Air Niugini ("Air Niug" in pidgin) is the main way for tourists to get around New Guinea's far-flung islands. Passengers are enjoined not to smoke or chew betel nut while on board, and there are plenty of other reminders that this former Australian colony is very much a part of the developing world. On arrival in Tokua, passengers show signs of alternating impatience and amusement as they watch the straining ground staff laboriously tug the baggage cart into the terminal. Nearby diesel tractors went unused on the day of our visit. Who forgot the tractor keys in Port Moresby?

A flight over New Guinea is a quick way to see the way the world's tropical jungles are often treated in the developing world. Much of interior New Britain island retains its rainforest, but settled coastal areas have been largely denuded of timber and replanted with banana trees. New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby, is surrounded by miles of barren brown hillocks whose cover has long ago been burned off. In every direction small fires burn around the clock in fields and forests, even just yards from the airport runway.

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