Townsville Port Authority hosted a ‘Sundowner’ evening for members of the Port community, the Authority’s employees, and the ship’s crew aboard the Duyfken on Monday evening, 28 August, 2006.

The Duyfken was visiting Townsville as part of its 400th Anniversary voyage around Australia. During its stay in Townsville, the Duyfken attracted a great deal of interest from the local community with over 2,500 visitors boarding the vessel in the first two days alone.

This visit is the vessel’s second visit to Townsville, having made a stop at the Port of Townsville in 2001. The current replica was crafted in Fremantle, Western Australia over three years and was completed and launched in 1999.

The Duyfken, meaning ‘Little Dove’, is a replica of the ship which became the first European contact with Australia in 1606. Townsville Port Authority is sponsor of the Duyfken’s current 400th Anniversary voyage.

The Duyfken is visiting 25 ports around Australia, covering a total of 12,000 kilometres of coastline. In 1606 the original Duyfken, was owned by the Dutch East India Company – Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC. It was part of the Dutch expansion into the spice trade between Asia and Europe. Until its demise in 1796 the VOC was the largest trading company of its kind, trading in spices and teas and later silks and Chinese and Japanese porcelain.

In keeping with the history of this very unique vessel guests enjoyed delicious spice-themed canapés such as ‘Oriental Five Spiced Duck Sesame Omelette Rolls’ and Voyager Estate Wines, which bear the original Dutch East India Trading Company ‘VOC’ logo.

 TPA-A_Sundowner_Evening_Aboard_the_Duyfken.pdf (74.93 KB)