THE grand ol' days when clipper ships dominated the seas, covering almost three times the distance in a day of earlier vessels, returned to Port Phillip last week when the Stad Amsterdam arrived as part of a global journey.

Stad Amsterdam (literally City of Amsterdam) is visiting four Australian ports as part of a journey to mark the 150th anni-

versary of the publication of Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species.

Aboard HMS Beagle, Darwin circumnavigated the globe, leaving England in late 1831 and returning almost five years later.

He landed in Sydney on January 12, 1836 before visiting Hobart and Albany, WA.

The three-masted Dutch clipper is following the route of Beagle. The journey led to Darwin's theory of evolution and the publication of his famous book.

The 10-year-old clipper is travelling with an international team of scientists and writers who are filming the voyage for a television series.

The ship began its nine-month voyage in Britain in September and has sailed to Spain, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Tahiti.

A spokesman for Stad Amsterdam told The Independent the ship was much larger than the Beagle: "Our ship is 76 metres long but Beagle was 27 metres.

"She is modelled after the mid-19th century frigate Amsterdam, but is not a replica. A major difference is that the hull is made of steel but the rigging is based on historic clippers."

Follow the journey on www.stadamsterdam.com