VIDEO: Dirk Hartog by drone
FOUR HUNDRED YEARS ago, a Dutch explorer made landfall on Western Australia’s remote coastline at Dirk Hartog Island.
In fact, the spot where they landed is about as remote as it gets. The only way to reach the far north-western point of Dirk Hartog Island in 2016 is via boat, or by taking a barge from the mainland, then crawing in a four-wheel-drive for at least three hours over violent corrugations and eroded potholes.
But the lonely views are rewarding.
We travelled to Dirk Hartog to mark 400 years since the original Dutch landing, an anniversary that is being celebrated with a unique ecological project aiming to restore WA’s biggest isle to the wilderness it was in 1616.
Read more in the Sep-Oct 2016 issue of Australian Geographic (AG#134).