Whatever it was, it worked its magic while I was still a child. I was twenty-six when I first travelled overseas. I went to Papua New Guinea. The crisp, cool mountain air, the unfamiliar smells, sights and sounds all embedded themselves deep in my consciousness. Everything was new and strange.
New Guinea sprawls like a vast prehistoric bird across the sea north of Australia.
After Greenland it is the world's largest island, and its size, shape and rugged mountains are all the result of its peculiar geological history, for New Guinea is Australia's bow wave. As the continent of Australia has drifted northward it has accumulated islands and fragments of other continents along its leading edge. Like debris swept together by a broom, these have built up into a long, chaotic pile of landforms. This geology also explains why New Guinea's flora and fauna resembles Australia's. Although it is close to southeast Asia, New Guinea has no tigers, rhinos or elephants, but it does have kangaroos.