Going back centuries, even as far back as the time of the ancient Greeks, many believed that there must be a large land mass in the south somewhere, because it was necessary to balance out the lands of the north. No matter how curious people may have been, there was no chance of them verifying the facts, as long distance transportation and exploration were not sufficiently developed.

The Macassans, in their search for trepang, would have come across Australia well before the Europeans, and evidence of their visits to areas in the Northern Territory has been found in the rock paintings of the Aborigines. Here, they have been portrayed by Aboriginal artists, upon whom they left an impression.

With regard to the Europeans, there is a dispute as to whether or not the Portuguese first sighted the continent. What is more definite is that the Dutch, in a ship called the Duyfken, sailed along the Gulf of Carpentaria in the early seventeenth century.

Abel Tasman placed Van Diemens Land (Tasmania) on the map in the 1640s. His explorations also brought him along the northern coastline.

The first British man to set foot on Australian soil was William Dampier, who did so in 1688, close to what is now known as Derby in Western Australia. Ironically enough, despite the role his country would play in the future of this continent, he did not send home terribly favourable reports of the new land.

Numerous travellers and explorers voyaged across the world to see this new land for themselves, including George Bass, Matthew Flinders, Phillip Parker King, and Charles Sturt. These men and others played a crucial role in firstly mapping the coastline, and then venturing inland, to discover the mountains, rivers, lakes and other natural features of the vast country.

It was in this manner and over a period of time, that what started out as a misshapen and very rough coastline map of Australia was eventually modified and completed. The hardships of serious bushwalking today can not be compared to life for early explorers, who covered huge distances through completely untamed land centuries ago. Many of the expeditions were government funded, and others were sponsored by a variety of institutions, like the Royal Geographic Society.

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