Cooktown

Cooktown sits at the mouth of the Endeavour River, where Cook's ship was beached for seven weeks in 1770 after striking the reef, the longest the expedition spent anywhere in Australia and the period in which Banks and Solander collected extensively and the crew recorded the word kangaroo from the Guugu Yimithirr people. A century later the Palmer River gold rush turned it into a port of thousands with dozens of hotels and a large Chinese population; the reef and the gold both faded and the town shrank. The James Cook Museum, in a convent building, holds the Endeavour's anchor and cannon. Grassy Hill gives the view Cook used to find a way out through the reef.

History

The Guugu Yimithirr call the region Gangaar, place of the rock crystals, quartz they traded far to the south, and in June 1770 they watched the damaged Endeavour come up the coast after striking the reef and beach near the mouth of their river, Wahalumbaal. Cook's crew spent seven weeks here repairing the ship, and Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander collected and described more than 200 new species of plants, drawn by the young artist Sydney Parkinson. A century later the town was founded on 25 October 1873 as the supply port for the Palmer River goldfields, called Cook's Town until 1 June 1874 (Wikipedia, Cooktown, Queensland).

The main sights

• The James Cook Museum - the Endeavour's anchor and cannon in a former convent.
• Grassy Hill - the lookout Cook climbed to search for a passage through the reef.
• The gold-era streetscape - surviving buildings from the boom years.
• The Botanic Gardens - one of the oldest in Queensland, dating from 1878.

When to go

May to October, the dry season; the wet brings heavy rain and can cut roads. The Cooktown Discovery Festival falls in June. The Bloomfield Track along the coast is four-wheel drive only and closes in the wet.

Things to know

It is a long drive from Cairns, around four hours on the inland road. The coastal track is rough and seasonal. Services are limited, and the town is quiet outside festival time. Crocodiles are present in the river and swimming is unwise.

Nearby

The Daintree and Cape Tribulation lie south; Lizard Island is offshore.

Key facts