Cooktown, Far North Queensland

8-9^th August 2007

This is the mangrovy river mouth that is used by boats to dig themselves into during a cyclone.

Lt. Cook chose the sandbank close to the shore here at Cooktown to careen his ship Endeavour to mend the hole In the planking caused by the coral digging into it when he went aground on Cape Tribulation on 11^th June 1768

Cooktown seen from Grassy Hill outlook.  It became an important town during the Gold Mining period in the 1870’s, then went to rack and ruin until tourism took over again in the 1980’s.

The Wharf restaurant and cafe is well situated to contemplate where Endeavour would have been careened, and just watching life going on at the waters edge with excellent food, or just fish and chips

The James Cook Museum has the original anchor and canon which Cook had to jettison to try and refloat his ship, plus the view given by the elder aboriginals who thought these white people must be ‘gods’.

The statue of James Cook in the town, contemplating how he might escape all the sandbanks

That he had to negotiate to get out of the Great Barrier Reef.  This lighthouse was not installed until 100 years later, when ships carrying supplies for the influx of people during the goldrush needed it.

Finches Beach is right next to the entrance to the Endeavour river, beware grounding on these boulders!

Milkwood, our self-contained cottage for the night, was well placed on the edge of the rainforest, even if we were woken up in the middle of the night by this scrub turkey walking on the roof, and scratching around outside!

We drove back to Cairns via the inland road, longer but so much faster, through hilly but much drier country, used for Brahmen cattle, wandering across the road.