Several waves of European seafarers explored the coastline of Australia. Dutch navigators were the first Europeans known to have explored and mapped the Australian coastline. The first documented enco
Replica ship of the Duyfken, the first European ship to reach Australia
Danckert Danckerts's copperplate engraving of Jacob Vennekool's sketch of the 1648 Amsterdam Burgerzaal floor mosaic in Jacob van Campen's 1661 Afbeelding van 't Stadt Huys van Amsterdam
First Fleet
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The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy v
Engraving of the First Fleet in Botany Bay at voyage's end in 1788
Lady Penrhyn
First Fleet, Cape Town, Table Mountain, South Africa, November 1787
Entrance of Port Jackson, 27 January 1788, by William Bradley, an officer on HMS Sirius