The Voyage of the Poppykettle

It was written and illustrated by Robert Ingpen,[1] who also wrote the sequel, The Unchosen Land, and is considered amongst his best-known works.

In 1975, Robert Ingpen developed the story based on his work with the United Nations in Peru.

As part of that work, he was researching ancient Inca fishing stories, and two elements of that research formed the kernel of the Poppykettle idea: Inca dolls and pottery; and a plaque which commemorated an expedition from the headland at Callao in the 16th century into the Pacific Ocean.

These stories were so popular in Ingpen's home, Geelong, Victoria that a fountain[citation needed] and an annual Poppykettle Festival celebrate the mythical landing of the "hairy Peruvians".

She criticises the fact that the number of "hairy Peruvians" varies during the story and calls the ending "rather trite".