Next stop was Cooktown, a small town further up the reef coast. It has the distinction of being one of 13 places Lieutenant Cook made landfall on his exploration of the Australian east coast (and the longest time he spent on shore). He had run aground on a reef just of Cape Tribulation (so named for all the troubles he was having) and limped his ship into the bay where Cooktown now sits. The ship was hauled onto the beach and the hole repaired within two weeks. The unhelpful blustery winds (which we are also experiencing, big time!) kept the crew in the bay for another 34 days. Serendipitously we happen to be here on the anniversary of the Endeavour landfall, 17 June 1770, and for the Cooktown Discovery Festival that celebrates the event when two cultures met, clumsily communicated and interacted peacefully. Weird coincidence: we were in The Township of 1770 on the anniversary of Cook’s landing there (May) and are now in Cooktown on the next landfall anniversary (June).
We have spent our days exploring the surrounds and slowing down, getting into the Cape York/Far North Queensland vibe. That said, we did a fairly hectic ‘dash’ to the top (or tip) of Australia – to Cape York/Pajinka. We joined a fly/drive tour from Cooktown, flying north for two hours in a small plane just above and along the outer barrier reefs to the Northern Peninsula Airport at Bamaga. Even in the overcast light the reefs were still colourful and stretched for kilometres. From Bamaga, we jumped in a minibus for the 40km ride to the tip. Our driver and guide shared stories (in some cases, the same story three times!) and explained the history of the cape settlements on our bumpy 1½-hour ride along the corrugated, muddy, bauxite-red road to the cape (yes, that long to go that distance). A short beach-and-rock walk took us to the legendary tip, with its bullet-holed sign informing us we had made it to the ‘northernmost point of the Australian continent’. The weather closed in, so our return flight was above the rainclouds, meaning not much to see but white! Alistair passed the time getting a private lesson from Ben, the pilot, about the intricacies of the cockpit dials, radio frequencies and electronic flight instruments while sitting in the copilot seat.
Cooktown owes its existence to the 1880s discovery of gold in the hinterland; it developed as the coastal port for export. It has also had more than its fair share of natural disasters in its short history – town fires and cyclones regularly destroying buildings – and was almost abandoned in the 30s. The influx of personnel and the building of infrastructure during WWII was a lifeline. It still gets hit with cyclones and the locals endure the months of wet-season heat and isolation. Today it is the service town for the area and is developing its tourism options.
We visited all the cultural aspects of the town – art galleries, museums, craft centres, the re-enactment and reconciliation centre, the botanic gardens, scenic lookouts, public sculpture walk and several sundowner spots (there are many to choose from). We took day trips into the hinterland to see aboriginal art, unusual rock formations, coastal headlands, bird lagoons, lonely lighthouses, old homesteads, coloured sand cliffs, lily-filled crater lakes and croc-free freshwater waterfalls. A bonus is that we have reconnected with a couple we first met at Mission Beach, Shane and Clare, and explored many of these local sites together. The four of us enjoyed a sunset cruise up the Endeavour River, appreciating a delicious charcuterie board, our own wines and a glorious sunset.
The Cooktown Discovery Festival runs for three days on the weekend nearest the anniversary, and we stayed an extra few days to experience the fun. The Festival Village was a busy place, with market stalls, live bands and civic events, and the town’s main street hosted busking, a street parade and historical re-enactments (gold delivery on horseback and a 1½-hour educative Cook’s Landing and First Contact performance) and a spectacular 10-minute firework display. Cooktown, with its local attractions, discovery festival and surrounding landmarks and points of interest, was a terrific place to visit.
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