Day 62 - COOKTOWN, AUSTRALIA

 Date: 3/7/2024       Day 62 ⚓                   Anchor Port: COOKTOWN, AUSTRALIA

Description: This quaint frontier town, scenically located on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Cooktown is the site of Australia’s first European settlement. The town is named after the famous South Seas explorer Captain Cook, and Cook’s Pillar marks the spot where his ship, the Endeavour landed ashore in 1770. Grassy Hill offers a 360° panorama of the countryside and pristine beaches. The area remains a near-wilderness offering dramatic mountains, eucalypts, mangroves and rainforests, heathlands, grasslands, and rivers for the adventurous traveler.

Planned Excursion: HISTORIC COOKTOWN Cancelled

8:15 AM 2.0 Hours                          Moderate Activity                           # CNS-001: Free

Enjoy a guided overview of Australia’s first non-indigenous settlement, founded temporarily and by accident by Captain James Cook.  Drive through town and up to the top of Grassy Hill, where Cook saw much the same views you will.  Visit a museum brimming with artifacts from Cook’s ship, from journals to an anchor and cannon.  Take a relaxed stroll through tropical botanic gardens established in 1878 and see colorful, curious plants long-used for food and medicine by local aboriginal peoples.

Today's Notes: Our stop in Cooktown was cancelled do to weather conditions.  It was to rough to take the tender (lifeboats) into town.  The captain reported that conditions were expected to worsen by the afternoon.  So I have an additional day to review and process pictures and video taken over the past few days.