For one of my more recent videos follow the link. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mdplh6mdkt6Wdas.html

Live there camp 6 when I was 12 for 8 years the 70s with my parents Loloho was our playground I can still speak fluent Pidgeon their language I'm 55 now & I always will have a special place in my heart for Bougainville ❤ we were there on Independence Day at Arawa, the 70s earthquake's, the riots when they wanted all foreign people off their island, we were very lucky only because my dad was good to the local people & we all got on well with them they left us alone my parent's were Ringa & Mayron Witehira from NewZealand if anyone comes across this & knew them,my dad worked for Ted Reinhart who died there in Bougainville the 70s his wife was Gail, there was alot of Aussie's & Kiwi's living there back then I still remember some of our neighbors Shona & Roy, Tiana & John, a Maori guy who use to collect all sorts of Beetles & butterflies can't remember his name 🤔 alot of good memories there then we moved to the main land PNG Kundeawa loved it there to but Bougainville was my favorite it was wild & free I hope it is left like that & not torn to threads for their wood,gold,copper 🙅‍♀️ leave this beautiful Island in peace it will always be a second home to me 🙏❤😊

My dad were in deep silent when I showed him this slide.. And he added in tears that you're his great friend..

I hope to visit Bougainville soon. It is a dream for me. My cousin was an airman if VMF-216 and was shot down and survived near Buin. On November 28th 1943. He ditched in the water. He went MIA when he was shot down over Rabaul December 19, 1943. I wish to visit Torokina and Buin. Very expensive to visit from Alaska. Someday soon though!! Thanks for the pics

Thanks Bob, ‘70 -74 My father worked for BCP Lived in Arawa attended tupukus elementary. (I’m 56 now) Photos brought back fond memories: Loloho beach rope swing, kieta sailing club, Arovo is. “greeny” fueled drunken HHH festivities. The beautiful native culture.. An era lost in time…

The Region has a special place in my heart. I was born in Bouganville when Panguna was just starting. Thankyou for those pictures, specifically the Waterfall at Rumba mission, and kieta. I will visit the island some day soon. Thankyou very much Bob.

Thanks for the memories Bob ,i was there in 1970/71 worked at Panguna and Loloho. It is a beautiful part of the world. Geoff Finnigan

Now well into my 70's, I spent over 7 years on Bougainville, with BCL in B16. from end of 1970. Loved every day there except for a tragic event when my then wife was assaulted in our Arawa Sect 16/69 house. Miss it and the friends I made there, though several have since passed and sadly, some were victims of the unrest. Gee I stayed at Camp 1 for a year and then Kaweronh Haus, before marrie accom came my way. Loloho, Birempa, Panguna and Arawa, are indelibly melded in my heart. "Bougainville, Maus Bilong San Kamap"

Thanks for the memories Bob I am 55 now and lived on Bougainville from 1970 to 1974 with my parents what a wonderful place to grow up I have some great photos from up there I spent most of the time in Panguna we would go down to Kiera and Arawa on the weekend.

Sir, thank you for making this slide show. I am actually from Bougainville Island province (AROB) Buin, south Bougainville. credits to my beautiful island home 🏡 💙 💕 ❤️ 2024

Thank you Bob for sharing the beautiful pictures, I grew up in Arawa when my dad was working with Bougainville Copper Ltd and I'd say as a child had a most spectacular life, going to places such as the Loloho beach, the drive-in cinema at Loloho and going on trips to the cold place " Panguna". Your video is very good and touching as it brings back such memories of a great time on a black Island with remarkable beauty and its' treasures and people. It was the best developed Province of Papua New Guinea but whatever went wrong was beyond anyone's control except those in the hierarchy.

grew up there from 1970 until 89 still love the place

Thank you for these wonderful memories. Bougainville is a special place. One as a child and now an adult I will never forget. I recently returned with my sister and our memories will always be of beauty and wonder. One day I hope this returns. As the people of Bougainville are still wonderful people.

Bougainvillean here, thanks for sharing your memories. Appreciate it.

Hi Bob, thanks for posting your memories of Bougainville. I arrived there in September 1971 as part of a 7 man crew which commissioned and operated the first two units at Loloho power station. Later we were joined by a similar contingent from the UK and together we became the original operating crew. My youngest daughter was born in Panguna in June 1972, the last expat baby to be born there before the hospital was shut down because the new one in Arawa had opened. Your pictures reminded my of the fantastic time we had - weekends in the Loloho doings, scuba diving and fantastic times on Arovo 'Pub' islands. It's been quite emotional reliving those wonderful days, on the one hand it seems like just a little while ago but we left there in 1974 - 46 years ago - unbelievable!

Always great to see peoples pics. I arrived as a 7 year old in late 1969, my dad brought the tugs up from Brisbane to get the work started at the port. Yep, before the port was a port, no power station, concentrator etc .. We lived in the married quarters at Loloho camp 6, front row to the beach.. I remember lots of kids my age and similar whose parents worked for Bechtel / Dillingham / Thiess etc … parents would organize for fun nights at the club where us kids where formed into a choir called the Nuts & Bolts … first school was down near Toniva, which was a hairy old drive bouncing around in 4WD for a few months, then to Arawa school, then Tupakas where we moved in to a brand new elevated home right next to the right and a stones throw from the school. At some point dad (Richard Wilson) switched to the PNG gov and down to Kieta we went where dad and a couple of others set up the KSCC .. Kieta sailing and cruising club, or was that the Aleing and Boozing club … someone found me an Arafura Cadet catamaran where I started my love affair with sailing. Such awesome times, I have this memory of school uniform being orange tee shirt and a pair of swimmers, tragic times like the landslide that took a corner out of the haul road and many men with it, the speed boat race from Camp6 across the bay and back in two identical speed boats that collided right in front of us all on Loloho beach killing one of the drivers. Week trips to Buin and Buka on coastal trading vessels, the constant earthquakes and smoke pumping from Mt Bagana, every afternoon for hours diving on the reef, picking up war time debris. We left in late 74 via Rabaul & Madang where we spent a couple of months in each place. Fabulous time in my formative years … Andrew Wilson.

Thanks in a million for this yester years peak into the past on Bougainville,North Solomons back then. I just loved the pristine environment so cool and very charming on a daily basis as shown vividly. I missed my chances of being denied by my maternal grand parents to go to small Buka in 1988.That's when the crisis broke out but to this I hope to see the Autonomous Region of Bougainville one fine day.TA!

I had tears down my cheek looking at these beautiful memories - my dad works for the BCL power station in Loloho and Panguna.i spend all my weekends at Loloho beach and sometimes at Panguna swimming pool. Thank you Bob.

thank you so much for sharing. all these fascinating pictures comes very close to my opinion of paradise. and the wonderful music, wow, soo good. greetings from Switzerland

Thanks for your story. You must be in your 80's by 2021.

I lived there with my mum, dad and brother from 73 to 74 when my dad worked in the Panguna mine. We had an A house in Arawa and I went to Bovo Primary with Mrs Rice. I have many great memories of place - including a trek from the mine down to Arawa through the bush!

Thanks Bob for the memories....I wish I was there to enjoy the early days of Bougainville.💔💔

Bob thank you so much for the wonderful memories, thought we lost it all. The Golden years..

Wow thanks for this video. As someone who grew up during the conflict I never see the real beauty of my own beloved island. So beautiful 😍

Hi Bob, these are beautiful pictures. And the music 😌 My family has an attachment to Kieta, most of my cousins grew up there, they still rave about Loloho beach. My husband's family was there too in the 70s and 80s, I had the privilege of going there to observe the Referendum as a State employee and got to see for myself what the fuss was all about. Looked so much better back then though I must say.

Hi Bob, many thanks for posting this; it brought back wonderful memories of our 3 Bougainville years. I taught at AHS '76-'78, then at the Tech in '79. My wife took over Toniva pre-school from Judy Lancaster, then taught at Bovo. We lived in Section 13/30. I also saw your video on the Power House - recognised lots of people in that including John Coward; Peter Bateman; Alan Jackson; Clive & Judy; lots of others, oh.....and someone called.....Bob Jackson!

If it would not for the social unrest, Bougainville will be one of the Perl in the pacific.

Ich vergesse Bougalnville nie, es war meine schönste Zeit, nette Leute und fair Management!

Bob great memories👍👍

Brings back old memories

Thank you Bob.

Well done!!

Good video Bob,lots of memories,I worked for Zillmer at Kobuan,worked at Panguna all the time,good photo of Kieta Hotel,The Phantom ran the place in 82-83,drank alot at the Halfway House at Kobuan across from Zillmers yard,Peter Wallerich,Murray Alderton,Paul Burgess,Murray Edward's,Peter Goodenoff and loads of others

Thanks !

It's so beautiful island 💕👍 Great from Melanesian people from West Papua 🇨🇺

Credit to my beautiful island

Hello. I worked in the concentrate section from July 1975 to Oct 1975.

Hello Bob, my Dad is in all tears as i showed him this slides....Do you still remember my Dad Bob? The camp 6 boys he is one far left standing. He use to clean your Donga.......please inbox me your contacts( gmail, etc...) if all good with you so we can share some old memories......

Beautiful place ,beautiful people black and white working together for great opportunity and prosperty then somehow greed and revolution destroyed all one has to waonder can it ever be reversed !.

Bob,do you remember the Phantom at Kieta Hotel or Halfway House at Kobuan

Wonderful pictures. I take it this is '75 to '78?

Bob,are you on fb mate?

I am in the UK at present,got stuck here with covid

The golden years were followed by a civi' war. If the mining company was so beneficial to all, what went wromg?

And now they're back to subsistence farming and drinking from puddles. What it was and what could have been

Now you go work in Bougainville and you have to slum it...

To see lots more (500+) images of Bougainville see my Website bobbox25wixsite.com/bougainville

And the mess that is still there pollution of the river and seas , the locals got nothing

The mess is still there ,polluting of river and sea