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If travel is about embracing what’s new and different from what we’re used to, then Java is an excellent contender for an eye-opening adventure. Of Indonesia’s 17,000 islands, the world’s largest archipelago, Java is the richest and most scenically majestic. Home to the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Borobudur and Prambanan and great cities like Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Solo, and Banyu Wangi, it’s Australia’s most populous neighbour, and arguably its most important, for myriad reasons. Although very close to Australia, Java lies on the other side of an imaginary boundary, known as the ‘Wallace Line’, that separates the biogeographical realms of Asia and Australia, creating vast differences in the biodiversity. To the west, in Asia, species are more closely related to those found in mainland Southeast Asia. To the east, the fauna and flora show stronger affinities with those of Australia and New Guinea such as the prevalence of marsupials and monotremes not seen in Asia at all.