Shift 1 – Sunday 25th March
My first shift was very relaxed and I met lots of
interesting people. There were 3 other volunteers on the bus, so
we walked in together from the Wet’n’wild bus stop. At check-in they gave us a card to track our “rewards”,
the first of which was a Games Shapers pin to put on our accreditation lanyard.
There were 2 other people there from the tech team – a lady
from Toowoomba with an accounting background and a man who works for Virgin in
their tech department. My manager,
Pavel, who is out here from Russia for the Games, told us that he wanted us to
wander the venue and get familiar with all of the buildings. He
printed us out some site plans, both a high level plan and a detailed plan of
each building, and we spent about 1.5 hours wandering in and out of each
building trying to find all of the areas where various tech elements would be
in use.
The venue is looking amazing and is becoming more colourful
as the various signs are put up in every building. The main areas are the Sound Stages that have
previously been used to film movies like Thor and Aquaman. On the wall of one of the sound stages is a
set of sort of doodles, one for each movie that has been filmed in there. In one of the buildings, they have actually built
over the top of the water tank that was used to film Aquaman. There is a whole lot more to the venue than
just the few buildings that the public will see and it is incredible to see how
it is all coming together.
Being workforce, we had been given a meal voucher, so after
our first walk around the venue we headed over for lunch. This was also very well organised and catered
for. At each meal you receive either a
salad or a sandwich (pick one- 3 different options for each), then you also get
a piece of fruit, a muesli bar, a muffin and a bottle of water. I had
a sundried tomato & salad sandwich, which was delicious. The salads looked huge. At lunch a young guy who is the deputy site
director sat with us and we all compared backgrounds as we ate. This is certainly a good way to meet people
from all walks of life.
After lunch we decided to walk through the venues
again. I took photos to show my family
(but we are not allowed to put them up on social media as they want the
athletes to see it first when they arrive), and as we walked around the
buildings I tried to remember where everything is. Being in uniform I assume that even though I
am not in spectator services it is likely that I may be asked where things like
toilets and drinking fountains are, so I’m trying to keep track of it all. At training they said they are expecting
around 13,000 people through the venue each day.
After another quick chat with Pavel, he told us we could
head home early today. My fellow
volunteer very nicely dropped me back at the Helensvale train station to save
me waiting for a bus, so it was a pretty quick trip home this time. I have come home and made myself a map to
attach to my lanyard so I can easily see where I am without having to
continually unfold an A3 map. Tomorrow sounds
like it will be much busier as various engineers arrive to complete the setup
of the site, and athletes start to arrive to begin training.
Shift 2 - Monday 26th March
You can feel a mixture of excitement and a bit of stress as we get closer to the big day.
Today my shift gift (don't say that 3 times quickly) was a re-usable hot drink mug. I am excited to see what else they have in store over the next few weeks. It is a great way to give a little something back to those who are helping out.
Our task today was to assist with checking and finalising all of the data cabling throughout the entire venue. We joined teams of contractors from Optus and CES to make sure that every data cable for laptops, phones and printers was numbered, colour coded and matched up to the master plan. The cables also needed to be tidied and made safe so that no-one will trip over them. In the media centre we were setting up tables that needed to have data cables for photographers and reporters to use.
Our accompaniment through our shifts is the constant sound of screaming from the rollercoasters next door. You get used to it pretty quickly.
Another area that we checked was the games family lounge where the vip guests are taken. If the royals decide to visit oxenford, that's where they will go.
Lunch was very tasty again today - a falafel wrap.
I had heard my manager saying that he had hoped to be able to swap one of his uniform tops for a small size to give to his wife in Russia so I offered him one of mine (we get three). He said he will swap it for one of his so I can also give one to someone else.
In summary, another busy day and now I am home trying to keep up with my actual job.
Shift 3 - Tuesday 27th March
No shift gift today, but they said there is one tomorrow.
Today was more data cabling - marking, checking and tidying. We went into lots of interesting areas that the public may not think about. There is so much behind the scenes that we would never otherwise see. Every sport has an athlete lounge and a technical officials office and well as things like anti-doping, gloving, racket testing, medal ceremonies team, medical teams, VIP areas and so on. Then there are the public facilities like shops, security screening, food and drink, ATMs and information booths.
We saw some inflatable baths going in front of the athlete lounges - apparently they are the ice cold ones. All of the equipment was getting installed in the food and drink tents today, and we also saw the security screening area with all of the screening machines set up.
The athletes have been coming in for training as well. Today we saw the Scottish and Ugandan squash teams using the squash show court.
My photo for the day is an interesting feature - on the squash courts they have little windows at the back where the photographers can lay down and get up-close photos.
Shift 4 - Wednesday 28th March
As I drove home from my volunteer shift today, knowing I was going home to shower and start an afternoon shift for my real job, I thought about how hard it must be to maintain 2 jobs on a long term basis. I am rather tired.
Our shift gift today was another pin and a Borobi car air freshener.
The last few days have been all about making sure that the technology in each of the spaces at the venue matches the master plan that they have spent months creating in consultation with representatives from all of the sports, all of the functional areas, and all of the contractors involved.
We started by doing some more data cable testing, labeling and tidying. While doing this we got a brief look at the Australian Squash team. Despite having no previous interest at all in the sport of table tennis, I am actually hoping that I might get to see some of them training after hearing about how intense some of their games get. So far I have not been in any of the table tennis courts when they have been training.
Then we moved on to TVs - there are lots of them and they all have to be in the right place, cabled up, powered on and tested. All of the cables need to look neat and tidy and not be a safety hazard.
Every day the venue looks closer to being "finished", and although I can't imagine what it will look like with thousands of spectators walking around, I can start to see what it will look like during the event.
Shift 5 - Saturday 31st March
My shift started at 6:45am again. I am very glad to have been given a bump in parking pass by my manager so that I don't have to catch the train and bus so early. That pass runs out when the games start though.
Today we were told that more tvs were going to be installed and we were to do a bit of a recon walk around the venue to make sure we knew where they were going to be put and that the stands were there and ready. At the same time we were putting up WiFi hot spot signs.
We saw the Australian and canadian squash teams and the fijian table tennis team training. Some of the table tennis athletes looked very young. We have been told that the youngest athlete at the games is a table tennis player who is 11 years old!
Security has been stepped up considerably as the venue is now on lockdown. We have to go through airport style security to enter now and there are police officers walking around constantly. We stopped and had a chat to a couple of officers who are from the logan area.
All of the signage and finishing touches are continuing to go up. The front of each building looks awesome now with the studio doors wrapped in printed fabric and it is clear now what sport is in each sound stage.
I was also given my login to the service desk sysyem and logged in there for the first time and started trying to figure out who to assign issues to.
My manager gave me his ticket to the opening ceremony dress rehearsal, meaning Dallas could come with me. After my shift ended I raced home to shower then Dallas and I headed back to the park and ride at Helensvale where we caught the shuttle bus to Carrara stadium.
The Carrara precinct is looking awesome. The stadium holds 35000 people so they are going to be very busy down there. We are sworn to secrecy about the opening ceremony. I will say I liked the creative use of lights. They had stand ins for all of the people that don't do dress rehearsals, like Prince Charles for example. Peter Beattie was there and gave his speech, which was fine except for when he thanked all of the volunteers from the gold coast. They have actually come from all of the state, and some of them have come from interstate and overseas.
Getting back to the car took a while as there were long lines for the shuttles but they were moving reasonably quickly. With another shift starting at 6:45am I was fading quickly by the time we got home after midnight.
My tip for the day - if you are going to events at Carrara take plenty of sunscreen, and if you have seats in the north stand take a cushion.
Shift 6 - Sunday 1st April
My shift gift today was a key ring. Today was the first day that I started to feel actually useful as we were able to get out on our own and assist with tech issues rather than following one of the managers around.
Today I was joined by a very nice girl in her 20s named Brittany and we got along very well. Turns out she also loves to read. I checked the support queue first thing and rather than sitting in the office we decided to go and troubleshoot a printer issue. Once the games start we will have contractors in the office who will take care of these things but right now it is easter weekend so it is better to just get things sorted out quickly than to wait until Tuesday or to leave the central service desk to try to sort them out remotely.
The boxing venue appeared to have all of their power sorted out so we tidied up all of their cabling and tuned the tvs that will be used in the press area.
Along the way Brittany noted a spelling mistake on one of the large directional sign so we hunted down a phone number for the sign people, but they were already on top of it.
On our travels we came across a new volunteer with the medical team who had just arrived and could not find her manager, so we showed her around the medical areas while looking for her manager. We ended up talking to the medical manager a few times today as she also needed help getting some wifi mobile access devices set up in the first aid tents.
I am learning about their systems and how to answer questions that come up from multiple users.
I have included a photo of the drinking fountain as I think they are pretty awesome. You can fill up a drink bottle super quick. Spectators cannot bring water into the venues but they can bring an empty bottle and fill it up at one of these nifty stations.
The last photo is of the workforce eating area. They are doing a great job of feeding us and doing it with a smile. Today they had written easter messages on the paper bags that our lunch came in.
Today was also very hot. The buildings are air conditioned inside but it is rather toasty walking around between the buildings.
Shift 7 - Monday 2nd April
Today was my 7th shift, which marks the halfway point for my 14 shifts, and was also my last shift before the games start. When I return on Friday the games will be in full swing and the venue will be very busy.
Although I was surprised at first that I had so many shifts before the games even started, after doing these shifts I am glad to have done them. It has been an excellent opportunity to get to know the venue and the people that I will be working closely with during the games, without the pressure that games-time might bring. I have also been able to see the venue take shape which has been very interesting.
At this point the tech in all of the spaces is installed and tested, and these final days are about signing off all of the spaces and making sure that the end users (staff and volunteers at this point) are able to use the equipment without any issues. Today we had a number of support tickets that the Optus contractors were able to resolve, some that our team went out to fix, and others that were elevated to the TOC, which is the central point of contact. We also had a "Printer Valet" on site, who is the lucky guy that gets to walk around and make sure that all of the printers have paper and toner and are not jammed. Tomorrow I believe the cabling company also has representatives coming back to be on site for the duration of the games.
I have also discovered that the tech office is going to become the "random questions about anything electronic" office, and had the opportunity to help with a few of those enquiries today.
I am told that the offices that we are using are usually Director's offices when occupied by Village Roadshow, so that is kind of fun, but I can't give you a photo as we are not supposed to post photos of back end areas, no matter how innocuous they may seem. We actually sit right next to the VSCC and VCC (security and control centre) where all of the police are based, so I'd better behave. I actually ran into one of the female officers in the bathroom today as she was putting all of her gear back on after doing her business. That gear looks really heavy, and as hot as we have been, I'm glad we are not carrying all of that stuff as well.
Instead I will leave you with a photo of my absolute favourite feature of our uniform shirts, and I feel that this should be a compulsory feature on every shirt that is ever made from now on. It has a little tag near the buttons which you can use to hang your glasses on. I have been using it all day, every day.
Statistics Update
Fun fact - in 7 shifts since last Sunday, I have done 73090 steps, or 56.5kms, done 53 hours of volunteer shifts and done 35.5 hours on my real job. I think I need to head to bed :)
Shift 8 - Friday 6th April
The shift gift today was a pretty awesome pin that features famous elements from the Gold Coast and Borobi surfing.
This was my first shift during the games so I was not quite sure what to expect. The train station car park at Beenleigh was pretty busy already at around 5:30am when I arrived. I got on a train quickly from Beenleigh to Helensvale. At the Helensvale station there were plenty of other volunteers there waiting to catch the shuttle bus to Oxenford. They have it well signed so it is easy to see where to go to get your bus.
Overall it was a very quiet day. This is a good thing for the competitors and officials, and generally for everyone except us. We were pretty bored. We tell ourselves this means we did a good job last week. There were a few tickets that came in. Security is tight around the radios and when one appeared to be missing the contractors were able to determine that it was still on site and it was quickly found. They can disable them remotely and it will happen quickly, just in case you were thinking of pilfering a radio :) Some of the technical officials needed help with their HD tv recorders. Rebooting is a wondrous thing. Outside of these few tickets we loaded up the live feed of the action to see what was going on at the other venues. I watched a little gymnastics, some swimming, and some weight lifting.
I went for a walk around the middle of the day to see what the venue looked like in full swing. Turns out they were between sessions for Squash and Table Tennis so those areas were very quiet, and the boxing spectators were all in the stadium. I was able to watch a little boxing from the sidelines. Having now seen it live I can say that I didn't find it that exciting. Perhaps if I knew the rules I would understand more of what was going on. The crowd seemed very appreciative when the boxer from NZ came out. One thing that they have done that I think is great is "have a go" areas outside of each sport where you can try the sport yourself (in a very downsized sort of way).
Athletes and officials were arriving and leaving all day on their buses from the Village. You can tell which athletes have arrived at the venue for the first time. As they get off the bus they turn towards Movieworld, where the screaming never ends, point at the rollercoasters and often take photos. It must be a little surreal for some of them, coming from small countries to land in a bunch of movie studios surrounded by massive roller coasters.
On the way out, walking back to the bus, I noticed that they have huge blue sacks filled with sand placed in front of spectator walking areas. I believe these are to prevent someone from deciding to drive into a bunch of spectators. It is very sad the things that have to be considered from a security point of view these days.
One other thing that I've been thinking about over the last couple of days is the Opening Ceremony. Having seen it both in person at the dress rehearsal and then on TV on Wednesday night, I felt like watching it on TV was better as we were able to see more of what was going on. I would bet that the atmosphere on Wednesday was awesome though, with the athletes actually there, and all of the talent there instead of stand-ins. What I've been thinking though is that it must be a huge challenge to come up with a show that entertains, welcomes and informs, that works well both in person and on TV. I say well done to everyone involved - it was a huge effort and having watched it twice I think I caught more of the themes going through it the second time too.
Shift 10 - Monday 9th AprilShift 2 - Monday 26th March
You can feel a mixture of excitement and a bit of stress as we get closer to the big day.
Today my shift gift (don't say that 3 times quickly) was a re-usable hot drink mug. I am excited to see what else they have in store over the next few weeks. It is a great way to give a little something back to those who are helping out.Our task today was to assist with checking and finalising all of the data cabling throughout the entire venue. We joined teams of contractors from Optus and CES to make sure that every data cable for laptops, phones and printers was numbered, colour coded and matched up to the master plan. The cables also needed to be tidied and made safe so that no-one will trip over them. In the media centre we were setting up tables that needed to have data cables for photographers and reporters to use.
Our accompaniment through our shifts is the constant sound of screaming from the rollercoasters next door. You get used to it pretty quickly.
Another area that we checked was the games family lounge where the vip guests are taken. If the royals decide to visit oxenford, that's where they will go.
Lunch was very tasty again today - a falafel wrap.
I had heard my manager saying that he had hoped to be able to swap one of his uniform tops for a small size to give to his wife in Russia so I offered him one of mine (we get three). He said he will swap it for one of his so I can also give one to someone else.
In summary, another busy day and now I am home trying to keep up with my actual job.
No shift gift today, but they said there is one tomorrow.
Today was more data cabling - marking, checking and tidying. We went into lots of interesting areas that the public may not think about. There is so much behind the scenes that we would never otherwise see. Every sport has an athlete lounge and a technical officials office and well as things like anti-doping, gloving, racket testing, medal ceremonies team, medical teams, VIP areas and so on. Then there are the public facilities like shops, security screening, food and drink, ATMs and information booths.
We saw some inflatable baths going in front of the athlete lounges - apparently they are the ice cold ones. All of the equipment was getting installed in the food and drink tents today, and we also saw the security screening area with all of the screening machines set up.
The athletes have been coming in for training as well. Today we saw the Scottish and Ugandan squash teams using the squash show court.
My photo for the day is an interesting feature - on the squash courts they have little windows at the back where the photographers can lay down and get up-close photos.
Shift 4 - Wednesday 28th March
Our shift gift today was another pin and a Borobi car air freshener.
The last few days have been all about making sure that the technology in each of the spaces at the venue matches the master plan that they have spent months creating in consultation with representatives from all of the sports, all of the functional areas, and all of the contractors involved.
We started by doing some more data cable testing, labeling and tidying. While doing this we got a brief look at the Australian Squash team. Despite having no previous interest at all in the sport of table tennis, I am actually hoping that I might get to see some of them training after hearing about how intense some of their games get. So far I have not been in any of the table tennis courts when they have been training.
Then we moved on to TVs - there are lots of them and they all have to be in the right place, cabled up, powered on and tested. All of the cables need to look neat and tidy and not be a safety hazard.
Every day the venue looks closer to being "finished", and although I can't imagine what it will look like with thousands of spectators walking around, I can start to see what it will look like during the event.
Shift 5 - Saturday 31st March
My shift started at 6:45am again. I am very glad to have been given a bump in parking pass by my manager so that I don't have to catch the train and bus so early. That pass runs out when the games start though.
Today we were told that more tvs were going to be installed and we were to do a bit of a recon walk around the venue to make sure we knew where they were going to be put and that the stands were there and ready. At the same time we were putting up WiFi hot spot signs.
We saw the Australian and canadian squash teams and the fijian table tennis team training. Some of the table tennis athletes looked very young. We have been told that the youngest athlete at the games is a table tennis player who is 11 years old!
Security has been stepped up considerably as the venue is now on lockdown. We have to go through airport style security to enter now and there are police officers walking around constantly. We stopped and had a chat to a couple of officers who are from the logan area.
All of the signage and finishing touches are continuing to go up. The front of each building looks awesome now with the studio doors wrapped in printed fabric and it is clear now what sport is in each sound stage.
I was also given my login to the service desk sysyem and logged in there for the first time and started trying to figure out who to assign issues to.
My manager gave me his ticket to the opening ceremony dress rehearsal, meaning Dallas could come with me. After my shift ended I raced home to shower then Dallas and I headed back to the park and ride at Helensvale where we caught the shuttle bus to Carrara stadium.
The Carrara precinct is looking awesome. The stadium holds 35000 people so they are going to be very busy down there. We are sworn to secrecy about the opening ceremony. I will say I liked the creative use of lights. They had stand ins for all of the people that don't do dress rehearsals, like Prince Charles for example. Peter Beattie was there and gave his speech, which was fine except for when he thanked all of the volunteers from the gold coast. They have actually come from all of the state, and some of them have come from interstate and overseas.
Getting back to the car took a while as there were long lines for the shuttles but they were moving reasonably quickly. With another shift starting at 6:45am I was fading quickly by the time we got home after midnight.
My tip for the day - if you are going to events at Carrara take plenty of sunscreen, and if you have seats in the north stand take a cushion.
Shift 6 - Sunday 1st April
My shift gift today was a key ring. Today was the first day that I started to feel actually useful as we were able to get out on our own and assist with tech issues rather than following one of the managers around.Today I was joined by a very nice girl in her 20s named Brittany and we got along very well. Turns out she also loves to read. I checked the support queue first thing and rather than sitting in the office we decided to go and troubleshoot a printer issue. Once the games start we will have contractors in the office who will take care of these things but right now it is easter weekend so it is better to just get things sorted out quickly than to wait until Tuesday or to leave the central service desk to try to sort them out remotely.
The boxing venue appeared to have all of their power sorted out so we tidied up all of their cabling and tuned the tvs that will be used in the press area.
Along the way Brittany noted a spelling mistake on one of the large directional sign so we hunted down a phone number for the sign people, but they were already on top of it.
On our travels we came across a new volunteer with the medical team who had just arrived and could not find her manager, so we showed her around the medical areas while looking for her manager. We ended up talking to the medical manager a few times today as she also needed help getting some wifi mobile access devices set up in the first aid tents.I am learning about their systems and how to answer questions that come up from multiple users.
I have included a photo of the drinking fountain as I think they are pretty awesome. You can fill up a drink bottle super quick. Spectators cannot bring water into the venues but they can bring an empty bottle and fill it up at one of these nifty stations.
The last photo is of the workforce eating area. They are doing a great job of feeding us and doing it with a smile. Today they had written easter messages on the paper bags that our lunch came in.
Today was also very hot. The buildings are air conditioned inside but it is rather toasty walking around between the buildings.
 |
| The workforce meals area |
Shift 7 - Monday 2nd April
Today was my 7th shift, which marks the halfway point for my 14 shifts, and was also my last shift before the games start. When I return on Friday the games will be in full swing and the venue will be very busy.
Although I was surprised at first that I had so many shifts before the games even started, after doing these shifts I am glad to have done them. It has been an excellent opportunity to get to know the venue and the people that I will be working closely with during the games, without the pressure that games-time might bring. I have also been able to see the venue take shape which has been very interesting.
At this point the tech in all of the spaces is installed and tested, and these final days are about signing off all of the spaces and making sure that the end users (staff and volunteers at this point) are able to use the equipment without any issues. Today we had a number of support tickets that the Optus contractors were able to resolve, some that our team went out to fix, and others that were elevated to the TOC, which is the central point of contact. We also had a "Printer Valet" on site, who is the lucky guy that gets to walk around and make sure that all of the printers have paper and toner and are not jammed. Tomorrow I believe the cabling company also has representatives coming back to be on site for the duration of the games.
I have also discovered that the tech office is going to become the "random questions about anything electronic" office, and had the opportunity to help with a few of those enquiries today.
Instead I will leave you with a photo of my absolute favourite feature of our uniform shirts, and I feel that this should be a compulsory feature on every shirt that is ever made from now on. It has a little tag near the buttons which you can use to hang your glasses on. I have been using it all day, every day.
Statistics Update
Fun fact - in 7 shifts since last Sunday, I have done 73090 steps, or 56.5kms, done 53 hours of volunteer shifts and done 35.5 hours on my real job. I think I need to head to bed :)
Shift 8 - Friday 6th April
This was my first shift during the games so I was not quite sure what to expect. The train station car park at Beenleigh was pretty busy already at around 5:30am when I arrived. I got on a train quickly from Beenleigh to Helensvale. At the Helensvale station there were plenty of other volunteers there waiting to catch the shuttle bus to Oxenford. They have it well signed so it is easy to see where to go to get your bus.
Overall it was a very quiet day. This is a good thing for the competitors and officials, and generally for everyone except us. We were pretty bored. We tell ourselves this means we did a good job last week. There were a few tickets that came in. Security is tight around the radios and when one appeared to be missing the contractors were able to determine that it was still on site and it was quickly found. They can disable them remotely and it will happen quickly, just in case you were thinking of pilfering a radio :) Some of the technical officials needed help with their HD tv recorders. Rebooting is a wondrous thing. Outside of these few tickets we loaded up the live feed of the action to see what was going on at the other venues. I watched a little gymnastics, some swimming, and some weight lifting.
I went for a walk around the middle of the day to see what the venue looked like in full swing. Turns out they were between sessions for Squash and Table Tennis so those areas were very quiet, and the boxing spectators were all in the stadium. I was able to watch a little boxing from the sidelines. Having now seen it live I can say that I didn't find it that exciting. Perhaps if I knew the rules I would understand more of what was going on. The crowd seemed very appreciative when the boxer from NZ came out. One thing that they have done that I think is great is "have a go" areas outside of each sport where you can try the sport yourself (in a very downsized sort of way).
Athletes and officials were arriving and leaving all day on their buses from the Village. You can tell which athletes have arrived at the venue for the first time. As they get off the bus they turn towards Movieworld, where the screaming never ends, point at the rollercoasters and often take photos. It must be a little surreal for some of them, coming from small countries to land in a bunch of movie studios surrounded by massive roller coasters.
On the way out, walking back to the bus, I noticed that they have huge blue sacks filled with sand placed in front of spectator walking areas. I believe these are to prevent someone from deciding to drive into a bunch of spectators. It is very sad the things that have to be considered from a security point of view these days.
One other thing that I've been thinking about over the last couple of days is the Opening Ceremony. Having seen it both in person at the dress rehearsal and then on TV on Wednesday night, I felt like watching it on TV was better as we were able to see more of what was going on. I would bet that the atmosphere on Wednesday was awesome though, with the athletes actually there, and all of the talent there instead of stand-ins. What I've been thinking though is that it must be a huge challenge to come up with a show that entertains, welcomes and informs, that works well both in person and on TV. I say well done to everyone involved - it was a huge effort and having watched it twice I think I caught more of the themes going through it the second time too.
A more interesting day today.
Did some tech support for my father in law on my way to the train station. This time I had to park out the back of the centerlink building.
At the beginning of my shift I was able to do some real tech support for a lady who was having trouble downloading documents from the goldoc website. I showed her an easy way to do what she needed so that felt good.
Two of the goldoc employees from the TOC who have had a lot to do with rostering volunteers came for a visit so the entire tech team took them on a tour of the venue.
We were able to see the media centre in full swing with all of the journalists doing their thing.
We stopped at sound stage 5 where the boxing takes place. No matches were on at the time but we had a good chat to the results manager there. Fun fact - the first medal of the games was actually decided on the first day when the boxing draw was done. In one of the women's categories there are only 7 athletes. This means that when they do the draw there is one woman where her first match is a semi final which guarantees her a bronze medal. Apparently she could get sick and not compete at all and still get her medal.
From boxing we headed to table tennis. On the way we passed sound stage 6, which apparently is different to the others in construction because it had to be rebuilt after burning down during the filming of a movie called House of Wax.
I then watched my first table tennis match. It sort of looked like they were doing some odd voodoo moves when serving the ball but they had impressive skills. This was the bronze medal match for the mens team event. At times they were a good 2 metres away from the table and still usually being quite accurate. The judges copped a few stray balls though.
Outside the table tennis we stopped to watch some police officers having a go on the outdoor table tennis tables. This was good to see - it allows the public to see them being regular people.
We had a quick stop in squash as they were not playing, just enough to show off the show court.
By then it was time for dinner. I have to say, the meals are usually tasty but I think they are on a four day rotation and there are a couple of days that I do not look forward to. For some reason we have started getting two treats at each meal. The kids are enjoying those as I really don't want to be eating cakes and muffins every day.
After dinner it was back to the VTO for an hour or so. I got some work done while waiting for any support tickets to come in.
We went for another walk around 8pm and saw the end of a boxing match between an australian named Harry and another guy named Tryagain. Such an intriguing name. I would love to hear the story behind that one. The atmosphere in the arena was pretty enthusiastic.
Then back to the table tennis to watch the end of the gold medal match for the mens team event. India won the day and celebrated with great gusto. My manager pointed out the things happening behind the scenes with the results being printed and requiring the signatures of the technical officials before they are considered official and able to be published. I was then able to see a medal ceremony live.
After another hour or so in the VTO all of the events had finished and we were able to leave about an hour early. One of my team mates kindly waited while I closed off a ticket so I would not have to walk alone.
The shuttles back to the train station were busier tonight as the spectators were still leaving but we probably only waited about ten minutes.
As I got off the train I overhead a young volunteer asking the guard how to get to Edens Landing. He was told to go catch a bus. I told him I'd drop him off. He is staying with his grandma to be closer to the venue so he doesn't know the area well. A bonus was not having to walk to my car in the dark alone. He is also volunteering at Oxenford but the funny part is that as we spoke we figured out that he has trained with Acceleration, which is one of my clients that I develop software for. Small world. When I dropped him off I also recognised the house as one that I've previously dropped a meal to for Meals on Wheels.
Shift 11 - Tuesday 10th April
One thing that you may not know if that no sooner do the games start, than the plans for bump out get moving.They often have a very short period of time after the games finish to clear everything out of the venue. In this case I am hearing 72 hours.
Tonight we did some work towards this process, checking that equipment was still where it is supposed to be and preparing the lists that will be used to check everything back out of the venue.
This is designed to ensure that items do not go walking and never come back. I heard a story today that in a previous international event 40% of the laptops went missing. This was of course disturbing enough that a search was conducted and the laptops were found hidden in an elevator shaft.
Photos today are from the visit that we had yesterday from the two goldoc ladies.
Shift 12 - Wednesday 11th April
We had a VTM from another venue visit tonight so we did another tour around the entire venue. We watched some women's boxing, women's table tennis and women's squash from the press area.
Having now rotated through the entire workforce meals menu 3 times I was ready for something different and brought my own cup a soup and bread roll tonight. I gave my workforce meal to one of the contractors who I saw eating 2 minute noodles last night.
Every day our venue publishes a newsletter and one of the other tech volunteers thought it was about time they highlighted tech, so she convinced the guy who writes the newsletter and then spent some time writing a story about how important we are.
One thing that is worth noting is that at our venue at least, the transport has been excellent. I had been worried that I would be spending hours waiting for buses and trains but it has been very efficient.
Shift 13 on Friday the 13th
I'm not a superstitious person but I found the lining up of my shift number and the date amusing.Not long after our shift started tonight we received our first and only phone call to the phone sitting on my desk (we are not a call receiving service desk). It was one of the outgoing team members telling us that Borobi was out at the entrance taking photos.
I have seen several photos of him at our venue but never while I was on shift. So we went koala stalking to get a photo with him. We arrived and got in line only to be told he had to go for a bit and would be back in 20 mins.
Fibbers :) Half an hour later we gave up and started walking back to the office only to see his minders, who said he would be back at 4pm. Back in the office we ran into the Optus contracters who had also heard that he was on venue. So we all agreed to go koala stalking together at 4.
This time we found him, although he was late again, and were able to take the photos to prove we found him.
We did the rounds of the venue with the manager, and watched a little table tennis. Fun fact for the day is that the padding is glued onto the bat freshly before every match. The glue generates heat as it dries which gives it some magical properties.
We also stopped in the boxing ring. They were between sessions so we got up very close and oohed and aahed over the bloodstains on the field of play. It is pretty grotty. We had a look at all of the tech and scoring equipment and learned how it all works together.Squash was very full so we didn't sit in on any matches tonight.
For a while we went seeking cold and flu medication for the manager who is getting sick, but he talked to a dr in the boxing medical area who told him panadol is all he needs. While waiting for that conversation we saw an athlete who was clearly a boxer - sporting a black eye. I can't figure out the appeal of boxing. There can be some pretty serious long term health effects.
Somehow in 13 shifts I haven't managed to get the menu that we had for workforce meals tonight. The brown rice, quinoa, capsicum, mushroom and tomato salad was actually pretty good.
Being behind the scenes we have had no opportunity to receive any pins from anyone on any of the teams but we discovered tonight that there is a police pin. There are plenty of police around our office but it turns out only the commissioner has them. Word is that the firies do have pins so we may have to stalk firefighters tomorrow night!
Speaking of security, we also learned that every venue has an IPP safe room. IPP stands for internationally protected person and they need to have a place to go if something bad happens. The room is actually very boring and unlikely to be needed. It has a desk and a phone.
We spent the rest of the evening watching the synchronised diving on the live feed, googling the rules and providing our own critique.
While in the VTO one of the venue managers came through. Sadly she didn't have a great day. The events are so busy and seating is limited so now they have required athletes to reserve tickets in advance. Some haven't been too happy about that when they arrive to a sold out boxing match and can't get in, and have taken it out on staff. She's been grabbed, yelled at and even spat on. I found that really disappointing to hear. I hope that is the minority of athletes.
I also tried to find out again the significance of the robes that the medal ceremony girls are wearing, and even the highest managers here don't know! I need to go knock on the door of the medal ceremony office and find out as I am intrigued.
One more shift to go tomorrow night and then my games experience is over. Word is that as soon as the boxing finishes tomorrow people will move in to start pulling everything down. Stage 6 which was the table tennis training was completely emptied today.
By the way, last night on the train I caught a glimpse of those weird lights on the highway. I still couldn't see the actual letters.
14th and final shift - Saturday 14th April
Before going in today I did a quick check to see if they had any table tennis tickets, despite there being none online. They did so I got some for Dallas and Megan for the evening session.
Being my final shift, on arrival I was given the "final gift". Out of respect to those volunteers that have yet to receive it, I will save posting a photo until later, but I thought it was quite a fitting memento.
Our manager suggested that we go and check out the boxing so we headed up there first. Turns out it was the gold medal match between AUS and NZL. As you might imagine, the crowd was rather revved up and there were clearly plenty of Aussie fans, but the kiwi took the gold. While we were there, one of the managers turned around and asked if we wanted to go to the closing ceremony. He had been given a certain number to distribute and was randomly picking people!
After some time back in the VTO discussing future games and events that require volunteers, it was time to meet Dallas and Megan at the gates. I walked them up to the table tennis and then met the team back at the VTO.
After dinner things picked up a bit. The table tennis practice and match courts had all finished so we were able to start removing and packing up tvs. We then had to wait until boxing finished to do any more so we watched some table tennis, where we met a volunteer who explained all of the rules. I learned that the technical official brings the paddles out to the court and all players inspect all of the bats before play starts. They get a towel break every six points, and each side gets one timeout.
Once we had word that the boxing had finished for the night, we descended on stage 5 en masse as that was the final match for the games and bump out could begin. It is amazing how quickly a venue can be dismantled after all of the time spent setting it up. Longines were there packing up their timing and scoring equipment. Logistics were packing up chairs, tables, signage, and the ring. And we were trying to pack up tvs around the few remaining journalists who, although they were not using the small tvs on the desks in front of them (except as a tablet prop in one case), were studiously avoiding taking notice of us. So we had to leave 3 or 4 for later. We took the opportunity to get some photos on the medal podiums.
While pushing tvs around on a trolley we had more than one offer to help transport them in the boot of someone's car. Even one offer from a policeman, in jest of course :) The tvs will all be packaged up for re-sale, which is good as I would hate to see them go to waste.
We also saw several athletes casually wandering around with their medals still around their necks. It must feel a little strange to be on a podium one minute hearing the roaring crowd, and then the next minute getting on a bus to head back to the village to get ready to go home.By 11pm we had done all that we could for the night. Sunday's shift will have to wait until squash and table tennis finish their last morning sessions and then they will be able to do the same in those sound stages.
I pulled into the driveway at home at exactly midnight. I've clocked another 76k steps (57kms) this week and have done 7 shifts which including travel was about 70 hours. I am tired and worn out and have a bit of a pile of work to catch up on but I am very glad that I took this opportunity. I know there are altruistic reasons for volunteering and I have some of those but mostly this was the chance to do something for me, to be part of something different. I met so many interesting people and loved being able to see behind the scenes.
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| Barriers to prevent car vs pedestrian incidents |
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| the Beenleigh High School Park and Ride |
Closing Ceremony - Sunday 15th April
If you read my post yesterday you will know that one of the boxing managers gave me instructions yesterday on where to go to be allowed into the closing ceremony for free.
I arrived at the appointed spot quite early. I asked some nearby games shapers if they were aware of how this worked. They had heard nothing. There were other volunteers there who had been randomly chosen and sent emails giving them tickets. I couldn't find anyone else in quite the same situation as me.
I hung around thinking maybe someone would materialise that knew what was going on.
A little while later those same games shapers came over to me with a man from the UK. His cousin was not able to use her ticket so he had a spare ticket and wanted to let me use it. It was category A! He was very nice and we chatted a bit through the evening.
It is entirely possible that I would have been let in as originally intended but this was a pretty awesome seat.
I thought it was a good show from a spectator point of view. The volunteers were mentioned a lot which made me feel good. I did think it was strange that they did not televise the athletes arriving, and most of the athletes appeared to have cleared out before the 2nd part of the concert which was after all of the speeches that pretty much said exactly the same thing over and over.
Before they went live to TV, they tried to teach the athletes some dance moves, saying that they would be doing them later, and warned the audience to "save the secret". My guess is that based on the lukewarm response to this by the athletes, they decided to cut it from the program later as it never happened.
The dancers and supporting groups all did an awesome job. And a huge congratulations to the team that must have worked right through the night to convert the stadium back from an athletics venue to a concert venue.
I just feel like it would have been nice if they had spotlighted more of the athletes, perhaps those that broke records, or received the first medal ever for their country.
In our training they highlighted how important these games were to the athletes. Some of them have never left their country before and this was their big moment. Perhaps we could have learned more about them.
On the way to the shuttles there were performance artists entertaining the crowd, which was a nice touch.
On the way home on the train I was able to help an official from the Nigerian team figure out how to get back to the airport.
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