As a child, long before he actually visited New Guinea, Tim Flannery fell in love with its exotic mystique. This love didn't have to stay unrequited for long, because Flannery was born relatively close by, in Australia. He was 26 when he first set foot on the vast wild island to the north. In the less than two decades since, he has undertaken 15 expeditions, explored some of the wildest territory remaining on our heavily paved planet, and identified almost 20 new species of mammals.
New Guinea is the second largest island on Earth.
Not surprisingly, the native flora and fauna also harbor undiscovered treasures. Tim Flannery describes his love affair in Throwim Way Leg . It describes the action of thrusting out your leg to take the first step of what can be a long march. When he first walked the rugged trails of New Guinea, Flannery had no inkling of the long march that lay ahead. Flannery is more than an explorer.