Aurukun Coast

The Aurukun coast faces the Gulf of Carpentaria at the mouth of the Archer River, in the country of Wik and Wik Way peoples. Estuaries, mangroves and coastal swamps join the sea to the river country inland. South of the Archer lies Cape Keerweer, where the Dutch vessel Duyfken reached the coast in 1606. The encounter between its crew and Wik people is the earliest recorded meeting between Europeans and Aboriginal Australians.