Hallo over there,
Glad to see your internet site about Bougainville Island.We have never met pesonally I believe,however it could be possible.Even if my Englisch has become a bit rusty I will not miss the chance to write this email and may be to add a little bit to your collection of Bougainvilles expats.To my person:" In 1976 I started with Blackwood Hodge in Arawa .It wasn`t my kind of job so I applied at BCL (John Davidson) for the position of an electrician.The first 5 weeks in Bougainville we had been living in the Kieta Hotel. After in Toniva and last but not least in Arawa I believe it was section 6 (My next door neigbour was Moses Havini) and Kurt Schuck. After returning to Perth with my family I traveled back to Bougainville Island and John Hunt (?) picked me up at the airport to deliver me to Kawerong house. After 4 week my family followed and we spend some time in leave houses on Married Hill. We moved up the road into a duplex right up the valley beside the entry to the bush track wich led up to the old goldmine to Arawa. I had been working in the pit workshop electrical department (Klaus Ambrose, John McLoud, Ian McNeil).After the tunnel project started I acted as the permanent tunnel electrician. Jim Logan-Tony Pinzger-Karl Meyer-E. Comerfort-Alf Bird-Wally ha,ha (Kaka),Ross Curtis, Tony Brown,Les Withcomb. Surveyor Heinz Haverkamp and his offsider and assistent Francis Ona.Francis Ona's uncle Tony Biramari had been my assistent together with Dennis Ball. Also a number of in my memory nameless Poms. After about 1,5 years I decided to change to the crusher electrical department. We left Bougainville Island in Oct.1981. When I had not been working for BCL I spent most of my time scuba diving and fishing, the ocassional booze-up of course was inevitable. We returned to Germany and after a number of years of some kind of homesickness for Bougainville we are kind of happy enough to live our life in satisfaction. In 1988 Oct. and Mov. I spent 5 weeks in Bougainville together with my daughter Susan and a couple of friends. There we visited Tony Biramari who had been living in a village near the tunnel side.He mentioned something about a pending revolution but I thougt it was a kind of a joke. After we returned to Germany we heard about the trouble in Bougo. and the promised Christmascard to Tony Biramari has most likley never arrived. After thinking about it I started writing a story with the titel "The mine of satan" it has alot of diving scenery but also common expat livestyle an not unerotic".Since nobody over here is interested in such stories (It`s written in German) i consider to translate it into Englisch) I never finished it yet but its ready in my mind.Should you Peter show any interest in the story I would translate a part of it to give you an idea what it is like and send a reading sample via email.It is very exiting because it contains a secrete wich if it was known to scuba divers all over the world would attract the diving comunity all over the world.Ok so much for now I am looking forward to hear from you. Have a good time and all the best in 2007 for you and family.
Regards Werner Seifert
waseifert[AT]web.de
