I remember this newsletter! I'm sure Sept 1997 was when (or around when) I found out about Austrans... hrmmm... maybe I'd gotten griffin's email address then but hadn't officially joined yet. I was still living in Japan at the time - I think I "officially" joined when I returned to Australia in 1998, but IIRC you'd been saving up back issues from when I expressed interest or whatever... cos I definitely remember getting the printed version of this newsletter.