Month: August 2013

A cultural insight

So, a lot more time has passed than normal as I get more and more busy – both with work and with having fun!

Last time I spoke to you, I promised some kind of cultural enlightenment/interesting aspect of life from this part of the Southern hemisphere, something that is different to me talking about floating coal or being a generic tourist in Cape Town, so here goes…

  1. A minibus called a Maxi Taxi (says it all in the name really) is crammed with people to well beyond capacity until there are at least 5 people sharing 3 seats and then a man leans out the window and whistles, shouts, yells and calls out to try and attract yet more people into the vehicle.

This was my first rodeo!

I’ve been busy this past week, making progress with projects at work and exploring more of what Salt Lake City (SLC) has to offer.

Last weekend I headed into Downtown SLC to visit City Creek, a new shopping mall. In true English style, the first shop I visited was Teavana, a shop selling specialty teas and accessories. There I stocked up on some good quality English Breakfast Tea, which has been helping with the early morning starts for work!

Whilst walking around Downtown I also noticed these GREENbikes. They seem to work in a similar way to the Boris Bikes in London and are used as an environmentally friendly way to get around the city.

Flying high down under – the Great Barrier Reef

Blogging from the Great Barrier Reef. How could we not?

Ok… so we are not exactly fully submerged in water right now, more like chilling at the airport rocking some sunburn. But the facts are still the same: what an absolutely awesome weekend!

On Friday night we lucky three jetted off to Cairns, a tropical town about two hours north of Brisbane, in the hope of catching a wee glimpse of everyone’s favourite lil’ fish, Nemo. We managed to bag an absolute bargain, staying at a backpacker’s hostel – fittingly called The Globetrotters – where we got the fine privilege of a bed… just a bed.

Cape Town at its best – in the sun!

Hello everyone! So, another week has passed and my time here is flying by. I still cannot quite believe that I have only been here for two weeks as I have done so much already, both at UCT and also in my spare time.

I am sure you will all be glad to know that I have actually started the proper dirty work this week, and I can now see why coal miners are always depicted as being covered in coal dust as it does seem to go everywhere! I have now started lab work properly along with my lab partner Emma, and have been undertaking froth flotation experiments to determine which is the most successful and efficient method for desulphurisation of coal, specifically a South African coal from the North East of the country in the Waterberg region.

Blogging from Salt Lake City

I’ve just finished my first week out here in Salt Lake City, Utah, working as an Intern Process Engineer at the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine with Rio Tinto.

They have given me this fantastic opportunity to gain practical experience of the mining industry to complement my Chemical Engineering studies at Imperial College.

Situated in Salt Lake Valley, the surrounding mountains provide Salt Lake City with a stunning backdrop on both the eastern and western sides. The picture was taken north of Downtown Salt Lake City and gives a view down through the whole valley. The Bingham Canyon Mine is situated to the right of this picture, approximately 18 miles away, and on that clear day it could be seen with the naked eye.