Virtual Duyfken
Related topics
Climb aboard the replica Duyfken without leaving the classroom!
In 1606, the original Duyfken became the first European ship to reach Australia when they landed on Wik Country in the Cape York Peninsula. The meeting of the Wik people and the crew of Duyfken is the earliest recorded contact between Australia's First Nations people and people from Europe.
Virtual Duyfken offers every student in Australia the opportunity to explore the replica tall ship and learn what life was like for Dutch sailors 400 years ago.
Explore the main deck to find out what kinds of technology were used and climb down to the hold to examine the cargo they carried. You can even enter the captain’s cabin and compare it to the sleeping quarters of the crew.
Explore the ship
Instructions
- Click on the thick arrows to move between different sections of the ship.
- To quickly rotate around a space, click, hold and move the mouse at the same time, or hold down the touch pad on your laptop and swipe your finger.
- Hover over the small arrows at the edges of the screen to slowly rotate around a space.
- Jump between rooms by clicking on the diagram in the bottom right corner of the screen.
- Click on the dots to learn more about an object.
Learning resources
Learn more about Duyfken and the first recorded contact between Aboriginal and European people in the education resource, 1606: Contact at Cape Keerweer.
This unit of work includes animations, interactive activities and videos to guide students in investigating the journeys of world explorers and the impacts of contact between First Nations Australians and Europeans.
