gday Peter, my name is Nathan and I'm currently working with RAMSI, on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands (but of course, you probably know where Guadalcanal is!) I consider myself something of a young writer, and I'm working with a group of PNG soldiers, many of whom were present and active during the Bougainville crisis in the early '90s. The story really interests me, and as I have their first-hand recounts at hand, I've been doing a bit of research and also some interviews with these guys, and am interested in working on a book in the direction of the Bougainville Crisis.
In my research your site came up, and it interests me a lot to get some background on the Copper Mine. I was wondering if you had any knowledge that could assist me - being it pointing me in the direction of books, of others with interesting stories or anecdotes, or perhaps even doing a short interview with each other, to get another story about Bougainville, that is, the history leading up to the crisis? I am based in Sydney and my grandparents are living in Taree, so it wouldn't be out of my way to visit. In fact, my grandfather worked for a time in PNG on towing boats, and I know he docked in Buka and on Bougainville from time to time. Another thing, I noticed you have more recent pictures of the modern decay in Arawa, did you take these yourself? I am interested in travelling to Bougainville for research, so any tips on getting there on advice on places to snoop would be appreciated too haha. Anyway! Thank you for your assistance, I hope to hear from you!
Nathan Claypole
claypole.nathan[AT]live.com.au
