout the Stadium from Arena level to 70m above and the stadium, is, well, stadium wide, the same dome being the standard for each one…? The width of the stadium takes away a fair amount of intensity and then you’ll end up with all different edges, focuses & looks! It should have basically been a pass the parcel kind of deal! What would I know! Eh!

Get the feeling there’s a bit of a tone creeping in…? Well, for the 5hrs up there I would have turned on my dome for the ‘focus check’ (!) and then for a weird game of target/fading practice! All very strange! Then we packed up and came on down! No real rehearsal to speak of. We saw one scene/look, “Rocky Outcrop”, on ‘The Field Of Play’ (as it’s called) when we arrived and then the Smurfs rehearsed their scene changes – which of course you don’t dome and then they set up another scene, “Asia”, and then decided that they wouldn’t actually do anything with it! An hour after they decided this, we got the call to power down and head on home – just in time to miss the bus and have to wait for an hour..! The main hassles is that they are trying to get us in on the Tech Reh so we’re not completely at sea later on but because things are behind, everything changes at the drop of a hat!

On a far lighter note – the Smurfs have been taught how to do a Mexican Wave! Tonight, when waiting to do their scene change rehearsal, they were all lined up, in & around the set and the crew yelled down from 5 to 1 and then there was this ripple of blue across the whole set & stadium – did about 3 rounds and the crew gave them the biggest cheer & round of applause! Looked really good from my possie – looking forward to seeing how the real action will turn out. Dome games were also had tonight – as practice, we followed people around as they walked across the Field. Doing this is very wise as a 2mm movement at the dome can be a 2m movement on the ground! Anyway, as we were ‘playing’, a few techs, seeing themselves in the spotlight, put on their own mini song and dance routine! Not that I’ve ever instigated, participated or encouraged this kind of activity in the past! My fav was the two guys with brooms who did the whole Hard Hat & Broom routine and then the guy on the pushbike who raced across to be a part of the action, only to be ‘attacked’ by the brooms! Laughed very hard – 2 of the ‘performers’ took a bow! Humour is definitely the best medicine for ALOT of people at the moment!

We’ve started doing overnighters now – 2 guys stayed on tonight after we knocked off and were supposed to be on til 0600 – they’ve just arrived back and it’s only 0230 (see what I mean about sleep patterns..?). I’ve got tomorrows shift – here’s hoping it’s as short lived as tonights! Monday arvo we’re off on a dessert overnight trip! Should be cool. We get to visit an inland sea and also drive dune buggy’s! My first real Qatarian adventure! They have a zoo – a few people were talking about it today, said it’s actually not to bad. I have also discovered that Orry, is not an Orry but that Orry is an Oryx! A white mountain goat type thing that grows symmetrical horns, so, if you see it from side on, it appears only to have the one horn! I can’t remember what their Arabic nickname is but it means ‘Clear Ones’ as they’re all white, although they do have a black diamond on their nose! There’s an Oryx farm but I’m not allowed to pat or ride them..! Boring! They used to be wild across all of Arabia but are now nearly extinct and are bred exclusively in Qatar! Having one as the mascot is kinda like the Easter Bilby’s I guess! Worked! Got me passionate about the Oryx!

Kev & I heard tonight that as of Tues arvo we’ll most likely work 6 days running all the power & control cables for ‘Lucy’. I have no idea if I’ve told you this already – I’m pretty sure I haven’t because we’re not supposed to tell anyone anything about what we know as there is a heap of ‘World Firsts’ for this – one of them possibly being not being ready on time (that’s not true, that’s just me!) One (watch me be on the next plane home the moment I post this) is the World’s largest ever TV – 125m x 70m, all made up of LED’s. Because they’ve wanted to keep it all secret, for months they’ve all had code names, the LED screen being ‘Lucy’. They’re gonna be long days for me & Kev, working from a crane, in a bucket, running cable (or so we’re told!). Like the rest of Doha, I’ll believe it when it happens. They have mentioned a little more money and, without being greedy, if we were to do the job in Melb, we’d be paid better – especially when they want to work us 0700 – 1900 each day, before we go and push a dome..! Nothing is in concrete yet so we’ll see what happens – our strongest chip is that we’re cheaper than flying over new crew and paying them a full wage! Who knows, it could all fall in a heap! The fitness régime looks like it will soon be forced upon me rather than by choice!

Well, I’ve managed to stay awake late in the vain hope of being able to sleep lots tomorrow if I have to work all night but I bet I’m up early! Take care where ever you be out there (me, sentimental…?) and catch you next time – that is if anyone is actually reading this!

Thurs 9th – The Cycle of Washing Ones Clothes & The Importance Of Being Clean

Well, my washing has just come out of the machine at 2200, which isn’t bad, seeing as I put it in there at 1115 this morning..! No, I kid you not! 11 odd hours of washing! My main frustration being that it is a front loaded machine, so you can’t just open the door or you flood the kitchen! And when it came out, it was dripping – not even spun dry! I was the guinea pig in my house and was told by others (after the fact) that Cycle One took for ever. I must admit on my part that I did toss the instructions aside! It’s a washing machine for farks sake! Granted, this is probably the first time that I’ve ever used a front loader but if I can get to 70m in the air in strong winds and hang off truss etc. I should be able to master the simple task of washing ones clothes! Wrong, wrong, wrong! Adam has since done a load that took 40 mins and came out how you would expect clothes after a spin cycle! Oh well, provided endless entertainment for the boys & girls, especially as there was 8.5hrs at work in between!

The Washing Machine Incident is typical of our Accom. So far, and remember, until 5 days ago these were brand new villas, we have the following racked up in #7 – none due to anything we’ve done, despite the gatherings on our stoop:
1) Cupboard door in kitchen attached by one hinge – if you don’t know about it, it’s quite a hazard if you try to open it!
2) Turn on the main light in the downstairs bathroom & the entire LX goes out on the ground floor.
3) The kitchen power points work some of the time!
4) The two front legs on one of our couches have snapped off.
5) The toilet seat cover has fallen off.
6) Our water has stopped working twice!
7) Washing Machine (has to get a mention!)

There’s other, smaller things but the above is what’s happened in #7. Others have nothing wrong at all and some are on par with us. My favourite is sitting on my stoop (we no longer call our porch a porch, we figure a stoop is a far better name for a place where people gather to drink beer!) one morning and this lady coming down the street swearing her head off basically saying she was going to put some kind of plumbing device somewhere where there aren’t supposed to be blockages because this was the 4th time that her toilet flooded instead of draining…! Yep, that’s life in Doha, you never quite know what your gonna get – Forrest Gump led a VERY sheltered life if he can only compare to chocolates! The above general feel applies to everything – taxis, deliveries, driving and so on. The best thing to do is to not think that you have things figured out and then, nothing really surprises you!

Work today was outright dumb, plain and simply! They are certainly trying to find ways to fill some kind of hours for us. I don’t know, we kind of like this paid holiday type thing! We went in, watched the 3D DVD of the Ceremony again and Prem (Caller) told us who might be doing stuff in certain places and that there was nothing planned in some places and then, that it was all highly likely to change! Some of us went in early to angle grind off some pipe at the FOH (Front Of House) spots. But, the onsite angle grinders (which had been booked for us by you know who) had mysteriously been booked elsewhere! Didn’t matter anyway as the entire West side of the stadium where we needed to work was without power! Me, Kev & Paul still climbed over the Arch to cover sharp & nasty bolts that stick out into our path with foam. Pretty windy again but kinda getting used to it now.

Well, I was summoned about 10mins ago as there is a gathering again on the stoop! Apparently a contingent of Frenchies are here! Haven’t met them yet and I have only had two beers for the night so far. I’m pretty sure the other Usual Suspects are well on their way! Me too soon I guess!

There were 3 Stoop hotspots tonight, a blend of all Villas. Quite nice and relaxing but quite! We’ve also adopted 2 x stray cats – one did get found in Kev’s bag in his upstairs bedroom! We’ve named them Freddie & Roy but we’re not allowed to love them (by love I mean pet) as they are apparently highly diseased – despite what the picture above shows! Hmmm, I really should go see if Adam is frothing at the mouth…..

Wed 8th – Thare She Blows!

I had a huge sleep! Went to bed at midnight and when I woke and turned on the phone it was 9.40 – which was fine but we’d all decided to meet at 10 and head out to the main city mall! I’d gone to bed assuming that I’d be up between 6-7 as I’d been doing and didn’t bother to set an alarm! After much cussing & a quick shower, made it out in time for our taxis.

We went to Central City Mall – which has an ice skating rink in it – and it’s probably bigger than Chadstone. It’s definitely higher at 5 stories and there was basically nobody there! Most people we saw were foreigners. 9 of us went and we all just scattered and split up.

I’ve set myself a challenge – at the Mall there were 3 different Orry’s. Orry is the mascot of the Games & is a mountain goat type creature that’s native only to Qatar. We think the species of the animal is also an Orry but it’s very hard to translate what the people are telling us! Anyway, around the Mall I found life sized Orry’s in various sporting poses and wearing different uniforms & have decided to have my photo taken with as many different Orry’s as I possibly can and in the photo I’ll attempt to interact with him! So far we have Karate, Boxing and one where it looks like he’s using a mobile phone….?!?! That maybe it although I have seen one down at our little shopping centre, more MUST exist and I must find them.

The Mall was passable, pretty much like any other shopping centre that we have back home. Found some decent coffee & bought some trinket stuff and some sandles. Then we all headed back towards the taxis. The guy we got was similar to the Company guys we’ve been using. More of a limo service than a metered taxi. We’ve been told to use limos but the metered taxis are far cheaper – approx 1/3 to ½ cheaper and the drivers are great – really chatty and points out this and that and laughs at us stoopid westerners! For the company guys you ring either Mr Remmy or Mr G and they’ll send out one of their boys and they literally just say a price when you arrive – standard answer when you try to negotiate a price before leaving is – “Traffic bad, take for ever, I can’t say!” Getting to the Mall cost the 3 x limos 30, 35 & 40 riyal (have learnt to spell it!) and we all followed each other! Most trips are usually 30-35 riyal.

We thought we’d catch a taxi taxi home and came out, stood there, looked at these guys hanging around. I did the standard thing and yelled ‘Taxi!” and they all came scurrying forward! They all said they had meters in their taxi but this guy takes us back to his Very Shiny Black Mercedes and said the same things as written above! He heads into traffic and immediately starts going at 120kmph, the highest we hit was 140kmh & this was at 2pm in the afternoon and the traffic was busy! We needed to turn right at a roundabout and the queue was quite long and this guy obviously doesn’t like standing still as he goes 3 lanes over to the right to a lane that was moving freely and then get’s to the roundabout entrance (at speed) and rams his horn and swerves back to the let turn section (remember, Qatar drives on the other side of the road so it’s not as bad as it sounds but…!)! All I heard was brakes (not ours), the standard “beep beep” but they were much longer and I said a quick final word to you all, opened my eyes & we were back careening down the highway! Right! Never again! The drive home from Rydges was nothing compared to this ride! From now on, if it has to be a limo service, I’m calling Mr G or Mr Remmy!

Got to work around 1600 and we were al told to keep making adjustments etc. as required to our spots. Me & Kev decided to help Bernie and to get a perspective of the stadium from the other side. There was a bit of a breeze blowing around that proceeded to get a little stronger. By the time me & Kevie started to head up the Arch it was quite strong. At the top – woah! Sitting up on my platform for 3hrs in this very strong wind. I’ve walked against strong wind before but never had to operate a dome/followspot in what I would describe as gale force winds! The wind would literally push the dome away & you have to fight against it. A very strange experience! The platform would also vibrate slightly as the wind whipped around! As we’re on a platform high up, the wind is stronger but there’s not as much scaff to wobble. Adam & Paul are on about 15m high towers at the top of the stadium under Kev & I – they had a little bit of a sway going on. I did manage to write a few postcards by lying flat on the round and using the lip of my safety rail as a shield! Postcards have never been written in a more sillier situation before – well maybe space but you can’t get them delivered from up there! HA! It was surreal!

At the end we were told to come on down, we checked if we had to lash our domes down or do anything extra due to the wind factor and were told to come on down as we had to attend a meeting. We get down to the Canteen area and whilst there the Scaff guys talk to us about the Arch & wind factor, thank us for lashing down the domes and doing a couple of extra jobs that they’d requested we do when we were done! Me & Kev cracked it, nearly punched out the Boss (we used to in Melb cause he’s a F*CKING twit!) and went back up the Arch in the wind! Hoorah!

Upon getting home it was definitely beer time before shower time as it was also quite muggy – this was at 2200. At 0430 we went to bed! Last night was the night where most of the street came out, sat on their stoop and chatted and drank. We ended up with a chunk of people floating past as Adam had bought a dodgy guitar at the Mall. Many songs & sing alongs – especially when Kev got hold of it! Wondered up the street and chatted to a few more people. Too many names to remember! Met up with the guys riding the horses – a bunch of top blokes. Now they have some very funny stories. When you think of an Arab, one of the stereotypical things you would assume is that they can ride horses, right? WRONG! He’s got guys falling off mid gallop and refusing to get back on! As Ian put it, “Me bloody 8 year old takes harder tumbles onto rocks out on the land, gets back up and bloody rides on. These guys are falling onto soft sand & coming up lame!” He reckons the horse section is going to be a hoot. “They’ll bloody come in, fall off, chase their mount or run off & hide. Formations going to be difficult.”

As were knocking off last night, myself & Kev were asked if we would consider doing extra work in and around the truss when we weren’t doming. It saves them flying extra people across and they’ve said that throw some extra $$ our way! Which is better than the fate approaching the other domes – they may have to work on Set LX but with no extra $$ as it does state in our contract that they can move us around, make us work, change our hours at the drop of a hat! They have to give me & Kev more $$ cause we’re working at height and their using our rigging and truss skills! Nothings confirmed yet but they said it’d be about a weeks work of 8ish to when ever we had to go push a dome!

Well, I’m off to nurse my hangover a little more. Might see if I can perfect my tea making skills – still haven’t found the right balance here! Oh yeah, Strawberry Big M shits all over their ‘Genuine Pink Flavour, 100% Authentic Cows Milk’!

Tues 7th – From Desk Jockey To Scaff Monkey

Thank God I’ve been walking to and from work every day cause otherwise doing that climb everyday would kill me! I didn’t pull up sore at all this morning & then got cocky and went for a 5km run on the treadmill in the Gym – it’s not what you picture when you hear gym – remember, it’s in Doha! I also spent a session on the weights that were available and did 100 odd sit ups. That’s right, there is a high chance that I could come back with some form of muscle & fitness that I haven’t had in years! Our beds are really hard and horrible to sleep on but they make the best surface for sit ups – otherwise the options are marble floors or dessert! Due to me being butch and going for a jog, about halfway up my legs were screaming!

Today we just spent another 3 or 4hrs fixing up what we didn’t get done yesterday and then assisting other op’s as required. It’s a pretty cruisey schedule, far cruiser than we were led to believe and one that we try to keep as quiet as possible as there are people working 9, 12, 14hr days on the same wage as us. Some people are earning far, far more so the balance is there but it’s kinda at that point where the “We’re getting behind” is nearly at the point of no return & people who have been here for awhile are getting shitty. Stuff will happen, it’s not like they’ll cancel everything but they’re already looking at things they may have to cut etc.

The problems are caused by the time it takes to get anything into the country. The standard answer is ‘2 weeks’ or ‘Hum Shala’ (no idea of spelling), which means ‘God willing’! Some stuff that was on the 2 week list is at 2.5 months! It’s only been four days but Doha has never seen anything like what DAE (employer) is trying to achieve. The town itself is only 47 years old. Heaps of stuff is still being built and there are roadwork’s and construction everywhere. Some is for the Games but some is just basic infrastructure. It almost feels like the city is growing faster than stuff can get built. Hence why all the Smurfs are around.

The Doharians (I have no idea what they should be called!) have no concept of ‘a show’ or the scale of the Games & the fine timing involved in the Opening Ceremony. Having to be in the right place at the right time or why you have to walk all the way around the field rather than cut across it – the reason they can’t cut across it is that it will be full of 1000’s of athletes on the night! – means nothing to them. The Stage Managers have some hilarious (& terrifying) stories of rehearsals that started nearly a year ago! Just yesterday, Steph told the Head Of Education Minister (who arrives at every rehearsal with the 2,500 kids) not to let the kids in until the rehearsal space was free. He nodded, smiled, repeated and gestured he understood, walked away and proceeded to usher all 2,500 onto stage! Well, the kids had the best time cause there were set pieces and props they’d never seen before. “I can climb up here!”, “What’s this?”, “Oops, it broke!” (well they probably didn’t say that!). Mind you, there are just stories I’ve heard as we don’t get our first taste of rehearsal tomorrow eve.

Mon 6th – #7 Heart Starter (or I Can’t Believe It’s Not Bacon!)

(At this time, I have no reason to explain why I am unable to remove the underline from this entry - it came up like thatwhen I copied & pasted it..? Even switching 'off' Underline did not work - it's a wonder I've even been able to create this!
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Story time – guess I should fill you in on other details about Qatar. There’s no bacon! There, done!

Well, this morning was the first time I needed Food! Hangover food! Had bought basic supplies along with everyone else – resulting in us ALL buying bread, milk, butter (we think) and other assortments. Now, I found in the deli section something that looked like big salami and also bought eggs. I tell you what, scramble some eggs with 100% Authentic Cows Milk (that’s what it says on the bottle), cook some bread that turns into a rock as soon as it comes in contact with air, spread what I think is Philly Light Cheese Spread (the label is familiar but I still haven’t quite mastered reading Arabic!), whack on a thick helping of salami masquerading as bacon and you got yourself a decent hangover cure! Combine that with a glass of the strangest chocolate milk I’ve ever tasted (and you do know that I know ALOT on that topic!) whilst sitting on your front steps in 37deg heat at 0930 and you now know why I’m sitting here typing to you in my air conditioned room!

Ah, it’s definitely an experience here! LuLu’s is this massive supermarket where we went for our original shop. It has everything! My favorite being the oil aisle. And here, it’s pretty much “Why buy a sensible size packet when you can buy BULK!” It felt like we were buying the snack size version of everything. We all scattered and started picking up stuff. Everything is imported – they grow basically nothing here. There’s apples from USA, Fiji, Lebanon etc. The nurses at HQ have said that extra vitamins are needed etc. cause things travel for ages to get here and loose some of their nutritional value! Prices are crazy – depending on what you want but the cost of living is pretty much even at the end of the day. A tiny head of iceberg lettuce is about $11 (Aus) and a can of coke about 60c! Slabs of VB are 125R (bout $50). They do hot meals on site for 27R with a drink and sandwiches for 15-18R. Definitely cheaper to bring food from home – which we’ve got the luxury of being able to do. The ancillary costs is were savings could possibly be made – like taxis, toys, clothes etc.

The roads here are hectic to say the least. It’s “I’m coming onto the road or going to cut across 5 lanes of traffic…..Now!” With a slight beep of the horn, off they go! And the roads are either empty – 120km all the way or it’s grid lock! Parking – not a problem. Nobody will steal your car (or anything) or they’ll have their hand chopped off! Anyone want a C Class Merc? A nice & shiny BMX? Lexus..? You can hear the thought process of “Here I am, I want to go in here so I will stop. It’s OK, nobody will steal my car”. People honk but the driver will just wave as if to say, “Thank you for noticing my car!” Swerving is all the rage. Don’t have enough lane? Have half of mine? Take it all, I insist! I was dumb enough to sit in the front seat on the way to Rydges last night. Never again. It feels like some kind of crazy arse simulator as they drive on the opposite side of the road and as such the car controls are reversed! So here I am in the front seat, feeling like I should be driving with all the road rules reversed (or torn up as the case may be) with traffic beeping away. My favourite was the Truck…quite big, quite heavy & quite angry at our little taxi. It’s horn was a lot less subtle and my pants a lot less clean!

Well, Monday has come to a close and we’ve been a quiet mob tonight. Adam & I broke out AFL on the PS2 – never before have we mashed keys (who reads instructions?) as much as we did tonight in our first foray into the game!

Today was pretty cool, a few of us went off to get fully accredited within the larger Games Community rather than just the Stadium/Ceremonies people. 5 people (not from my area) were left behind because the driver had to leave! The ‘skilled labour’ as they’re called officially or Smurfs as they’ve been nicknamed – not by us – cause they’re dressed in blue overalls and wear white hats. Hence why I think our guy today just up & went! Despite yellings from further back in the bus and at least 2 people visibly chasing the bus the Smurfs have obviously had it drilled into them to be punctual and not to let the games fall behind schedule. These guys do EVERYTHING. Building the villages, assisting with the bump in, repairing roads and shuttle bus drivers, you name it. We then returned to the Stadium where we saddled up to go and explore our positions and find out what needed touching up etc.

Me & Kevie suited up (by putting on our safety harnesses) and proceeded to climb this 70m high arch. About 15-20m off the ground the entire temperature dropped by about 5deg and there was this great, fresh breeze. We got to my position first – a great calf workout and the view was fantastic. Doha is just flat, all around. There’s a few tall buildings but nothing really over 4 or 5 stories. What I would classify as Doha CBD has a few standard skyscrapers but everything is so flat so you never get an idea of the scope of the city. There’s also very little colour. Majority of everything is sandstone or white. To get an eagle eye, panoramic view was spectacular. Anyway, instead of climbing down and going around to Kev’s, we went OVER the arch! All nice and safely and at the peak it’s just one of those moments. People have already requested copies of photos that I haven’t even taken yet! Fools! Oh yeah, I may now be called Dolphin – kinda fits in with my family name. All due to noises I was making (on purpose) in the pool last night in relation to the ceramic dolphin mosaic we have on the pool floor. Today some of the other domes and some of the site managers started calling for Dolphin over the radios…! If it sticks, I can accept it – hey, I‘ve been called far worse.

Was the first real work we’ve done since arriving and it was nice to get out and actually feel like we were earning our cash. Very hot & sweaty when we came down as we (Kev & I) had to physically move our spots around and rerig some of the scaffolding to make the domes even remotely usable for the show. When we arrived, I could dome the entire front row of the opposite side of the Stadium and nothing of the performance area…! Hmm! We were up there for a few hours but at that height where you’re completely at ease but every extra sense and energy is at high alert, it goes by pretty quick. Very hot & sweaty upon hitting solid ground again & you could literally feel your calf muscles vibrating from all the walking up, over and then back up & over the Arch steps. We got to my spot in 6.5mins. A time I plan to beat each day.

Tomorrow (Cup Day for you) will be hot as we’re onsite from 1400 onwards & Kev & I still have a chunk of work to do on our spots before we can comfortably start rehearsals. Haven’t gotten burnt yet – there’s always a first! Pretty much everyone has crashed or gone their separate ways tonight. We’ve only been in the country for 2.5 days but it seems like at least a week as there’s SO much to take in & we’ve all pretty much been right alongside each other the entire time. Everyone silently saw tonight as a chance to take some time out. Still can’t reclaim the free Net – very annoyed! We can apparently get wireless out at HQ in the café area. May have to give that a crack over the next couple of days.

A few of the boys in our compound have found this toy shop that sells toy rifles that shoot little pellets for $20. Myself & Adam witnessed what can only be described as ‘boy fun’ as we sat on our front steps and watched 4 guys running, ducking & dodging. There should a few new players over the next day or so…! Just whilst in Qatar…! Promise!

Sun 5th Nov – Highs Of All Kind

Well, today was pretty full on - had a lot of boring bits spent in onsite canteens etc. and the whole day could have been squeezed into a 3hr session but we basically spent 0830 - 1730 on site, looking around and being shown things. I have the BEST position & Kevie is up with me. We're 68m above ground on this arch that goes from one side of the stadium at the narrow end to the other. We will have full view of all the happenings on the stadium floor below! We've been told that the climb up (stairs) is steeper than the Sydney Harbour Bridge gradient! Watch my calves get even sexier than they are now - I no longer have to worry about where my 'walking to & from work' exercise will come from! All I need to do now is work on the abs and upper body!

To give some perspective, on the attached photo, see the only real horizontal thing sticking out of the Arch on an iddy biddy platform...? That's my home when at work! Just so you can think of me as you have complete freedom of movement as you read this! May I mention, they haven't installed a port-a-loo yet...?!?!

So, I'll be climbing up these steps (1st time tomorrow) once a day for the next month at least - but wait, I'll actually be doing it TWICE a day when we hit full rehearsals! Why? Well, because towards the end of the show, they set off a whole bunch of pyros & fireworks from on my platform and then all these other little platforms that span the entire length of the arch! So, we'll get the 'Leave' signal and have to get the hell down off the Arch before they fire the pyros and once it's done, we climb back up and do the rest of the gig! The followspot platform has the 2nd largest charge on it! So, I'm 68m off the ground, I could fall, I could catch on fire, I could get shattered ear drums from the pyros, be caught in freak sandstorms or potential monsoon rain (both apparently HIGHLY likely) AND there's a tripping hazard... oh yeah, forgot to mention, some of the steps on the way up are loose! (or so we've been told!) All will be revealed tomorrow when we go up for a play!!

Adams not here yet and we're all supposed to be going out to Hotel Rydges where it's Aussie night and there's some kind of sport on..! Probably best to be social for the first few nights and then slowly wind back cause fark getting drunk each night. Met up with Kirstin this morning when she hopped on the bus - freaked her out when me, Kev, Bernie & Jules all went "Hi!" There is a bucketload of people over here - have bumped into around 10 extras who I didn't know were over here - there's still a few faces over here that I haven't seen.

Slept pretty well last night. Woke up once to go to the loo and did that "Where the fark..?" and then remembered. The mattresses are like boards - very solid. Each room has Air Con & we've been told to only go as low as 27 cause heaps of people got 'Air Con Flu' going from 40+ to 20 degrees. Some people even got newmonia....those who have gone before have provided many valuable lessons!

I am The Chosen One - NO ONE else has been able to log onto the Net! Heaps of people, even those who have been here for ages have been able to detect Networks but they've all required passwords or found nuttin’ & here's little ol'techno virgin me typing away after being in the country for under 10hrs! If this connection hangs around, I tell ya, that's gotta be a whole lotta Street Cred! When logging off yesterday it asked if it wanted me to save network and, with apprehension, I accepted and turned off the computer, expecting never being able to talk to you again but there it was, patiently waiting for me to press 'connect' again tonight! And it worked!

Ok, I'm gonna duck away for the eve as the gang are floating in the street discussing the day - Jamie hasn't changed by the way, some of his people whinged to us today and we just smiled & nodded! Discussions are being had about day trips to Europe etc as we've been told we have pretty much the entire 2 weeks whilst the actual Games are on, off! Definitely going to do drive buggies in the dessert dunes and sleep out over night!

When I send the next email or start this Blog I keep crapping on about, I'll attach a photo of my working position! I'm in front of and above the worlds biggest ever TV screen - 125m long by 70m high! Doha is going to world first's in a whole lot of categories. Watched an hour DVD of a computer mock up of what the 2.5hr ceremony will look like and if they can even come CLOSE to what they showed it's gonna shit all over our Flying Tram! I'm not supposed to say ANYTHING about what I've seen & know but I'm sure that will wear off over the next couple of days! Basically, EVERYTHING has a light in or on it and there's heaps of other really cool stuff - I'll save all that for later as I've only seen a computer animated mock up. When it's in 3D, then the stories will flow!

Anyway, it’s beer o’clock and the main point people have been enforcing again and again is to keep up me fluids…!

Well, it’s Mon morn but there’s a whole nother chapter to add to yesterday. I mentioned Rydges earlier…? Well, we all caught our cabs and off we went. 26 Riyal for a pint – basically divide by 2.74 but to make it cleaner we do 2.5. Expensive beer – a jug costs 100R! Most of us were feeling a bit tired and had pretty much adjusted from our jetlag and were all sort of thinking that we might not go, have a quiet night in etc. but we then all realized that we’ll probably have a heap of quiet time at the house between rehearsals so we all sucked it up and off we went. Well, we got there about 8pm and left at 1130pm and then got to bed at 430am as we grabbed some beer and hung out in the pool (bout 8 of us!). Very silly cause at 8am this morn the construction work carried on – nope, can’t sleep now! And remember – gotta climb the arch tonight!

We’ve also added another to the ranks – a Dutch guy called Prem who is calling all the followspot cues. Very cool & funny and has adapted well to us adopting him!

Adam’s here!! Excellent! He’s taken up residence in one of our spare bedrooms. Has been pretty much a year since we’ve seen each other. He’s turned the tables on what we all thought and has lost a shitload of weight – apart from that, it’s Adam! Very weird to now add Adam into the mix of faces in such a strange environment. We’ve already had a round of Cricket on the PS2, shared a few ciggies and basically filled each other in on the last year in three sentences or less and laughed a lot at the fact that we’re in Qatar, yes, yes we are! And it’s only Day 2 of 42…!

Fri 3rd Nov '06 - The Journey Over (or a Really Long Day!)

Well, it took an exceptionally LONG time to get to Qatar – and with surprisingly little time actually spent in airports, but I, along with far too many ‘regular’ faces, have now settled into our accommodation and have found the right dupe who already has a Drinking Lisecne & supplied us with numerous slabs of VB (yuck) & Hienekin (almost yuck) & hence why I am now writing this at the end of my 1st day in Qatar.

It all began way, way, way back in Melb. A group of 5 (Kev, Bernie, Julia, Paul (who we befriended) & myself) checked our bags all the way to Doha and off we went. Having only commenced overseas travel about 2 years ago & having been screwed over by baggage people before, I was VERY concerned about checking my 1 and only bag in Melb all the way thru to Qatar when we were flying domestic to Sydney, then International from Syd to Singapore, Sing to Bahrain, Ba to Doha (Qatar).

It all started with beer (and pretty much ended with) at the Int Terminal in Syd. We bought our third round and were then notified that our flight was Boarding and dew to leave ASAP – skulling commenced of 4 x stubbies + left overs from previous round. It only got better (!) from there! When trsavelling Inter before, I have always left in the wee AM hours and been aligned to being awake whilst making the 1st leg – we flew out of Syd at 2000 and ALL others on the plane went to sleep within 4hrs, except the 4 + 1 people cruising our way to Doha! ‘Dong’ went the call the button and begrudingly, the stewardesses continued to bring us our beverage of choice (despite constant warnings about the regular intake of water!) all the way to Singapore!

I made an immediate friend upon boarding our flight – a delightful Gulf Air, blond Russian stewardess. The excitement of heading off (+ the beers in the terminal) led me to walk 8 rows past where I was to be seated. Ms Russia asked me what was wrong as I paused in the row and commenced to block the aisle as I contemplated how I was to get to the right row. I replied that I had missed my row to which I got (with thick accent), “Nobody misses their row!” It took a couple of minutes and her repeating her newest catchphrase a couple more times before I managed to leapfrog back to row 21.

Bernie, Julia, Kev & myself were highly entertaining (or so we believe) on the 1st leg to Singapore. In flight movies, which weren’t on demand but on a loop, were pretty crap although once again, Will Farrell has provided me with great, slightly pissy entertainment, this time in the form of Ricky Bobby the Nascar driver. Last Inter flight it was The Anchorman. Anyhoo, I digress. Kev would politely come up to our row and deposit his & Bernies empties, we ensured that the hostesses provided them with colouring in books – which Bernie & Kev completed exceptionally well, despite not having a yellow crayon and Kev’s beautiful abstract idea of having fish swim in lava, not water!

There was one point where we placed another round of 2 vodkas, a Hienekin & a bourbon and Ms Russia asks “And some water?” to which she got a resounding “No” from all four of us. She urged again and we gave in. She provided the water first and we all looked at each other and to the call of “Skull” the water was gone and we put our hands out eagerly for more stronger liquid refreshment.

Singapore was only brief – bout 45 mins which was enough time to actually get a little lost and have to personally oaged to lesae join my aircraft. Good thing was that Julia was with me and there was one other late passenger who we literally ran to beat onto the plane so that any delayed departure wasn’t pinable on us! The next leg was pretty much short bursts of napping (the first one being bout 2hrs and was more like a coma) and being on our best (or at least better) behaviour.

Arriving in Qatar we were met by Jamie bobbing up & down, complete with fluro vest & cowboy hat – we had put money on the propeller hat. The Accomm is just crazy and literally JUST finished – with some small things not so finished! A kitchen cupboard door came off in my hands. We can’t turn on the DS bathroom light anymore (we haven’t figured if it it’s in combination with the kettle etc) or it blows. Just little things that make each moment even more exciting! It has, what can only be described as marble tiling through out with the best, out of place furniture – basically looks like the range Crazy Clints would stock if they did their own furniture! We’ve got a huge kitchen (doubling as a laundry) and living area. The dining table looks like it belongs in a Banquet Hall. We had to unpack all the brand new crockery & cutlery – we don’t have mugs for tea etc. we have itsy bitsy tiny weeny ‘high tea’ cups!

I’m living with Kev & Paul & we have 2 x bedrooms left to fill & I’m hoping that Adam will take up one upon his arrival tomorrow. Kev got the master suite – which doesn’t really mean much except for the size of the bed as we all have a desk (and no chair), uber wardrobe and bedside table type thing. I did manage to find a spare TV in a weird little anti-room – my theory of fully exploring ANY new hotel, motel, hostel paid off once again. Because the lounge had a TV with required digital cable box (380+ chanels – bout 10 in English!) I claimed the TV as my own and now have my PS2 hooked up and ready to go. Having unpacked, I feel as though I should have brought more clothes just to justify the sheer size of my wardrobe!

As mentioned above, we then went shopping, came back, settled in and then proceeded to have an impromptu street party and got to know most of our neighbours by offering them beer as they came past. This gesture was very well received as some of them hadn’t had booze for a few days! This was then capped off by exploring the gym (which has all the equip still wrapped in plastic!) & a night swim in the pool. Regular names you’re now likely to hear involved in adventures – Scott, Dean, Mark, Jess & Sarah with more to come I’m sure. We’ve already labeled ourselves the In Crowd and as it was stated “We may not be the In Crowd but we’re the only crowd you’ve got!”