The historic island of Texel near Amsterdam will be the location of the arrival of Duyfken at the completion of the epic VOC2002 Duyfken Voyagie.

Duyfken is scheduled to arrive to a gala reception at the harbour of Oudeschild at 1400hrs on 28 April 2002.

The harbour overlooks the Texel Roadsted where Duyfken would have been reprovisioned 400 years ago to tackle the spice voyage to Indonesia which ultimately resulted in her becoming the first ship recorded in history to visit Australia.

Duyfken returns to The Netherlands in replica form to help the Dutch nation reflect on the formation of the VOC (United East India Company) in 1602. Duyfken was one of the first ships purchased by the VOC in that year.

The arrival in Oudeschild also marks the community's own 400th anniversary.

The arrival will be an emotional moment for the Duyfken team - the crew aboard and the shore crew who have worked tirelessly for a more than a year to make the voyage a success. It will also be a special moment for the many Duyfken supporters who have flown out from Australia to witnesss this historic event. The supporters include Dr Patricia Kailis who has been such a strong supporter of the Duyfken 1606 Replica Foundation, the Duyfken board members including Chairman Rinze Brandsma who have overseen the transition of Duyfken from a floating museum piece to a fully sailing replica, representatives of the Friends of the Duyfken who have generated so much enthusiasm for the project, and importantly, the Duyfken Fremantle Volunteer Guides who showed almost a quarter of a million people over the ship before she left Fremantle. Many of these people have been involved with Duyfken since the early 1990s when building the ship was just a good idea.

The arrival in Texel is dedicated to all the people, including the supporters in ports all over the world, who have helped make the VOC2002 Duyfken Voyagie a success.