03 December  2024 - Torres Strait     

Speaker - Ian Burnet

Come and hear Ian Burnet tell this fascinating story

The reef-strewn passage between the Australian mainland and Papua New Guinea remains the most hazardous of all the major Straits in the world. It is 270 kilometres long and only 150 kilometres wide but contains over 274 islands, islets, coral reefs and coral cays and its waters are full of potential hazards separated by narrow and often dangerous channels.

This talk will follow both the history of the Torres Strait Islanders and of the first European voyagers who tried to find their way through the Torres Strait and the numerous shipwrecks that occurred in the process. It was the early navigators such as Torres, Cook, Bligh, Flinders and King who contributed to the charting of this dangerous passage. However, it was not until the completion of detailed hydrographic surveys undertaken by the British Admiralty in the 1840s, the advent of steamships and the introduction of Torres Strait Pilots that it could ultimately be used as a major shipping route.

Ian Burnet has a combined Bsc. In Geology and Geophysics and has an interest in maritime history and historic maps. He is the author of six books on maritime history and the Indonesian archipelago including: Spice Islands, East Indies, Archipelago - A Journey Across Indonesia, Where Australia Collides with Asia - The Epic Voyages of Joseph Banks, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, The Tasman Map and Joseph Conrad's Eastern Voyages.

 Guests are always welcome.