Peter Reynders 'Dirk Hartog’s Visit as an Accelerator of Exploration in Australia’s Maritime History'

It is 400 years this year since the 700 tonne Dutch East-India Company vessel 'Eendracht'  under Skipper Dirk Hartog chanced upon our continent's west coast as the first European vessel to visit it. There is an opportunity here to brush up on what we already know about this historically-important early visit, how and why it happened and what its relevance can be argued to be. 

Peter Reynders is a retired urban and regional planner, with an active interest in many subjects, as diverse as detailed use of land, Australia's early maritime contact history, the development and influence of Hungarian folk music and its spread by Roma (Gypsies) and Art history. He has published articles related to these.

Peter was for years Secretary of 'Australia on the Map' (AOTM), the history division of the Australasian Hydrographic Society, and was active with them in spreading the word on how relatively slowly Australia ended up on the world map.