picture by Rex Woodmore of the Vergulde Draeck
Documentary started on the
Lost White Tribes of Australia Last April I returned to Western Australia to film a documentary on my book, ‘The Lost White Tribes of Australia 1656 The First Settlement of Australia.’ Dirk de Bruyn, a senior lecturer at Griffith University, became interested in making the documentary after reading my book in 2013. After a couple of visits to Sydney, we agreed to make a documentary on the book. Dirk was particularly interested in the human aspect of the abrupt dislocation of the survivors of the Vergulde Draeck, the subsequent and continued cover up of their existence as well as the Aboriginal descendants of the ‘Lost White Tribe.’ Our first port of call was Ocean Reef, north of Perth: not only the site of the oldest European inscription in Australia, but also the site of a proposed marina. Initially we struggled to find the rock but through perseverance I rediscovered the inscription covered over in sand. I was relieved to see that it was still there. words and photos Henry van Zanden
But why stay at this particular spot?
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