How long is too long in a FIFO camp, how bad the midges get Darrin and when enough is enough and it’s time to go home. Sharing, commenting and likes are encouraged and appreciated.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

– I’ve done that once in a year and it’s makes a big difference.

– [Male] Yeah.

– Booze and drugs and strippers and that sort of stuff.

– G’day I’m Jason and welcome back to FIT4FIFO and episode 12. On last weeks episode we met Darrin and found out why he completed three full apprenticeships. This week in part two of his interview he explains to us why people don’t survive the dreaded roster of working three to four weeks on while only having one week off. He also shares a little tip about a cool, free computer program that he uses to access his home computer back in New Zealand while he’s onsite in Australia. So let’s go finish our chat with Darrin. So with what you know now from working in FIFO what’s the one thing or tip that you think could have helped you before you came here that you wish someone had told you.

– For myself, I struggle in the heat. So I come over here I sweat just on a mall curry so… For me the biggest thing is bamboo socks. To be honest, bamboo socks mate, that’s been a lifesaver.

– That’s awesome. So apart from the common things like toothbrushes, undies and whatnot what’s something that you’d never forget to bring with you when you come fly out to work.

– The things that I’d probably never forget is a hard drive full of TV programs.

– Yeah right.

– But everything else you know, the normal stuff you can just get here if you really have to. You just make sure you’re stocked up, got your, got your headache pills and itchy bite stuff and few plasters.

– Do you find that bugs and—

– Oh my God. My legs are like pin cushions. Their all f** up. Look at that. Look, pin cushions. Yeah the old midges and the mosquitoes are really giving me a hard time but I’d probably find when I get a next gig fly’s a lot worse, one fly and I’ll probably have a breakdown back home.

– Yeah right, Western Australia might not be for you mate. What’s the best tool for you to help you cope with the solitude. Do you like to use music or exercise or—

– Probably exercise. Like I said I’m not a lonely person anyway, I’m quite happy just rattling around, doing my own thing. And then I’m quite happy just being social so I think it would be very hard with someone who was a lonely sort of person. Everybody gets back straight away and you can just go hide away in your For me just exercise, watch some TV programs and music and still make a point of going out and go to a barque with the boys and socialize. You don’t have to have raging parties every night.

– And what about communication how do you stay communicated with family back home.

– For me Skype and Viber is the main thing and Teamviewer.

– What’s that?

– Teamviewer.

– It enables me to log into the computer back home. Which has probably saved me a lot of times when the computer’s not going or things are not going right just log back in.

– Yeah, okay is it free?

– It’s free, I recommend it. Quite a few times I can log into any of the computers back home, tablets, phones. Sort any computer stuff out.

– Is it teamviewer.com or how would you find that.

– Probably teamviewer.com just type in teamviewer download, version 11. Definitely Skype, Skype and Viber.

– How do you go about finding information on the next job?

– For me it’s just asking the guys ’cause I’m just a newbie even though I’m an old fellow. So I just seen where their going and that sort of stuff. Guys that have already left. And at the moment with the sort of downturn at FIFO there’s not that many to go to there’s three projects.

– Three big projects.

– Yeah, talk to the guys.

– Okay in terms of keeping workers happy what do you think employees or the industry might be lacking.

– I think the main thing is for the FIFO that 28 and seven, that seven days off is just a little bit too short. I hear most of the guys seem I’m just been in it not long, and I’ve done it once myself, having 10 days off you get two weekends and come back a lot more refreshed and they say man that second weekend was great you know and all that sort of stuff. I’ve done that once in a year and yeah it makes a big difference. So probably just that couple more days off would be more then, more then doing the 28 having the 10 days off would just would be gold.

– Yeah right.

– Back in the old days when you were doing it you probably had even rosters and that sort of stuff. So I think its just swung a little bit to hard. 28 and seven but you know.

– Do you find that 28 days too long or just the break not long enough.

– Probably more the break not long enough. 28 days is a long time, I’d be– none of us have to be here though, that’s the thing, you don’t want to be here, if you’re finding it too hard, you can go. But yeah, mentally 28 days is a long haul but you just do what you gotta do.

– What do you think one thing is that when you start working for FIFO say you’ve been doing it for a year, what’s something that you think blokes might often forget that’s quite important in life.

– I think most of it would be normal family stuff and your normal friends back home. You know you’re gone for a month and normally you go home and their like ‘oh you’re back already’ but in that month there’s a lot been going on in the neighborhood with your friends and you sort of miss out on all that sort of stuff.

– Someone in a similar situation for you what sort of time frame would you recommend for them to spend in the industry, in the FIFO industry.

– I’d always planned to do five years. But we hadgoals on the spot. We’re just here just for the money that’s it you know as probably everybody is and we were looking at five years like max.

– Now that you’ve done it for a year or so have you changed that or you still happy with that.

– No, five would be good.

– Say, you’re absolute best mate in FIFO comes up to you and he says Darrin I’m not coping too well with this. What would your advice be to him. He’s maybe had problems he couldn’t deal with or something has an issue, how would you advise him to handle it.

– Go home.

– Go home.

– Yeah. You don’t need to tough it out. We’ve all got qualifications and trades. As long as you don’t get into FIFO and live to what you’re earning here, live to what you were earning before and there should be no reason why you’re not well off enough to go home for three months and do nothing and get a couple casual jobs. Just go home.

– And how about if his answer is to you, I can’t afford it.

– I’ve already heard of a couple of people who are like said I’m living week to week on the FIFO money and even I’m amazed that they get themselves in that situation but you’d still just have to go. For your mental well being. Go and sort your finances out somehow. There’s obviously some cutbacks you could make unless you’re really overextended on some two million dollar mansion and things like that.

– Have you got any other tips for blokes wanting to get into it or blokes we’ve covered it all.

– Probably start earlier.

– Oh yeah?

– Start earlier, it’s life experiences so. And just do it. If you’ve been thinking about it, if a guy talked about it for years and years and years, just do it. If you want to do it, do it. If you don’t like it you just go back home.

– That’s all for now from Darrin. Feel free to thank him in the comments box below. Next week we have Nick on the show who not only entered the FIFO industry at a young age he also secured quite an important job in the short time that he was in the industry. Don’t forget to share and subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you have any comments. Questions or feedback please leave them in the comments box below. We’ll see you next week.

– Nervous, ’cause you know I’m such a young guy. It’s the same shit every weekend.

– Yeah, that’s what it’s all about.