Vanderlin Island

Vanderlin Island is the largest island of the Sir Pewlew Group in the Gulf of Carpentaria. This untouched part of the world is a fisherman’s dream and a tropical island paradise.

Location: approximately 80 km north-east of Borroloola and 35 km north-east of the mouth of the McArthur River.

Tours to the island operate out of Cape Crawford. You can fly by helicopter to the pristine waters of this magnificent island and indulge in Aboriginal culture at its best where you will visit exclusive areas of the island. Home to the Johnston family, the traditional owners, the local expertise and cultural knowledge is unparalleled. Visit the Aboriginal artwork and the caves with Johnny Johnston or do a spot of fishing in Victoria Bay or on one of the many reefs surrounding the island.

The Sir Pellew Group group is a cluster comprised of five major islands (North, South West, Centre, West and Vanderlin Islands) and 66 minor islands, islets and rock stacks, situated in the south west region of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Other Points of Interest

North, South West, Centre and West Islands; Barranyi (North Island) National Park (541 ha); Liwarrangga Aboriginal Sites (South West Island, near Amos Point); Liwaybulunga Aralwidgi Langandan and Wulibirra Aboriginal Sites (West Cape, Rose Point, Cape Pellew and Red Bluff on North and Watson Islands.

Brief history: The islands have a long history of use by Yanyuwa Aboriginal people. This is evidenced not only by the stories and culture which still survive today, but also by physical evidence such as large shell middens and human burial caves. Until early into the 20th century the Pellew Islands were visited regularly by fishermen from Macassar and Sulawesi for the purpose of harvesting trepang.

Numerous Macassan sites exist on the islands; these contain remains of stone fireplaces, artifacts and Tamarind trees that seeded from food refuse. The is native to Africa and was introduced to Asia by Arab traders. Vanderlin Island is the only island in the group that to have been settled by European people when a small pastoral property was established on the island in the 1940s. In more recent times the islands have been used as fishing camps by commercial fishermen and by a small number of recreational fishermen and holiday makers.

Origin of the name

In April 1644 Abel Tasman thought the group of  islands were part of the mainland and named them Cape Vanderlin, after Cornelis Van der Lyn, a councillor the of Dutch East India Company and Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, 1645-50. Matthew Flinders in 1802 found Vanderlin to be an island, and he named the group after Captain Sir Edward Pellew (later Admiral Viscount Exmouth) of the Royal Navy.


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Cornelis Van der Lyn (1608-1679) was a member of the Council of Batavia who had sponsored the expeditions of Dutch navigator Abel Tasman. He was governor-general of Dutch East Indies from 1646 until 1650 and mayor of Alkmaar 1668-1678. In 1637 or 1639 (about this differ the sources), he had become a Councellor of the Duth East Indies Company. A year later he became president of the ship's court.

In 1641, he became director-general of the Council of Dutch East Indies. During the years of Van Der Lijn's governorship, corruption within the company increased. The administrators in the Netherlands dismissed him on 7th October 1650, Carel Reyniersz was appointed as its successor. It was customary for a man of his standing to make his homecoming as a commander of the fleet. He was denied this honour after the free citizens of Batavia wrote a letter of protest to the Company which accused Van Der Lijn of corrupt financial dealings with the Chinese.

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