b'CLUB SPOTLIGHTDIRK HARTOG ISLAND(WIRRUWANA)BY: BRUCE SHELLEYPAJERO 4WD CLUB OF VICTORIAHistory began. While most of the island is National Park, On 25 October 1616 Captain Dirk Hartoga small section is under private ownership and of the Dutch East India company became themanagement (Eco Lodge accommodation, bar/first European to set foot on the shores ofcafe, charter fishing, 4WD tours, campgrounds) at Western Australia, and only the second to recordHomestead Bay and run by the family that last farmed encountering the Australian continent. Thaton the island. The island sits in the Shark Bay World uninhabited Island was subsequently named afterHeritage Site which has many other interesting places him and is the most westerly point in Australia.to explore while youre in the area (https://www.He spent 3 days exploring the island but decidedsharkbay.org/)it was unsuitable for establishing a settlementThe Tripbut noted a much larger mainland to the east. HeAfter seeing Dirk Hartog Island (DHI) on a recorded the details of his landing and further plansYouTube video several years ago I put it on my bucket on a pewter plate nailed to a post at the northern endlist and so it was this year as part of a 9 week trip to of the island. Eighty one years later another Dutchthe Kimberly I ran for members of the Pajero 4WD explorer, Willem de Vlamingh also made landfall,Club of Victoria, that it finally came to fruition. Bob replacing the weather worn plate with another whichin an 80 series Landcruiser, Neil in a Mazda BT50 included his own landing details. That site is nowtowing a Goldfields Duke camper, Peter in his Pajero known as Cape Inscription and where a replica of thatand myself in a Pajero towing an Ultimate Camper plate can be found today. Many other European andthat made the trip to DHI.English explorers visited the area over the next 100The barge has to be booked well ahead and needs years mapping, collecting specimens and making landto be accompanied by an accommodation booking, claims. either units/cabins, camping at Homestead Bay or From 1697 and over the next 150 years the islandParks NP camp sites and is also limited to a total was a pastoral lease, but in 2009 it was declared avehicle length of 10.6m. We decided to camp at National Park and the job of ecological restorationHomestead Bay in the privately owned Eco tourist 18 TRACKWATCH| Summer 2025'