A Journey Through History with the Davenports Volume 2: More True Stories About Living in Australia and Working Offshore.

By Roger Davenport

At age forty, Roger Davenport and his family moved from Southern Ireland to Perth, Australia.

Suddenly, they had to become accustomed to a new way of life, with the author working in the global offshore oil and gas industry. As time went on, he became involved in politics at the local, state, and federal level, joining the Liberal Party and becoming a branch president.

But politics is a tough game, and a few years later, he left the party only to run for the State Parliament as a member of the Seniors Party in 2001. Shortly after that, he teamed up with a group of associates in a bid to form an independent party called “We the People.”

This book includes a chapter devoted to the changing climate, with the author wondering if carbon dioxide is really the cause. He also shares his insights on how the world has changed over the past eighty years—and whether those changes have been for better or worse.

Join the author as he shares his passion for politics, Australia, family life, and making a difference in A Journey through History with the Davenports.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: Feb 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9781982296629

Book preview

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A

Journey

through

History

with the

Davenports

VOLUME 2

More true stories about living in

Australia and working offshore.

Roger Davenport

Copyright © 2023 Roger Davenport.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical,

including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written

permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of

treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or

indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-9663-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-9662-9 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date:   02/25/2023

Contents

1     The start of life in a new country, and our first day in Perth

2     Settling In

3     Back Working Offshore

4     Working for Bond Petroleum and becoming involved with cataloguing

5     Cyclone Orson and the wreck of the DB20

6     Dredging Operations for Saladin Project

7     DB 17 to replace DB20

8     Goodwin A Project

9     Indonesia Project

10   Working for EPTM

11   The BP Refinery and then back to Rotterdam

12   April 1999 to 2001

13   Working in the Gulf of Mexico

14   Salvage work and working in Boston Harbour

15   Trinidad on the Horizon

16   Back working in Perth for McDermott’s and Cloughs

17   A return to the old haunts

18   Travel since 2009 and the Bucket List

19   Being involved in Politics

20   Climate change? Global warming ? Or perhaps it is just Mother Nature Venting her anger?

21   Becoming a grandfather

22   The changes I have noticed and remembered over the past eighty years

1

The start of life in a new country,

and our first day in Perth

Waking up on our first morning in Perth, the rain had ceased, and the sun was shining. The trees were full of Black Cockatoos busy screeching and ripping the leaves off the trees and feeding on the pinecones. We made our way to the restaurant where we were served with a healthy breakfast. Even our two fussy children were able to find something that suited their pallet. Once breakfast was over, we headed for the administration office for an induction on how the centre operated. The staff went out of their way to make us feel at home, giving us invaluable advice and made suggestions on how best to settle in. They told us that registering with Centre link was a top priority. They explained the traps we might encounter with salespeople who would try to take advantage of unsuspecting immigrants. We did come across one or two but resisted their persuasive banter. The staff of the centre also recommended that we enroll the children in the local school straight away. We took this sound advice, and they started the next day. They were now making new friends and it also provide us with the freedom to deal with the mundane day to day issues of settling in in a new country. First of all, we had to go and visit the R & I bank to activate our account and find out about applying for a housing loan. The next task was to purchase a car, then we start researching the suburbs, looking housing and rental accommodation. The list was endless; it was much easier with the children at school during the week, instead of them reluctantly having to come with us everywhere we went. Then of course I had to start looking for work.

The Centre served Breakfast and Dinner and also provided us with a packed lunch, meaning we did not have to return to the Centre until the children finished school. There was a communal laundry, ablution blocks, the bedrooms were basic but sufficient for our basic needs, but not comfortable enough to make it one’s permanent home. We paid rent, but that was quite reasonable. It was recommended that we try to find more permanent accommodation within the first 6-8 weeks. The other advantage of the reception Centre was that everyone there were in the same boat, all learning to adapt to a new lifestyle. The laundry was not just somewhere to wash and iron clothes – it was the hub of learning, people discussing how they were progressing, passing on tips about things they had learnt that day.

We were luckier than most, the Cattalinis’ were always on hand to give us good advice. Pam drove us around the more respectable car yards and within a couple of days we had wheels (A Datsun Sunny). We started looking for rental accommodation, easier said than done, the majority of what we saw was a little bit on the seedy side. However, Karma came to the rescue once again, John Cattalini’s sister and husband had a house in Preston Point Rd. East Fremantle that the tenants had just vacant, sooner than expected. The owners were still up North and would not need the house for another couple of months. We moved in, we now had the basics, a roof over our heads, a set of wheels. I still needed a job, the position that the Kallis Brothers (Fishing Industry) had said would be available did not materialize, so the hunt was on. In actual fact I really did not want a job in the fishing industry. The other thing that I had to obtain was a driving license, since failing my driving test at 17, 23 years earlier there had never been a reason for me to learn to drive. But life here in Australia was a different kettle of fish, a driver’s license was essential, so within a week of arriving I was taking lessons.

2

Settling In

The day we took possession of the rental in Preston Point Road, Grace Bros contacted us to say that our goods had been received in Kewdale, cleared customs and were ready for delivery. We had already purchased all the new white goods and the beds that we would be needing. Nigel and Nichola were now attending St Patricks Primary School in Fremantle, so they wouldn’t be under our feet. It was all go, setting up the bedrooms, and unpacking the crates that were delivered by Grace Bros We just took out the essentials, cooking utensils, sheets, and bedding so the place was liveable by the time children arrived home from school.

The next-door neighbours invited us in for a cup of tea and some Italian hospitality, a welcome break. Frank and Josephine Ruggerio knew what it was to move into a strange country, as they had immigrated themselves many years ago. They made us feel part of the family and we became long term friends. We were even invited to their 50th wedding anniversary. I am sure that if there were more Garden Fences and Pots of tea being shared there would be a steady decline on mental illness.

We spent any spare time we had house hunting. We looked North of the river, but only briefly as we were South of the river people – In Eire we had lived South of the Liffey. It was a massive task, so may styles of houses, so many different suburbs, you could not tell from the outside of a property what the inside would be like. Whereas in Eire if you drove down a street every house would be the same inside except for the colour of the wallpaper. John and Pam Cattalini advised us on the ins and outs of the Southern Suburbs and which ones to avoid.

Our limited experience with the real estate agent in Dun Laoghaire made us a little wary as to how far some of these people would go to make a sale. One couple of agents we met considered that we were very gullible. One of the houses they showed us through, they picked up the vibes that we were interested in it. The next day they were telling us that the house was to be taken off the market if it was not sold within the next week. I said we didn’t want to commit until I had a job, they said that they could organise a loan, it wouldn’t be on the market if we didn’t move straight away. Frances retorted by saying that if the house was meant for us, it would be still on the market when we were ready. We never heard from them again.

We found another agent who was keen and eager to help without being too pushy. Frances and I would choose a suburb, drive up and down it, make a list of all the houses on the market in that area that we would like to inspect. We would give the new agent the list and he would make the arrangements to show us those selected houses, this was the days of the lock boxes (a device with a combination lock where the spare house keys were kept for the benefit of agents). While looking we took into consideration the wishes of the children – all they cared about was that any house that we bought must have a pool.

We finished up buying the house the original agents had shown us, it had sat there waiting for us to put an offer in.

The house stood empty but before we could move in, we needed to have some serious alterations carried out. We received three quotes for the work, two of the builders were out to skin us, the third quote was realistic.

We asked the agent to contact the sellers of the house to see if the builder would be able to commence the work before we officially had possession of the house. To everybody’s surprise, the owners were happy for the alterations to proceed. We had a couple of walls knocked down and renovate the kitchen.

I built the kitchen and had it serviceable by the time we received the keys. The Garden required a lot of attention, however there was a big pool in the back yard which kept the kids extremely happy. Over time I built a pergola across the back fence and a shade house for orchids that became one of our main hobbies.

The neighbours were very friendly and made us feel welcome. Nichola, with her outward going manner soon made friends with the people on either side of our new home and decided to adopt them. On one side No13 it was Nan & Pop, the other side No 17 as Auntie Doreen & Uncle Roy. She rushed home to tell us that she now had relatives that she could call on.

I passed my driver’s license and managed to get a job in a Myaree factory. They manufactured steel purlins and roofing materials, and it was less than a 5 minutes’ walk from the house. I started out as an overhead crane operator and setting up the machines. After about 9 months a few of us were chosen to participate in a series of aptitude tests to assess our capabilities. A couple of days later I had an interview. When the interviewer disclosed his findings, it turned out that I had scored extremely well. He asked me where I saw as my weaknesses. I responded by saying spelling and remembering names were my main failings and guess what, they still are to this day. He agreed on the spelling and gave my confidence a real boost by saying, I am sure you can use a dictionary so don’t let it bother you, that was how life was before autocorrecting and computers became the norm. A couple of weeks later we were sent on a St. Johns First Aid Course. Then a month later I was called into the office for another interview, the first question that I was asked was did I see the factory as a long-term career prospect or if I had any other plans. I was completely honest with the manager and told him that if an opportunity arouse for me to enter the offshore construction Industry, I will jump at it. Despite this frank answer, I was promoted to a leading hand.

While I was working in a factory, one of the men received a sever laceration to his hand. He was unable to work for about 5 weeks. It should have been recorded as a lost time injury. No company likes this sort of statistic showing up on their books. The result was that every day the company sent a taxi round to his house and brought him into to work, he would clock in and then went back home. This did not seem to worry the union representative.

Most of the industries that I have worked in I have worked in have been regarded as being high risk and accident prone. Fortunately, I only ever had one bad accident back in the early 60’s while offloading herrings in Dunmore East Waterford. This was when the cran hooks slipped out of the basket and struck me in the eye and broke my nose.

I didn’t see the work in the factory as a job for life. Every morning I would scour the West Australian to see what jobs were being advertised and read the tenders to look for opportunities in the Oil and Gas industry at the weekend. I would then send out my resume with an accompanying letter to companies that I considered as likely prospects. Some companies actually wrote back, quite often with encouraging responses.

The first interview I had involving oil and gas industry was with Woodside Petroleum. They required a Material Controller for their operations working off Broome, I felt it went well, At the interview I was told that I would be notified within 10 days if I had been successful or not. This didn’t happen so after a couple