Friday, September 26, 2008

Day 148 Hope Island - Cooktown


Finally the wind eased for us to move onto Cooktown. Cooktown is a small frontier town located in the far north of Tropical North Queensland. Cooktown boasts a unique character that is evidenced from its years of geographic isolation and hard-living, but it is this local charm that makes it all the more appealing. Add to this the unspoilt natural beauty of the area, and you'll really feel like you've stumbled back in time and across a local secret. Cooktown is Australia's first non-indigenous settlement, discovered and settled by Captain Cook and his crew in 1770. It was the site of the first white 'settlement' in Australia when Captain James Cook, having accidentally struck the Great Barrier Reef off the coast north of Cape Tribulation, struggled up the coast and beached the H.M. Barque Endeavour on the shores of the Endeavour River. Cook and his crew were to stay on the river's edge from 17 June to 4 August, 1770: the greatest amount of time they were to spend at any one location in Australia.
There are no fewer than six monuments to Captain Cook in the town. Sadly while we were there a man was taken by a crocodile. (there were drag marks into the river) There are signs everywhere and click here for the brochure made freely available. We certainly kept an eye out as we were anchored very close to the attack!

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