first fleet
Early Discoverers of Australia The first people to live on the land now known as Australia were the Aborigines. ... The first definite sighting of Australia was by Dutch sailor Willem Jansz, in 1606. ... The Voyage The first fleet sailed out of Portsmouth into the Atlantic Ocean on 13th May 1787. ... Their first port of cal was three weeks later in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. ... He didn’t like the land so he moved the fleet to Sydney Cove in port Jackson, on 20th January, 1788. ... On February 7th Captain Philip became the first Governor of Australia.