Buin:

The Sad Story of Balalae Island

28 February 2012 | Places

On my way north through the Solomon Islands and on to Bougainville in Papua New Guinea I flew in to Balalae or Ballalae Island. I spent a couple of nights at nearby Shortland Island before thumbing a boat ride to Bougainville with islanders heading to Buin for the Sat...

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Yamamoto’s Aircraft Wreck

25 February 2012 | Places

The Japanese advance across the Pacific had been turned round at Guadalcanal in the Solomons and the Americans were now advancing north. On 13 April 1943 from his base at Rabaul on the Papua New Guinea island of New Britain, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto set out on a moral...

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The Back Door to Bougainville

21 February 2012 | Places

I’ve just travelled up through the Solomon Islands and across to the troubled Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville. You can find various discussions on travelling this route in Thorn Tree. ◄ I started by flying from Brisbane in Australia to Honiara in the Solomo...

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