Wall plaques at the Cook Museum Kurnell
Our Hero James Cook |
Joseph Banks |
Daniel Solander |
James Cook marvelled at the diligent way Joseph Bank & his friends went about cataloguing, etc., their collections in the Great Cabin, it was a hive of industry, plants were strewn about, port was drank while enthusiastic discussion took place.
Endeavour Replica looking astern She was lying in Sydney Harbour when we visited. What a marvellous vessel she is. |
Moving up the coast just north of Brisbane
The Glasshouse Mountains. James Cook observed these mountains, which shone in the sunlight reminding him of glowing furnaces in his native Yorkshire. |
 |
The Birthplace of Queensland. THE TOWN OF 1770.
On Tuesday the 23rd of May 1770 at 8.00pm James Cook anchored Endeavour in 5 fathoms of water two miles from Round Hill Head |
First sighting of mangroves, evidence of approaching tropical regions. |
At 10.00 on Wednesday the 24th of May James Cook, Joseph Banks, Daniel Solander along with a group of marines rowed ashore, landing at this point, a little within the South Point of this bay. |
At the time of our visit last October the new monument was under construction, however the site foreman refused us permission to approach it so we got up at 5.30 next morning to visit the site before the workers arrived. |
Cooktown
Following the encounter with Endeavour Reef on the 11th of June 1770, the refloating 24hrs later and with the aid of Jonathan Munkhouse’s fothering the ship crept towards the safe haven of Endeavour River.
On the 14th of June, the crew saw an opening; a headland now called Grassy Hill appeared so the pinnace was sent ahead to find a passage. The news was good, it appeared to offer the perfect place to repair Endeavour, but the wind blew too strongly on the 15/16th to attempt an entrance into the river.
The statue of James Cook looks out to sea, after much effort they escaped the clutches of the Great Barrier Reef on the 13th of August through the Cook Passage.
James Cook climbed Grassy Hill several times to scan the ocean for a safe passage, nothing but reefs. |
Plaque on the statue of James Cook looking out to sea. |
One of the trees used as a bollard to make Endeavour safe when she was hauled up on the riverbank at high tide for much needed repairs at what is now Cooktown. |
At last 3rd lieutenant John Gore managed to bag a kangaroo, that strange animal with a head like a hare but which leapt in great bounds, out sprinting Joseph Banks’ greyhound.. |