In one of the least-traveled islands of Papua New Guinea, you can find virginal beaches, expert-grade diving and surfing, back-flip into an emerald river, and feed a class of friendly eels.

Budget travel in Papua New Guinea was, as far as we could tell, not an option. The PNG Tourism Promotion Authority changed all that.

We had cone to PNG on a whim, eager to see a nation unspoiled by mass tourism. But we didn’t have a clue where to start. Most travel literature focuses on high-end tours and resorts, catering to those willing to pay top dollar for great diving, surfing, and trekking.

Wherever we went in PNG, we were the only backpackers there and the first ones that locals ever saw. And for a good reason. There is no infrastructure to accommodate budget travelers.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. You can stay several weeks in the country without spending a lot of money. You just have to work a little harder for it.

We added PNG to our travel itinerary on a whim. After meeting two charming ladies in Fiji, and reading the few scraps of travel info on the country, we had to see it for ourselves.

PNG is known for its incredible diving, surfing, and tribal diversity. But that’s not what attracted us.

The flight from Cairns to Port Moresby threw us off guard. The 37-seat Dash 8 turboprop smelled like the third world, a blend of accumulated body odour with a whisper of chemical toilet.

But we were surprised when they handed us our headphones for the in-flight movie: a huge wireless, noise-cancelling Sennheiser beast. The sound quality was excellent and it muffled most of the propeller drone.

Two hours into the sailing trip, Dave, the divemaster, brought out the pedophile jokes.

He had already riled the Irish on board (“Your body is 80 percent water, except for the Irish, which are 30 percent alcohol”) but was still several hours from touching on race (“Why is Stevie Wonder always smiling? He doesn’t know he’s black”).

It was, to be sure, an alarming start to a three-day cruise around the Whitsunday Islands.

Anywhere you go in Australia – anywhere there’s money to be made from tourists – you’ll find a heap of travel agents competing for your wallet. It’s important to shop around and compare prices before settling on one.

Not every trip we took in Oz was satisfying. The Fraser Island self-drive tour and the canoe trip on the Noosa River left much to be desired. But this is partly our fault for not asking the right questions before booking them.

Everyone – and I mean everyone – who took the canoe trip up the Noosa River got it for free. Tribal Travel, an agency ubiquitous in Australia, is throwing it in when you book other classic tours like Fraser Island on a 4WD and sailing on the Whitsundays.

While they’re clearly trying to promote this lesser-known trip, it has two major problems: a) it’s not really free, and b) it totally acts like it’s free.

Sydney reminds me of a beautiful country girl who moved to the big city and is still unaware aware of her incredible power.

It’s a world-class city with all the adornments, the trimmings, the taut features, the parts it keeps hidden and that surface at short lapses in poise. It wears beautiful colonial buildings, stately homes, sculpted parks, bustling harbours. It has scraggly bourgeois corners, artsy bistros, steamy pubs.

And yet, it lacks that pointed haughtiness of cities that have long ago joined the league of global burgs, or of urban belles who receive daily reminders on being lusted.

Ask 10 backpackers what one should carry on a long trip and you might as well ask them their favourite movies. The answers will be just as disparate.

When you’re living for several months with only what you carry on your shoulders, packing becomes an intensely personal affair. Yes, there are the utilitarian basics, but trying to agree on a standard list is as productive as – ALERT: nerd reference – counseling Mac and PC disciples on the principles of empathy.

To wit: see this list on nine useless things travelers tend to pack. I disagree with six of them. Guy sounds like he never left his city limits. But to him, it makes sense.