Tanami Desert

OKA Support Vehicle

Working as a driller’s offsider in the Tanami Desert was undoubtedly a form of camping. Not so much for pleasure but to top up the coffers whilst travelling. We had travelled from the East coast to Perth, then back again into the Centre, booking in at a caravan park in Alice Springs. We had eaten through savings a little quicker than anticipated, and to pay a few bills; I began looking for some work.

North of Tanami Road

A local drilling company were looking for an ‘offsider’ to assist one of their mineral exploration crews working in the Tanami Desert. I applied, and they put me on for a month’s work.

I hadn’t been doing a great deal of hard physical work for a few years, so it proved challenging. We were away for three weeks, and everything needed for that time was loaded onto trucks, including fuel, water, food, repair equipment and all supplies for the actual drilling.

Drilling Rig

The work location was about 600km out of Alice Springs along the Tanami Desert road, then a further 100 km north, accessed by a bush track winding through endless spinifex and dunes.

Spinifex Ablaze

It was the middle of summer, and daily temperatures were reaching 45+ degrees. Growing up in the Great Victoria Desert, I am used to such temperatures, but my body complained. Lighting strikes meant fires blazed around during the day, adding to the heat, and lit the sky at night. We slept outside in swags; each morning, our faces and throats were black and dry from the thick falling soot.

Digging Mud Sumps

Sometimes we would have to pack up and move quickly to burnt-out areas to avoid the risk of machinery and equipment going up in a blaze.

The work was familiar as I operated drilling rigs in my early 20s in Western Australia. During this time, I’d operated down-the-hole hammer rigs for water and mineral exploration in the Pilbarra and used auger mud rigs in Perth. However, as mentioned, I found it challenging going this time around. Visit the Nature Conservancy page for conservation work in the Southern Tanami desert.

Dodging Fires