Markham Valley

Markham Valley is a geographical area in New Guinea. It is described as "Flatter than a pancake for miles and miles in all directions, until it runs into the mountains that surround it on three sides" and "Always hot, and usually bone dry." The Highlands Highway runs through the valley. The Markham River runs through the valley. According to one visitor, about once a year, the local Papua New Guineans burn the tinder dry grass.

The Markham Valley runs from the port city of Lae to the junction of the Highlands Highway and the road to Madang which runs through the Ramu valley. The Markham Valley is approximately 160 km (100 miles) long and gains only a few hundred feet in elevation. The dominate use of this land is cattle pasture with some sugar cane production and chicken farming. The two-lane Highlands Highway running the length of the valley is in good condition as of March 2011.

Coordinates: 6°44′20″N 146°58′05″E / 6.73889°N 146.96806°E / 6.73889; 146.96806

Famous quotes containing the words markham and/or valley:

    Sprung from the West,
    He drank the valorous youth of a new world.
    The strength of virgin forests braced his mind,
    The hush of spacious prairies stilled his soul.
    His words were oaks in acorns; and his thoughts
    Were roots that firmly gript the granite truth.
    —Edwin Markham (1852–1940)

    I will frankly declare, that after passing a few weeks in this valley of the Marquesas, I formed a higher estimate of human nature than I had ever before entertained. But alas! since then I have been one of the crew of a man-of-war, and the pent-up wickedness of five hundred men has nearly overturned all my previous theories.
    Herman Melville (1819–1891)