Panguna may have had the largest copper mine in the word back then, but it may now have the largest lemons. If you have the taste buds for lemon, then Panguna has more than a mouthful for you. On an afternoon spin up in the mountains of Panguna in Central Bougainville, the author came across what looks more than the conventional size lemon. As the picture below illustrates, the lemon is extraordinarily large. This lemon was able to fill more than one cup and sure enough there was more than enough lemonade that Sunday afternoon.

Picture shows the rather large lemon

As we marveled at the unusual size, the owner then implied that the tree was just behind the house. As the group walked over expecting to see a large mighty lemon tree, what was there was a complete irony; for the tree was a pint size plant of about a metre and a half with more giant lemons growing on it. It was also amazing to see other food crops growing in the rocky waste land of Panguna, the place we were standing in had very little soil, and the entire land area was built upon waste rocks back in the mine operation days.      

The ironic lemon tree which bears the rather giant lemons

And just a few more metres behind the house, is where the once huge copper mine is. Though the lemon fruit and tree made our afternoon, the site of the giant crater resonated an utter surreal feeling that anyone, whether for the first or not, will have surely bear such a thought in the head. The regrowth of vegetation around the mine pit indicates a sign of recovery, a long painful process for Mother Nature as she tries to restore what was violently ripped off from her for selfish monetary gains.  As the sun began to set, the cold winds of Panguna started to blow. This brought a profound chill down my spine as I viewed the huge sore crater with stunning beautifully coloured orchids carpeting the edges.    

The Panguna crater