Hundreds of millions of years ago Australia, Papa New Guinea, some of Africa and South America were all stuck together in a huge land mass called Gondwanaland. This behemoth of a continent was covered in lush tropical rain forests, much like the Papa New Guinea of today. As the land masses separated Australia got drier and much of its jungle disappeared along with the native beasties.

However, around 17 million years ago, Mount Kaputar exploded in a volcanic rage and managed to keep a small 10km by 10km strip of land cooler and wetter, just like it was used to. This allowed the tiny patch of forest to be left to its own devices for millenia, thus leaving the natural spectacle within it unchanged.

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