Discovery & Colonization

Discovery
Australia was first discovered by the Indonesians, although they did not record it. They also did not know it was a new continent. They just thought it was one of the many islands in the sea. There is evidence that these Indonesian traders and fishers traded their goods with the aboriginals 5000 years ago. 

The very first inhabitants were the Aboriginals. You can read more about them  here . 

It is said that the first European discoverers were the Portuguese. They travelled around the globe looking for wealth and fortune. In the year 1515 they might have sailed past the coastline of Australia, but there is no proof that this actually happened. 

In the year 1600 a Dutch ship set sail from Indonesia, looking for new trading opportunities. In 1606 they arrived and went ashore. The ship lost a few of its crew on various expeditions on the shore. The captain, Janszoon named the place "Nieu Zeland" (New Zealand). Janszoon is credited with being the first European to set foot on Australian soil. Janszoon however did not know he had discovered Australia. He thought it was part of the island New Guinea which is more to the north. 

Colonization
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">The British were the first and only to colonise Australia. They arrived on the 29th of April, 1770. The captain, at first, called the bay "Stingray Bay", but later recalled it "Botany Bay" because of the unusual plants that grew there. This captain, captain Cook, was also the first European ever to visit the  <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Great Barrier Reef <span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">. He did not quite enjoy his visit, because the Reef damaged his ship badly. <span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">