AUSTRALIA WEEK: HISTORY

'' Aboriginal peoples have lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years. During that time, records —some dating from extreme antiquity— were passed down through the generations through spoken allegories, myths, and songs.
Written history of Australia began in 1606, when Luis Váez de Torres, a Spanish navigator sailing for the Spanish Crown, passed through Torres Strait, from where he might have seen the Australian coast.
Though Tasman is best known for his voyage of 1642 —in which he became the first known European to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and New Zealand, and to sight the Fiji islands— he also contributed significantly to the mapping of Australia proper. With three ships on his second voyage (Limmen, Zeemeeuw and the tender Braek) in 1644, he followed the south coast of New Guinea westward. He missed the Torres Strait between New Guinea and Australia, but continued his voyage along the Australian coast and ended up mapping the north coast of Australia making observations on the land and its people...''
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