400 years ago, Dutch skipper Dirk Hartog, in the ship Eendracht, landed at the western-most point of Australia on what is now known as Dirk Hartog Island, and made the first documented discovery of Western Australia.
Hartog and his crew left behind a wooden post with a pewter plate inscribed with details of their voyage, which remains the oldest physical record of a European landing in Australia.
In 2016, for the 400 year anniversary of this historic moment in our state’s past, Publik replicated plates of those left by Hartog and another Dutch skipper, Willem De Vlamingh, using casts and a 3D scan of the original pewter plates that are now preserved in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum.
Original Dutch sailing maps created by Hartog following his historic discovery form the basis of the design of interpretive signage found on the pristine, almost deserted Island. Visitors can experience the interpretation while looking over the sheer cliff faces leading down into the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean.
Publik journey to this remote and unique island to install the interpretive suite in time for the commemorative celebrations attended by Western Australians and visitors from around the world.
