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Close
to the Cape York spot where the Dutch trader Willem Janz made the
first recorded European landfall on the Australian mainland in 1606,
Weipa is the end of the line for travellers heading north on the
Peninsular Development Road.
A town
built to support the mining of Comalco's massive bauxite deposits,
Weipa is a pleasant community flanking the turquoise waters of the
Gulf of Carpentaria and attracts both adventurers and keen
fisherman. It has all the facilities you'd expect in a frontier
town, plus the chance to tour a huge mine site. The first settlement
in this remote area began in 1898 when an Aboriginal mission was
established on the shores of Albatross Bay opposite what is now
known as Duyfken Point where Janz made his historic landfall and
where he lost several of his crew - slain, according to local
Aboriginal lore, for attempting to molest tribal women.
A
replica of the Janz's tiny ship, Duyfken, spent much of 2000 and
2001 cruising the waters of Queensland before setting off on a long
voyage 'home' to Holland.
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