Last week at site was shorter than
expected and I got to go home already on Thursday afternoon. I also managed to make my first mistake in traffic at Moranbah
town that day. I was fueling in before heading to airport, left
the gas station turning right to reach the main road and quite quickly realized I
must got it wrong as in no time there was a car coming against, the driver
showing the international sign of dislike and blowing the horn. Ooooops. Shit.
This is a one way road and I am going it the wrong way. I kindly waved and
smiled to the driver (who still had his middle finger up and was shouting something
I luckily didn’t hear but could read some common insulting words from his lips), quickly reversed back to the gas station, gave another
confused smile and a wave and took a bit of a time out. Focus girl, focus. I
knew some mistake would eventually come to my way and luckily it was at a small
town like Moranbah with very little speed. Also, it was a rent car so the guy can’t track down who was the “dum *itch” blocking his way. No harm
done. I am a tourist. No one knows me here, I hope.
Same evening I met few Finns from
Nokia and went to see the Brisbane City festival light show to South Bank. I
had heard a lot of good about the light show but for me it was a bit of a
disappointment as we had a poor location and it didn’t look that good from a
side angle. After the show we headed to Powerhouse for drinks AND I saw an
opossum on the way. Yay! My first living wildlife spotted in the city! I did
run after it to get a pic, absolutely no idea why – it is a big rat after all.
At Powerhouse I also found out that the night was my 3 months anniversary at
Australia. The Finns asked how long I have been here and I said 2 months
without even thinking. “Yes, I have been here two months, eight week that is,
feels so much longer though”. It was Kalle who corrected that I have been more
than that as I came already in June. *Counting July, August, September.
Ahaaaa!* Really, is it three months then? How come such a big milestone can
come from the back left corner without me noticing? One quarter of life down
under, time flies! I was super happy to have reached a proper milestone and not
just some baby stuff like eight weeks. Also, I felt very lucky to be here with
an open ticket. If I had only one year time I would be panicking already to
have only ¾ left, now I have 3y and 9m until my visa expires and that’s a lot
better. So we raised a glass of wine for Ansku Q1 Down under, I felt very proud
of myself. As next morning I had a meeting at 8am I decided to leave the
celebration to Friday night. I did raise more than 3 glasses then, few for
the upcoming exciting months too. Also an overly drunken Aussie guy made me
feel like million dollars by grabbing my ass and saying “hey blond, fancy
a *uck” while I was ordering my white wine at the bar. A very feminine open hand slap
would’ve suited the situation well. I think I should learn to slap too. I do
prefer the “Thanks mate” over this.
On Saturday I had been invited to a
Coffee tasting at Campos, a very nice coffee house next to James street market. I
have never been in a non-alcoholic tasting before and was very much looking
forward to it. Also last time I visited the place I met the owner and he was
super passionate about the quality of coffee so I knew this better be good. We
got our aprons which made me a bit suspicious of what’s about to come and went
to this mysterious quite dark and small room with a long table in the middle
filled with little cups, six cups for each of us. We were about to start “Cupping”
= standardized tasting technique to evaluate the flavor and aroma of coffee =
kupitus = kupittaminen? In each of our cups we had about 2 table spoons of
freshly roasted and grounded coffee, 5 of single origin quality and one of
commodity coffee supposedly to highlight the bad comparison. Our first task was
to smell the grounds and compare the observations, the fragrance of the coffee.
My favorite at this point was an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Haille Selassie 607
(wasn’t Haille Selassie an Ethiopian long distance runner?), it smelled a lot
like fruits and bubble gum (maybe this was the coffee I got with my first D&D
visit, but did not get the bubble gum then though)…and as my minor hangover
made me super hungry for sweets I chose this one to be the best. After the grind smelling they
poured boiling filtered water to each cup and let it brew for some five minutes.
We were to smell the coffee again and stir it 2 times with heated spoons
(important!) to help the grinds sink to the bottom of the cup. In each of the
phase the aroma of the coffee was very different, the one that was sweet at the
beginning turned out to be quite dry and burnt after 5 minutes brewing. I
believe the same applies for other areas of life also. Then they scooped out
the floating grinds and the coffee was finally ready for us to taste. About
time! The coffee was supposed to be slurped loudly from the spoon to cover
whole tongue and get more air at the same time. I was very bad at the slurping.
You learn it before you’re six that slurping is bad no matter how hot your soup
or drink might be. Thanks Mum. Anyways I still liked the first fruity Ethiopian
long distance runner the best. The third one was so bad I almost spit it out.
Number 4 and 5 got evenly ranked for second and third. All in all it was very
interesting to compare so many different qualities and really focus on
analyzing the different aroma and taste. So often with coffee I just need it
for the daily caffeine kick and don’t really pay attention to it, it’s either
good or bad. As this was the first cupping a lot of my energy went for the
excitement, new people, surroundings and info overload so I believe with a new
try I would get more out of the tasting itself.
I also learned a lot of coffee
trivia. We got a presentation of each of the quality: the location, how they
are processed and who are the farmers and saw lots of pictures too. I didn’t
know that as coffee is harvested it’s really a fruit, coffee cherry, not a bean.
He also told about the Cup of Excellence concept “a lottery win for the
producer and Eurovision song contest for the roasters” and how the top coffees
ends up to quality places like Campos. First there is the national “competition”
where top cuppers (=kupittajat?) score there different qualities and only the
best ones are allowed to move forward in the competition. For the judges, the
cuppers, it is strictly forbidden to show any expression about the quality (how
good or bad it is) as it might influence the other cuppers and just need to
silently give a score for it. He also told about cupping Jesus Jorge Escobar
who is the best in the world and has a lot of power in the business and if he
thinks coffee is good the price of that quality starts sky rocketing
immediately. And if he gives a grin the competition, rest of the cuppers think
that particular quality sucks too and the farmer is doomed. I couldn’t help at
wonder what Jorge Escobar would say about the shiiiiat that is called office
coffee in Finland. Long live Juhlamokka and the poor colleague who gets the
last cup from the pot. Anyways, after the 30 best qualities of coffees for the year are
announced, registered roasters can order samples for these 30 qualities and
after 5 weeks starts and online auction where roasters can bid for the quality
they would like to buy. Our coffee guru told us Campos orders usually a sample
from all of the 30 qualities, organizes their own cupping event where each
cupper must give 3 coffee beans for the best, 2 for the second best and 1 for
the third best quality. Those qualities that get most scores they try to bid at
the auction. Very exciting! Anyways, as 1 pound of commodity coffee might cost
1-2dollars, the best Cup of Excellence coffees might cost even 80 dollars per
pound. Whoooh, it better be good then. And you see why it is a lottery win for
the farmers. More so than for the winners of Eurovision Song contest I believe…and
hope. Hard Rock Halleluja and so forth.
I am not sure but I got the picture
that Campos is the only place organizing cupping at Brisbane and according to
our guide the word is out there and they get a lot of bookings. It was also
incredibly cheap, only 11AUD for the cupping (took 1h) and 20AUD if you wanted to have
your favorite coffee with you. I definitely recommend cupping for those who
like good coffee and are interested to learn more about it. I at least found
all the stories and trivia very interesting, I think it was the best part of
it. Rest of the day was very lazy. Had lunch nearby Campos (as they didn’t
serve food at that time), went home to do a bit of laundry and headed out again
for some drinks at South Bank. There was a Cuban band playing at Wunderbar (a
bar opened just for the Brisbane city festival) so decided to stay there…good
decision as it was super cool. I think in my previous life I was from Latin
America (explained by my big bum, temper and passion for Latin dancing) and
made a promise to self to find a salsa
class as soon as I am done with the site visits (Missing our Monday dance dates
Inna!!). I was all smile after the show and I didn’t even get to dance…think
about what happens when I get my booty on the floor. Whoop Whoop.
Main program for Sunday was a live
rugby game at Suncorp Stadium. I was about to lose my Rugby virginity, how
about that. The game was a final for the best team in Queensland, i.e.
piirinmestaruuskilpailu. The game was Wynnum Manly Seagulls against Tweed Heads
Seagulls (the nice place in the border of QLD and NSW). What’s with the
seagulls, it’s not a cool bird. We arrived to the stadium 15 minutes before the
“kick” and in 10 seconds I got the beef of the event, it’s all about beer with rugby. I so did not blend in with my summer dress, but who cares, I am a
tourist watching a live rugby game for the first time in my life. My first
shock was about the buuuuuing, everyone was buuuuing for the Tweed Heads team.
How unfair is that? These people don’t know the concept of Fair Play? And it
must be sad to enter the field with people buuuuuing for you? I felt bad for the
team and decided to support them, they also had better outfit (black and white,
I am very black and white) and I liked Tweed Heads as a place few weeks ago. As
the game started so started the shouting. Next to us was this a bit older
Aussie guy, obviously a Wynnum supporter who was shouting ALL THE TIME. Show’em
Wynnum! Go get them Wynnum! Smash them Wynnum! They are nothing but flower
sticks Wymmun! Rip his head of Wynnum! F*** You Mother F***er (as the judge
gave a free ball for Tweed Heads) and it went on. There were small kids around,
I think I wouldn’t bring my kids here. The best thing about this guy was that
he didn’t even place his cheering to fit the game…he just had the record on, shouting
as loud as he could because he obviously thought it was a cool thing to do. Not
cool. You and the seagulls (bird) are not cool. So the first part of the game I just
wanted him to shut up, lose his voice or someone stuff the stupid cap into his
mouth. Pliiiis. I felt sorry for Juha sitting next to him, I think he’s
suffering from left ear tinnitus nowadays. The first half ended with Tweed
Heads leading 10-0 and I was happy that we were half way with the game already.
As said before, this is not very intelligent game. It’s very violent one.
The second half started well as the
loud guy was gone. So in theory the situation was optimal to focus on the game
without annoying supporters making your blood pressure raise but in reality all
I could think was ice cream. Yes, for 40 minutes I was thinking of ice cream
and where to get one. In the meanwhile Wynnum got a new gear to their game and won
16-10 or something and everyone at the crowd was very happy. They had a small
medal ceremony at the field with speeches and everything and sang some kind of
an anthem. And that was pretty much it for my first live rugby game. I wasn’t
badly traumatized, I am willing to go and see a game again, but prefer it to be
a big game and none of these local ones. I did get my ice cream also, Mövenpick Swiss chocolate and mint…two scoops, one for each of 40
minutes of rugby. In the evening Marijke, Kalle and I headed to Ferny Grove for
Ross’s famous pizza. He was a happy cook for his new Dutch customer who
obviously was a fan of his pizza before it got out of the oven. Good times and excellent
dinner.
Now I am again here at Dysart doing
trainings at Peak Downs, the last week of my intermediate role and then I
finally get into the real stuff. I almost managed to get through this trip
without any travel booking hiccups until I arrived to the motel I was supposed
to stay in and found out there is no reservation for me. It kind of freaked me
out because I knew all of these small mine towns are always sold out in terms
of motel accommodation and I had no plan b. The only room they had available
was the suite and I HAD TO settle for that one. I was glad to. So now I am in
this huge suite with big living room, huge balcony and a jacuzzi. And the best
part of it: no wildlife in, lights in the bathroom and a hair dryer. WIN! Few
hours ago I also did my first 10km run! See, I did it before end of September
as promised *proud*. For my surprise it was very smooth and the last 3km where
the easiest ones. So Dysart is from now on a special place in terms of running
milestones and the time here in the middle of nowhere has really paid off
sports wise.
This is my last site visit for a while and from next week
onwards I’ll be mainly at Bris. It’s good to have a bit of normal life and
sleep in my own bed, dress up and get something else than cup noodles for
lunch. Still I think it has been quite of an adventure and I wouldn’t change a
day. Looking back I have learned so much - about mining, miners, and the
culture and mindset here. It’s the
unknown and uncomfort zone where you learn the most, about yourself too.
I better do some stretching before
calling it a night. Like you wanted to know but anyways…pusmoi!
//Ansku
PS: The reward for my 10km was a
Fazer Tyrkisk Peber filled liquorice I got from my friends back home. It tasted
very sweet. Salty and sweet. Just like my run :)
I also got bunch of women's magazines that I am reading very carefully, extremely focused and in peace and
quiet (you find a lot of peace and quiet here at Dysart, the only disruption is
the Motel gecko)…no words to thank you enough for the great surprise, love it!
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