In the 20 years I have known Jamie, I have often had cause to ponder 'have we gone too far this time?'
This occurred to me again as we scrambled over boulders, climbing up a swollen creek in the north of Sudest yesterday. Our purpose? Paning for gold. The archipeligo saw a gold rush in the turn of the last century and another in the last 15 years, which still has some way to run. Jamie has met locals on previous trips who have asked for help to mine for it.
The attitude toward big mining varies from island to island, in Sudest they have apparently rejected the advances of the multinationals. Maybe the Misima mine, about 60 miles north across the Solomon Sea was example enough; a cash injection, yes, but a large tract of the island is now un suitable for agriculture or villages. I am guessing but maybe the money didn't trickle down far from the board room? A case of once bitten?
So there we were up a creek in the middle of no where on an island in the middle of no where, paning for gold. Did we find any? No, but i found a nice rock.
In the galley today. . . Dinner was seared fresh yellow fin tuna (Rossell reef) on a bed of sweet potato mash (Motorina Island) with a a garlic onion tomato ragu (Woolies tinned italian) and cracked black pepper. Drinks: Bundy rum and orange juice (wala island) served in a plastic cup.
This occurred to me again as we scrambled over boulders, climbing up a swollen creek in the north of Sudest yesterday. Our purpose? Paning for gold. The archipeligo saw a gold rush in the turn of the last century and another in the last 15 years, which still has some way to run. Jamie has met locals on previous trips who have asked for help to mine for it.
The attitude toward big mining varies from island to island, in Sudest they have apparently rejected the advances of the multinationals. Maybe the Misima mine, about 60 miles north across the Solomon Sea was example enough; a cash injection, yes, but a large tract of the island is now un suitable for agriculture or villages. I am guessing but maybe the money didn't trickle down far from the board room? A case of once bitten?
So there we were up a creek in the middle of no where on an island in the middle of no where, paning for gold. Did we find any? No, but i found a nice rock.
In the galley today. . . Dinner was seared fresh yellow fin tuna (Rossell reef) on a bed of sweet potato mash (Motorina Island) with a a garlic onion tomato ragu (Woolies tinned italian) and cracked black pepper. Drinks: Bundy rum and orange juice (wala island) served in a plastic cup.
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