The five places that made me: Martin Woods

ROCKHAMPTON

After graduating from university, a friend and I followed our noses north from Adelaide in his ageing Commodore. It was a transformative experience. Over the next year we played football in the Riverland and Brisbane, did all sorts of labouring jobs, and just hung out. We got as far as Rockhampton, where I broke my leg. I might have just kept on going, but the mishap woke me up. I returned to study, graduated in information science, went on to do post-graduate history. Before long it seemed, I was in Canberra at the War Memorial and then the National Library, working with collections that still inspire me.

NAPLES, ITALY

Many years ago now, some good friends rented an apartment in Naples, and I took the opportunity to visit Italy for the first time. I had just started as Maps Curator at the National Library, so naturally I spent some time studying the magnificent Galleria delle carte geografiche (Gallery of maps) in the Vatican – an incredible set of 16th century murals depicting Italy on a huge scale, long before the country was unified. After the Rome trip, the extra time in Naples was well worth it. Apart from visiting some of the ancient sites and beautiful Amalfi coast, with time on my hands, I came to appreciate Napoli's distinctive character. Despite the city's reputation for crime and social problems, I found Neapolitan popular culture exciting, a hub for new art and commerce.

TANNA, VANUATU

In 2009 my wife, Martine, and I travelled to Vanuatu, with few expectations other than relaxation, and perhaps for a chance of getting close to a volcano on the remote island of Tanna. The volcano was incredible – lava bombs and explosions on cue. To my even greater amazement we blundered in on a hillside cafe run by Telopea Park School, Canberra. For several years the students at Telopea Park had been fundraising to build a new hall and library at Port Resolution School, on Tanna. I also learnt from our homestay experience on Tanna how children's education is often split – one child to study English, one French and another more on traditional skills. The new school building was officially opened in 2013. Telopea Park is still doing its bit adding solar panels, and more recently helping out with relief after cyclone Pam.

CORNY POINT, YORKE PENINSULA

We we were gearing up for a major exhibition a few years ago, and I knew if I didn't take a week off I wouldn't see daylight for a long time. So I decided to take a short time-out in a place which (as a South Australian) I should have visited many years ago. The "other" Yorke Peninsula is not without tourism, but they don't get a lot of outside visitors so it's a make-do holiday enjoying the simple pleasures – fishing, empty beaches, sleepy coastal towns, and the odd Cornish pasty. Soon I found myself appreciating the rocky landscape, windswept coastal vegetation, and open skies. Refreshed by the long walks to nowhere in particular, this was the "calm before the storm" I needed.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Flying in to Istanbul in 2014 I struck up a long conversation with a man returning home to Turkey after years of trying to earn a living in Britain, to send the money home. He was very proud of the economic strides his country had recently made, and like others who were once attracted to opportunities in the West, now found the fields greener at home. Istanbul has many attractions, and we placed ourselves near the little Hagia Sofia, below the shoe-making district of Gedikpaşa. As a runner, I often crossed the Kennedy Caddesi at first light and ran along the eight-mile avenue that follows the old Sea Walls of the city. From there I could see the massive container ships, carrying the shoes, clothing and other goods being assembled close by, and heading west.

Martin Woods is the author of Where Are Our Boys?: How Newsmaps Won The Great War (NLA Publishing $49.99). See www.bookshop.nla.gov.au