25 events the sources record for this year, grouped by region.
What happened
Southeast Asia (1)
Captain Ball circumnavigates New Holland for the first time in just over six months; he discovers and names islands along the way, and buys rice and salt pork at Batavia, sending them behind on a chartered Dutch snow (Tench, Account of the First Fleet at Port Jackson CHAPTER X (raw line 2271))
Oceania (24)
The Sirius sails for Norfolk Island on 6 March with the Supply, carrying Major Ross, a large detachment of marines and over 200 convicts; a measure to split the population and extend the food (Tench, Account of the First Fleet at Port Jackson CHAPTER VI (raw line 1231))
The governor's party, going down to the harbour, learns from Captain Ball of the Supply's boat that the Sirius was wrecked on Norfolk Island; Captain Hunter and all the crew were rescued (Tench, Account of the First Fleet at Port Jackson CHAPTER VI (raw line 1264))
The Lady Juliana arrives on 3 June with 225 female convicts: nearly eleven months at sea, including a stop at Plymouth in July 1789; the people on board are overwhelmed by the letters and news (Tench, Account of the First Fleet at Port Jackson CHAPTER VII (raw line 1478))
The Justinian (Captain Maitland) arrives carrying only food; it left Falmouth on 20 January and covered the passage in five months, and full rations are restored at once (Tench, Account of the First Fleet at Port Jackson CHAPTER VII (raw line 1580))
Within that month three transports arrive with two companies of the New South Wales Corps and convicts; of the 1,038 aboard, 273 died during the voyage, and 486 landed sick (as totalled in the table) (Tench, Account of the First Fleet at Port Jackson CHAPTER VII (raw line 1606))
Tench, Dawes and Worgan explore for seven days the unknown land southwest of Rose Hill; they name a cone-shaped hill Pyramid Hill and the Worgan River, which seems to be an upper branch of the Nepean; no particular gain (Tench, Account of the First Fleet at Port Jackson CHAPTER VII (raw line 1688))
A third exploration of Broken Bay: a wide harbour, but the shores are barren wasteland unfit for cultivation; they bring back in bags the soil collected on each expedition to analyse it (Tench, Account of the First Fleet at Port Jackson CHAPTER VII (raw line 1704))
Captain Nepean's party meets over 200 natives gathered around a dead whale at Manly Cove; they meet Bennelong again, and the governor arrives later (Tench, Account of the First Fleet at Port Jackson CHAPTER VIII (raw line 1724))