Who was Abel Tasman?
Abel Tasman was a Dutch explorer who, in 1642, became the first known European to reach Tasmania and New Zealand. Tasmania, the Tasman Sea and Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand are named after him.
Tasman sailed from Batavia, now Jakarta, for the Dutch East India Company with the ships Heemskerck and Zeehaen. His mission was to explore the great unknown southern land and find new trade routes.
In November 1642 he sighted the west coast of Tasmania, which he named Van Diemen's Land after Anthony van Diemen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. A carpenter from his crew swam ashore through rough surf to plant a flag on the Forestier Peninsula on Tasmania's east coast.
New Zealand and beyond
Tasman then sailed east and reached New Zealand in December 1642, where a violent encounter with Maori left four of his crew dead. He continued to Tonga and Fiji before returning to Batavia.
On a second voyage in 1644, he charted parts of Australia's northern coast, including the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Van Diemen's Land was renamed Tasmania in 1856, honouring Tasman as its first European visitor. The towns of Zeehan and Heemskirk on Tasmania's west coast are named after his ships.
Did You Know?
Tasman never realised that Tasmania was an island; that was proved by Bass and Flinders in 1798-99.