Covered in red dust

Last Friday I spent a night with the boy on board the Iron Chieftain. The Cheiftain carries coal to Whyalla and Iron Ore back up to the steel works in Port Kembla.

I had the grand tour of the ship and watched the iron ore falling onto the belts to be discharged. You can see the ore glistening in the air and everything is covered in a layer of red dust including us.

Living on board a ship is very comfortable, Brent has his own cabin, about the size of a small hotel room with his own bathroom, desk, lounge and bed. There is a lounge, bar, gym, pool and formal and informal dining rooms. The chef, Barb, prepared roast rack of lamb with orange glaze for dinner, they certainly don't go without!

Brent works the 4-8 shift. I spent the time watching DVD's in his cabin, and he spent the time in the tunnel helping with the discharge. I slept straight through his morning shift!

Felt like a total tourist but here are some photos I snapped while (hopefully) no one was watching...

In the Life Boat

Covered in Iron Ore

The Anchor Chain

Unloading the Ore