Roz Stevens-Lloyd emailed from Carnarvon in Western Australia:

I have returned from a visit to Bougainville after 17 years away. I was born on Bougainville in 1972 and lived there until 1989. My father, Joe Stevens, was there for 18 years and worked for BCL. As a child I spent most of my life fishing the ocean around Bougainville. I spent 10 wonderful days in Bougainville in July/August this year, visiting Arawa, Kieta, Panguna and Loholo and fishing all around the waters of Arovo and Buka.

We live in Carnarvon WA. We flew to Cairns, then on to Port Moresby, then to Bougainville. We found a great guy who has a new tour business on Bougainville. His name is Zhon Bosco Miriona and he can be contacted at bougtours[AT]hotmail.com - for his website click here. He arranged everything for us once we got to Arawa at a reasonable price.

I would like to share the following photos on your BOUGAINVILLE website:

 

Panguna Mine

Single Men's units, now used as classrooms

Buka Passage

Roadside market on way from Buka to Arawa

Kieta

Number 4 Island off Loloho

Bovo School

The old boat ramp and weighbridge at Loloho

The old boat ramp and weighbridge at Loloho

An ex-Bovo School student's daughter May;
her dad Ralph Christen owns the resort on Sohano

Wreck at Arovo

The one that didn't get away:
Husband Tony caught this one at the reef near Arovo Island

Joe Grech emailed:

Hi,

my name is Joe Grech. I was at Bougainville from 1973 to 1976. I was employed as a diesel mechanic by Shell Oil Co Pacific. I worked mainly at Loloho at the depot but I also did fuel deliveries to Panguna mine and the airport at Kieta. I had a house at Arawa but after a week I moved in to the camp at Loloho Bay. I am 61 now and those 3 years were the best years of my life.

Kind Regards
Joe
jgr23741[AT]bigpond.net.au

 

Steve Kyle emailed from Marybourough

Hi Peter,

My name is Steve Kyle, I live in Maryborough, QLD.

I first heard of Panguna Mine in 1969, and at the beginning of 1970 in an advertisement, for plant operators for Dumez I applied for a position as a 2623 Mercedes dump truck driver and signed a 12 month contract.

After a stopover in Port Moresby we took off in a Fokker for Keita landing in Rabaul. The DC3 left the airport at Rabaul, on its milk run to Keita. Within 4 days of leaving home my plane landed in Keita. We left the airport for an overnight stay at camp?. Because of a land slip up the track they didn’t think we could get up to Panguna. The Landcruiser transported us up the track to the slide.

Steve Kyle
steve.kyle[AT]bigpond.com

 

Bougainville souvenir currently for sale on ebay:

Actual size 48 x 35 cm

 

Some interesting reading on Bougainville

Book Review

Book Review

Book Review

Book Review

Book Review

 

GOOGLE for the titles to find out more about the books and where to buy them.

 

 

Great Expectations for Bougainville

 

You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames."

Which is what Mr Watts says to Matilda in "Mister Pip" and which is how I felt when I read this beautiful and fablelike book set in the war-shattered but copper-rich island of Bougainville. I learned more about the people of Bougainville in the 250 pages of this books than I did during the three years I lived and worked there.

A "must-see"

"Mr Pip" is coming to Australian cinemas in October 2013.

A "must-see"!

If our local cinema is already showing it (or about to show it), please email me at riverbend[AT]batemansbay.com so I can publish the times and locations here.
 

David White emailed:

I was on Bougainville initially working for CRA during the preproduction phase in 1969 and then later working for BCL as an accommodations officer for my second year.

I am also saddened to report the death of Allan Willis also on your honour role. Allan died late September in Horsham hospital.

David White
kingrat444[AT]hotmail.com