Short History of Australia

The Dutch Captain Willem Jansz might have made landfall on Cape York, and charted 300 kms of the coast of a new continent without realising it.

Luís Vaz de Torres (Portuguese) -17th century maritime explorer serving the Spanish Crown, noted for the first recorded navigation of the strait which separates the continent of Australia from the island of New Guinea, and which now bears his name (Torres Strait).

Dutch sailor Dirk Hartog sails to the West coast of Australia in the area now known as Shark Bay. An island named after him is located here.

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The Batavia (Jakarta) Governor-General Van Diemen sent Abel Tasman to search for the undiscovered continent, there being 'good reasons [to suppose that] many attractive and fruitful lands are located therein' as it was in a temperate climate. He was away for ten months and accidentally came upon Tasmania which he claimed and named Van Diemen's Land. He next found and named New Zealand.

Two years later, on another voyage, Tasman sailed along the northern coast of Australia (which became known as New Holland) from North West Cape in WA to Cape York.

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