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Working and climbing, regional vic v melb/adelaide


ryguy

16-May-2012
12:58:54 PM

I'm on a new job hunt in Australia and trying to move closer to araps/gramps than i've lived before (east coast).
As a geologist it seems some gold or mineral exploration in regional Vic could be an option, but it's hard to convince my 28 year old single self that living in Bendigo, Ballarat, Stawell etc would be a great choice.

Anyone want to convince me otherwise? OR give me a lead to a role in Melbourne where I'd be a happier weekend warrior?

lacto

16-May-2012
1:31:49 PM

bendigo and ballaarat are both gold mine disasters though stawell and fosterville are still going I would suggest it isnt exactly boom country if you are after cliffs unlimited try the kimberly area ( it is also as far away from melbourne as you can get )

kieranl

16-May-2012
2:05:22 PM

On 16/05/2012 ryguy wrote:
>
>Anyone want to convince me otherwise? OR give me a lead to a role in Melbourne
>where I'd be a happier weekend warrior?
What are the problems you perceive with living in greater victoria : social or professional?
If the issue is purely social maybe Stawell would be a bit quiet, though quite a few climbers live near there and Ararat. Both Bendigo and Ballarat are big enough to be pretty vibrant. Nearby climbing to them isn't great but there are small granite crags you could get out to after work in summer. Ballarat's probably the pick of these as a balance of social /work/accessible climbing. It's feasible to train into Melbourne for a night out and day-trip to the Grampians or Arapiles if you only have one day to spare.

tshaw

16-May-2012
2:12:34 PM

spent the last 2 years in Halls Gap, Gramps and loved it. Really relaxed place with a great community feel. It is not party time everyweekend but it is still really social, awesome people and a quite a few keen climbers in area.

If your keen on getting lots of climbing in with a good bunch of people then i recommend it for sure.

not to far to travel to Stawell if your working there.

GusR

16-May-2012
3:16:34 PM

The Kimberley is difficult i hear - ask TimW - he spent a couple of years in Darwin and I was led to believe that whilst the rock can be good - it's is difficult to climb due to native title / heritage issues and the oppressive heat.

Whenever I drive through the Pilbara I reckon it has some great scope for climbing. Access and heritage would probably be easier but could still be a headache. Also bloody hot.

WA Goldfields - good if you are into horizontal climbing....

You could consider some of the SA tenements / projects - Prominent Hill and Roxby are probably a bit far from anything worthwhile climbing though.

Personally - I reckon you best bet - if you aren't keen on working in mining in VIC is to land a FIFO job where they will send you back to Melbourne on your break..


ryguy

17-May-2012
11:57:05 AM

Thanks for the Ballarat scoop. I haven't been thru these towns much, but considered them to be socially difficult for an American fella looking for music and young minds in a city.

I feel like I'm perpetually stuck in the Talking Head's song - Cities
maybe a cafe job would suit a climber better


Eduardo Slabofvic

17-May-2012
12:46:23 PM

Ballarat is Victoria's single mother capital - if that floats your boat.

Plenty of sand mining in central and western vic, again, assuming that floats your boat.

Music and young minds and closer access to Araps/Gramps - now that's a tough call

I'd rather chew my own arm off than live in Horsham. Ballarat is only an hour closer, is that worth the trade off? Go check out Hamilton. Good access to southern gramps, an established sand mining industry, probably about an hour and a half from the beach, and about an hour to Araps. Not sure about young minds and music, but I hear there's plenty of meth.

If you want a big city with close access to good climbing, than Sydney or Brizvegas are probably your best bets

prb

17-May-2012
12:47:30 PM

There's probably more geology jobs going in South Australia than Victoria and being based in Adelaide would tick your boxes. Useful local climbing and 5 hrs to Araps/Gramps or Moonarie. Adelaide's a better town to live in than to visit.


JamesMc

17-May-2012
8:47:19 PM

There's quite a few people commuting from Ballarat or Bendigo to Melbourne by train these days. Ballarat to Melbourne is an hour and a quarter and $330 for a monthly ticket. In the city you'll find employers like BHP Billiton and Shell. People I work with who do this commute and then take the train out to suburban Camberwell say it's an OK way to get to work.

JamesMc


skegly

18-May-2012
12:10:33 AM

Castlemaine is a great spot with good people, music and alternative thing. 1 hour by train to melbourne and 2hrs to gramps. Lots of climbing close by too. I know 2 geologist here both are working, 1 looking for gold and 1 looking for water.

bones

18-May-2012
9:02:14 AM

On 18/05/2012 skegly wrote:
>Castlemaine is a great spot with good people, music and alternative thing.
>1 hour by train to melbourne and 2hrs to gramps. Lots of climbing close
>by too. I know 2 geologist here both are working, 1 looking for gold and
>1 looking for water.

Agree Castlemaine is a great town (I grew up there) but add 30 mins to these travel times

GusR

18-May-2012
2:01:55 PM

I still think the best option is for you to look for a FIFO job based out of Melbourne or Sydney. It would be better pay, and you would get 5 or 6 or maybe even 7 full days to go climbing, rather than just the weekend. You can work on core strength and fitness at the Gym at the minesite.

It is a no-brainer for a climber / mining professional in my opinion.


ajfclark

18-May-2012
2:24:44 PM

First In, First Out?


phillipivan

18-May-2012
2:32:13 PM

Fly In Fly Out. Too much time working with computers Mr Clark.


jkane

18-May-2012
3:11:24 PM

On 18/05/2012 phillipivan wrote:
>Fly In Fly Out. Too much time working with computers Mr Clark.

Actually in computer speak FIFO stands for "File In File Out" - or another name for a "named pipe". Sadly, I get quite excited about the power of using named pipes.


jkane

18-May-2012
3:13:43 PM

On 18/05/2012 GusR wrote:
>I still think the best option is for you to look for a FIFO job based out
>of Melbourne or Sydney. It would be better pay, and you would get 5 or
>6 or maybe even 7 full days to go climbing, rather than just the weekend.
> You can work on core strength and fitness at the Gym at the minesite.
>
>
>It is a no-brainer for a climber / mining professional in my opinion.
You may be right but I heard that they only cover the cost of the flights to the nearest capital. Probably not many FIFO jobs would cover the cost of your flights to Melbourne so you's need to factor that in. Probably still be quids in though.

pecheur

18-May-2012
3:54:28 PM

On 18/05/2012 jkane wrote:
>On 18/05/2012 phillipivan wrote:
>>Fly In Fly Out. Too much time working with computers Mr Clark.
>
>Actually in computer speak FIFO stands for "File In File Out" - or another
>name for a "named pipe". Sadly, I get quite excited about the power of
>using named pipes.

Maybe for "higher level" software speak, in computer engineering / networking / electronics / coding speak it's definitely First In, First out. There's also LIFO or FILO [1].

[1] Not the pastry, though I could do with some.


ajfclark

18-May-2012
3:55:08 PM

Actually Jim, it doesn't. It's first in first out (queuing) rather than FILO/LIFO (First in last out/a stack).

A pipe is a FIFO but the name has nothing to do with files...

tastybigmac

18-May-2012
5:49:33 PM

Gus is on the right track. If you want to be near the Gramps or Araps and work as a Geologist and get payed well do FIFO. I have worked in central vic and you may as well live in Melbourne, as it is just as far to the good climbing and the coffee in the country is terrible.

GusR

18-May-2012
6:56:39 PM

On 18/05/2012 jkane wrote:
>>It is a no-brainer for a climber / mining professional in my opinion.
>You may be right but I heard that they only cover the cost of the flights
>to the nearest capital. Probably not many FIFO jobs would cover the cost
>of your flights to Melbourne so you's need to factor that in. Probably
>still be quids in though.

It all depends on what you are worth in terms of experience and niche in the industry. I know plenty who are FIFO from melbourne to remote WA. The mining companies are looking farther afield than Perth and Darwin now and recognise that people want to stay in Melb / Sydney.

The word FIFO is like part of a the english lexicon here in WA. I had the same problem when I told my Melbourne based accountant I work FIFO. She was thinking it was something completely different too.. It's a bit of bubble over here, we forget you don't live and breath mining like we do.!

Well done on the nuptials TastyBigMac!

There are 26 messages in this topic.