The Discovery of Australia
First person to discover Australia and his journey
In 1606 a Dutch navigator and colonial governor Willem Janszoon was sent from the East Indies, now called Indonesia to see what he could find around the coasts and islands of New Guinea. He was told that there was an island that was meant to be rich in gold. He traveled near the coast Cape York and landed near the modern town Weipa. He did not know about the Torres Strait and he thought it was another island of New Guinea. Willem Janszoon and his crew lost a lot of people while they were fighting with the aborigines. Willem saw that the land was swampy and he realised that this land had no potential for trade and the natives being unwelcoming he returned to Bantam in June 1606. Captain cook and Australia Captain James Cook set off for his journey on August 26, 1768. He first had to stop at Tahiti for a mission. After he visited Tahiti Captain Cook he mapped the two main islands of New Zealand. His next stop was the east coast of Australia where James and his crew found lots of interesting animals and plants. Unfortunately his ship was damaged by coral and they had to stay for a while and do repairs. A lot f the crew died from disease.His second expedition took place from 1772 – 1775 this time his goal was to discover the southern continent or prove that it didn't exist. Cook’s secret mission. Captain cook was part of a secret plan which was when a scientific mission. He was given two instructions, the first one was to set sail to Tahiti from where Cook and his crew were to observe the transit of Venus. Once he had done that he was instructed to do the second part of the mission which was to open a sealed envelope. The envelope said to sail to find the Great South Land which was thought to exist in southern latitudes. He was ordered to go southward until he reached the latitude of 40o. Then he was to discover the Great South Land. |
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