1600

1600	10-Aug	Capt Luiz Torres, Spanish ships Almiranta and Zabra, discovered the straits between New Guinea and Australia which now bears his name.
1605	18-Nov	Willem Janz, Dutch navigator, sailed from Batam in the yacht Duyfken to discover the south coast of New Guinea and the west coast of Cape York.
1606	15-Jun	Capt William Janz, Dutch yacht Duyfken, arrived at Banda at the conclusion of a voyage in which he sailed along the southern coast of New Guinea and discovered Cape York Peninsula. Janz sailed 25 miles up a river which he named Batavia.
1606	20-Jul	Capt Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, Spanish ship Capitana, landed at Jenkins Bay, near Milne Bay, New Guinea. De Quiros set out to find ‘Australia del Espiritu Santo’.
1606	15-Aug	Capt Don Diego de Prado y Tovar of Torres’ expedition landed on Bonar Bonar Island off New Guinea.
1606	24-Aug	Capt Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, Spanish ship Capitano landed on Mailu Island in the Solomon Islands and claimed it for Spain.
1606	18-Oct	Capt Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, Spanish ship Capitana, arrived at Etna Bay, south-west New Guinea.
1607	12-Jul	Capt Luis Vaez de Torres forwarded an account of his voyage to New Guinea and the New Hebrides to the King of Spain.
1615	11-Apr	Capt Jacob Lemaire, Dutch ship Eendracht, discovered Tonga and surrounding islands.
1615	28-Jul	The Dutch ships Eendracht and Hoorn, Capt Willem Cornelius Schouten, sailed from Holland on a secret voyage to the Pacific. They sailed by Cape Horn and reached New Guinea in July 1616. This was the first east-to-west Dutch voyage across the Pacific.
1616	29-Jan	Capt Willem Schouten, Dutch ship Eendracht, discovered and sailed around Cape Horn from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He named the cape Horn after his home town in Holland. The Eendracht was a vessel of 360 tons burden. She was two masted and square rigged in brig fashion. Her armament consisted of 19 standard carriage cannon and 12 swivel guns mounted on the poop and forecastle deck to repel boarders. The ship carried a crew of 65.
1616	25-Oct	Dirck Hartog, Dutch ship Eendracht, landed on an island in Sharks Bay, WA. A pewter plate describing his landing is now in the Amsterdam Museum.
1618	11-May	The Dutch ship Zeewolf Capt Haevik Clueszoon van Hillegom, made a landfall in the vicinity of North West Cape, WA.
1618	31-Jul	Capt Willem Janz, Dutch ship Mauritius, landed at Exmouth Gulf, WA.
1619	19-Jul	Capt Frederick de Houtman, Dutch ships Durdretch and Amsterdam, sighted the WA coast near Bunbury.
1621	4-Sep	The English ship Tryal, Capt John Brooke, sailed from Plymouth for Batavia. Tryal foundered off the WA coast and the survivors, commanded by the ship’s First Mate, Thomas Bright, landed on Barrow Island. They were the first British to set foot in Australia.
1622	25-May	The English ship, Tryal, Capt John Brooke, was wrecked at Eendracht Bay, WA. Tryal was the first English ship to visit Australia. Forty-six survivors reached Java in the ship’s boats and were executed by the Dutch.
1623	14-Apr	Capt Jan Cartensz, Dutch ships Pera and Arnhem, landed on Cape Keer-weer on the Cape York Peninsula. He left a wooden column on the shore recording the visit. Arnhem, Capt Willem Joosten van Colster, became separated from Pera and made a landfall on the coast to the west which was named Arnhem Land.
1627	26-Jan	The Dutch ship Gulden Zeepard, Capt Pieter Nuyts, made a landfall at Nuyts Archipelago, southern Australia, and on his westward passage charted the sweep of the Great Australian Bight.
1629	4-Jun	The Dutch ship Batavia, Capt Ariaen Jacobsz, was wrecked on the Abrolhos Islands, WA.
1629	11-Jun	Francois Pelsaert, in a ship’s boat from the wrecked Dutch ship Batavia, explored the WA coast from Houtmans Rocks to North-West Cape.
1636	13-Jun	Capt Peter Pieterszoon, Dutch ships Klein Amsterdam and Wesel, discovered Dundas Strait separating Melville Island from Coburgh Peninsula, north Australia.
1642	14-Aug	The Dutch ships Heemskirk and Zeehan Capt Able Tasman, sailed from Batavia to explore the south and east coast of New Holland.
1642	24-Nov	Capt Abel Tasman, Dutch ships Zeehan and Heemskirk, made his landfall near Cape Sorell, Tas.
1642	3-Dec	Capt Abel Tasman, Dutch ships Heemskirk and Zeehan, attempted to land at Blackmans Bay near Hobart but was prevented by a heavy surf.
1642	13-Dec	Capt Abel Tasman, Dutch ships Heemskirk and Zeehan, discovered New Zealand.