Maria Island Lonely and historically significant island off the east coast.
Maria Island is steeped in history.
The first European to sight Maria Island was Abel Tasman in December 1642. The first Englishman to land on the island was Captain John Cox who arrived in 1789, anchored at Shoal Bay, and made contact with the local Aborigines. Three years later the French explorer, Nicholas Baudin, spent five days investigating the island. The diversity of these early explorers is summed up by the variety of names given to the coastline - everything from Ile du Nord to Chinaman's Bay, Mistaken Cape and Cape Boulanger. The island has experienced four distinct periods of European settlement.