just outside the District Commissioner's residence overlooking Kieta Harbour
This question by Bill Brown, erstwhile - I do use a bit of archaic language occasionally - District Commissioner for Bougainville, threw me. I was far too low-life to ever have met him while we were both on Bougainville Island in the 1970s, but somehow he had found me on the internet and we had started to email each other.
How had he found out about that Teutonic part in my name which I had managed to hide for so long? I didn't have to wait long for his answer: "I know you're already using the naa.gov.au site where you found your own immigration records and lots of other documents. Simply scroll across to 'Passenger arrivals' and type in your last name."
Which I did and which is how I found two of my airport arrival cards, both from 1972 which is the last year for which such records are currently available. More may be added later, although I don't know what happens after all airport arrivals went electronic sometime in the - what? - 1990s. Anyway, this explains how Bill Brown found out about my Teutonic past, as well as a lot more besides by simply clicking on the document icon in the column 'Digital copy'.
I have been looking up many Passenger Arrival Cards ever since, to find out more about old friends and acquaintances, but especially their ages to explain why I hadn't heard from them for such a long time. And so can you. Many hours of fun await you - click here.
