Cooktown Queensland

View of Cooktown from Grassy Hill

Cooktown Queensland is the northernmost town on the east coast of Australia, located at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland. In Guugu Yimithirr the name for the region is, Gan.gaarr, which means “(place of the) rock crystals.” Quartz crystals were used in various Aboriginal ceremonies and are found in the vicinity, they were traded at least as far as Mossman, about 300 km south of Cooktown. Captain James Cook beached the Endeavour here in 1770 for repairs after running aground on the Great Barrier Reef. The district is good agriculturallly and the town is also supported by prawning and fishing. For your enjoyment there is Markets at Endeavour Lions Park, every 2nd Sat. June: Cooktown Endeavour Festival (long weekend). with re-enactment of Cook,’s landing. July: Laura-Cape York Aboriginal Dance Festival(odd numbered years).

Home Rule Track and Gap Creek Track
Cedar Bay (Mangkal-Mangkalba) National Park
Cooktown Queensland
Australia

Dense tropical rainforest grows in Cedar Bay National Park, a remote coastal park in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Sandy beaches and fringing reefs are backed by rainforest. There are two walking tracks in Cedar Bay National Park, the Home Rule track and the Gap Creek track. The Home Rule of Cooktown Queensland track traverses attractive rainforest, ascending and descending steeply before arriving at the northern end of Cedar Bay. The early part of the walk follows an old road and involves several creek crossings. The road narrows to a track before Slaty Creek, then ascends to Black Snake Rocks. The track enters the national park on a ridge that affords a glimpse of the sea and descends steeply along an

Home Rule Track and Gap Creek Track

old tin mining track that leads to the beach. A walk south along the beach will take you to the camping area. The Gap Creek track begins on the eastern side of the Cooktown-Bloomfield Road and heads straight into the national park. Initially the track runs parallel to the road before descending to cross Gap Creek. From Gap Creek the track climbs and descends a number of spurs and crosses several gullies before reaching “Centre Garden”, just west of the camping area.

Cape Melville National Park

Cape Melville National Park combines massive granite boulders of the Melville Range with sandstone escarpments of the Altanmoui Range and inland dunefields. These features form part of a living, Aboriginal cultural landscape. Bush camp at Bathurst Bay behind the beach. Drive to Jones Gap for impressive views to Altanmoui Range and south to the Howick River. Look for pied imperial-pigeons and Papuan frogmouths. Cooktown Queensland is a nature lovers delight.

Cooktown Scenic Rim Trail

Cooktown Queensland’s Scenic Rim Trail displays all aspects of the town’s historical and cultural delights. Experience a range of diverse natural habitats, each with their own special features and species. Walk through mangrove lined banks of the Endeavour River, an estuarine environment which forms a complex breeding ground for various wildlife. Pass through open forest on the lower reaches of Mount Cook, until the trail reaches the rainforest. Up through the dim rainforest light, weave past vine thicket and around walls of buttress roots. The trail crosses Alligator Creek, (only cross at low tide) and continues along the beach towards the northern end of Finch Bay. On the decent to the small secluded beach at Cherry Tree Bay enjoy magnificent coastal views. Sometimes fish, turtles and even dugongs can be seen in the bay. The Scenic Rim Trail is broken into nine different sections, catering for a range of fitness levels.

Hope Islands National Park

Hope Islands National Park consists of a pair of low-lying coral cays. West Hope is a shingle cay dominated by hardy mangroves, and East Hope is a typical sandy cay with trees such as beach almond and red coondoo. An important nesting site for pied imperial-pigeons, these islands are significant sea country of the Kuku Yalanji Aboriginal people. Relax and enjoy the natural beauty. Bush camp at one of four campsites on East Hope Island. Watch the birdlife along the shore. Go snorkelling or diving to discover amazing reef life. Make use of public moorings and throw in a fishing line. Cooktown Queensland and adjoining attractions are some of the most beautiful on earth.

Lakefield National Park

Lakefield National Park, Queensland’s second-largest national park, features spectacular wetlands and extensive river systems. Lakefield is a wildlife refuge for threatened species including the red goshawk, Lakeland Downs mouse and spectacled hare-wallaby. Hann and Kalpowar crossings are two of the many significant Aboriginal cultural heritage sites found in this landscape. Bush camp beside a waterhole at one of several peaceful campgrounds. Visit old homestead sites for a brush with history. Fish for barramundi in the waterholes. Watch waterbirds at Low Lake. See lotus-lilies at Red and White Lily lagoons.

Lizard Island National Park

Lizard Island National Park consists of a remote group of five islands set in a turquoise sea, part of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Lizard, the main island, has several sheltered, sandy beaches with easy access to beautiful coral and clam gardens. Snorkel in the sheltered, shallow waters of Watsons Bay. Following in the footsteps of the famous explorer, climb to Cooks Look (395 metres), or walk to the Blue Lagoon on the other side of the island. Bush camp near the beach at peaceful Watsons Bay. At Mary Watson’s cottage, learn about a tragic episode in the island’s history. There are a myriad of things to do and learn in and around Cooktown Queensland.

Mount Cook National Park

Mount Cook National Park, with rugged Mount Cook rising to 431 metres, provides a scenic backdrop to the town of Cooktown. Named in honour of Captain James Cook, this granite hill clad in rainforest and eucalypt woodland is known as Waymbuurr by the Aboriginal Traditional Owners. Take the steep two kilometre walk to the Waymbuurr lookout for scenic views over the Great Barrier Reef and coastline. Climb one kilometre further to Mount Cook’s summit. See large granite boulders covered with ferns. Look for tree snakes and lace monitors. Take binoculars for birdwatching.

A Brief History Of Cooktown Queensland

Cook’s Arrival

Endeavour replica sailing into Cooktown's harbour near the mouth of the Endeavour River where the original Endeavour was beached for 7 weeks in 1770.

The site of modern Cooktown Queensland was the meeting place of two vastly different cultures when, in June 1770, the local Aboriginal Guugu Yimithirr tribe cautiously watched the crippled sailing ship – His Majesty’s Bark Endeavour – limp up the coast seeking a safe harbour after sustaining serious damage to its wooden hull on the Endeavour Reef, south of Cooktown. The Guugu Yimithirr people saw the Endeavour beach in the calm waters near the mouth of their river, which they called “Wahalumbaal”. The captain of the Endeavour, Lieutenant James Cook, wrote: “. . . it was happy for us that a place of refuge was at hand; for we soon found that the ship would not work, and it is remarkable that in the whole course of our voyage we had seen no place that our present circumstances could have afforded us the same relief”.

The British crew spent seven weeks on the site of present-day Cooktown, repairing their ship, replenishing food and water supplies, and caring for their sick. The extraordinary scientist, Joseph Banks, and Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander, who accompanied Cook on the expedition, collected, preserved and documented over 200 new species of plants. The young artist Sydney Parkinson illustrating the specimens and he was the first British artist to portray Aboriginal people from direct observation. After some weeks, Joseph Banks met and spoke with the local people, recording about 50 Guugu Yimithirr words, including the name of the intriguing animal the natives called gangurru (which he transcribed as “Kangaru”). Cook recorded the local name as “Kangooroo, or Kanguru”.

The first recorded sighting of kangaroos by Europeans was on Grassy Hill, which rises above the place where the ship was beached. Cook climbed this hill to work out a safe passage for the Endeavour to sail through the surrounding reefs, after it was repaired. Cook named the river the “Endeavour” after his ship, and, as they sailed north, he hoisted the flag known as the ‘Queen Anne Jack’ and claimed possession of the whole eastern coast of Australia for Britain. He named Cape York Peninsula after the then HRH the Duke of York (“The Grand Old Duke of York”). “In 1886 the people of Cooktown were anxious to recover the brass guns of the Endeavour which were thrown overboard, in order to place them as a memento in their town; but they could not be found, which is not altogether surprising.”

King’s Expedition

The next recorded European expedition to the area was nearly 50 years later, when another botanist, Allan Cunningham, accompanying Captain Phillip Parker King, visited the remarkable region surrounding Cooktown Queensland in 1819-20. He also collected numerous botanical specimens for the British Museum and Kew Gardens.

Gold Rush

In 1872, William Hann discovered gold in the Palmer River, southwest of Cooktown. His findings were reported to James Venture Mulligan who led an expedition to the Palmer River in 1873. Mulligan’s expedition found quantities of alluvial gold and thus began the gold rush that was to bring prospectors to the Endeavour River from all over the world. The Queensland government responded quickly to Mulligan’s reports, and soon a party was dispatched to advise whether the Endeavour River would be a suitable site for a port. Shortly after, a new township was established at the site of the present town, on the southern bank of the river. The Palmer goldfields and its centre, Maytown, were growing quickly. The recorded output of gold from 1873 to 1890 was over half a million ounces (more than 15,500 kg). Cooktown was the port through which this gold was exported and supplies for the goldfields brought in. Word of the gold quickly spread, and Cooktown was

A visit of Chinese Commissioners to Cooktown in 1887.

soon thriving, as prospectors arrived from around the world. Population estimates vary widely, but there were probably around 7,000 people in the area and about 4,000 permanent residents in the town by 1880. At that time, Cooktown Queensland boasted a large number of hotels and guest houses. There were 47 licensed pubs within the town boundaries in 1874 although this number had dropped to 27 by the beginning of 1880. There were also a number of illegal grog shops and several brothels. There were bakeries, a brewery and a soft drinks factory, dressmakers and milliners, a brickworks, a cabinetmaker, and two newspapers.

The port of Cooktown Queensland served the nearby goldfields and, during the goldrush of the 1870s, a Chinese community many thousands strong grew up in the goldfields and in the town itself. The Chinese played an important role in the early days of Cooktown. They came originally as prospectors, but many established market gardens, supplying the town and the goldfields with fruit, vegetables and rice, while others opened shops. However, largely through cultural misunderstandings, conflict broke out between the Aboriginal people and the new settlers, and the diggers. The Cooktown Herald, 8 December 1875, reported: “The natives wholly ignorant of the terrible firepower of fire-arms, and confiding in their numbers, showed a ferocity and daring wholly unexpected and unsurpassed. Grasping the very muzzles of the rifles they attempted to wrest them from the hands of the whites, standing to be shot down, rather than yield an inch….” It was an unequal struggle. Whole tribes were wiped out as European settlement spread over Cape York Peninsula.In 1887, a Chinese Investigation Commission to South-East Asia arrived in Cooktown from Canton to investigate the social conditions of Chinese living in the colonies and to establish consulates in them. The visit went well, General Wong Yung Ho was pleased with what they had found, and cheers were exchanged between the Commission members and local residents as they left on August 7, 1887.

Transport was an ongoing problem for the new settlers. Getting supplies and people to the goldfields often took three weeks. After every wet season the tracks and bridges had to be remade. A railway line from Cooktown to Maytown, was planned, but it took five years to get the 67 miles (108 km) to Laura – and that is where it stopped. By that time the gold was petering out, so the Queensland Government refused further

Locomotive at the Cooktown Railway Station, ca 1889

funding for the venture. In spite of this, the train proved to be a lifeline for the Peninsula people connecting the hinterland to Cooktown, from where one could catch a boat to Cairns and other southern ports. The line was closed in 1961 after the Peninsula Development Road was built connecting Cooktown and other Peninsula communities with Cairns and the Atherton Tableland to the south.

Cooktown’s magnificent Botanic Garden of 62 hectares (154 acres) was established near the town in 1878. Much work was done in the early stages – with wells sunk, water reticulated, garden beds enclosed, stone-lined paths, stone-pitched pools and footbridges made, and lawns, trees and shrubs planted. Although the gardens fell into disrepair, in recent years they have been expanded and are a popular destination for botanists and nature lovers. Most of the early stonework has been restored, and beautiful walking tracks lead the visitor through the Botanic Garden to the magnificent beaches at Finch Bay and Cherry Tree Bay. In 1881, a bridge over the Endeavour River was completed, which opened up the richer pastoral lands of the Endeavour and McIvor River valleys. Tin was found in the Annan River area, south of Cooktown, in 1884. In 1886, Lutheran missionaries came to Cooktown Queensland to establish a secure place for the Aboriginal people who were living in abominable conditions on the edge of the town. Missions were established at Elim on the beach (later they moved inland to Hopevale), and Wujal Wujal, near the mouth of the Bloomfield River.

In 1893 the town was described as follows:

“Cooktown, which now stands on the Endeavour River, is a thriving place, and the northernmost town on this coast. It has some 2000 inhabitants, and is the port for a gold mining district. A deeper channel has now been dredged over the bar that gave Cook so much trouble, but it is not a harbour that will admit large vessels.”

James Cook Museum

With the gold rush over, the number of people living in the area started dwindling. Two major fires struck Cooktown – in 1875 and, again, in 1919 when whole blocks of buildings in the main street were burned to the ground. A major cyclone in 1907 added to the destruction.

World War II

By 1940, little evidence of Cooktown or Maytown’s interesting past remained. During the Second World War, Cooktown became an important base for the war effort. The civilian population of Cooktown Queensland was encouraged to evacuate in face of the Japanese advances and by 1942 the vast majority had left. The Aboriginal people of the Lutheran missions at Hope Vale and Bloomfield were forcibly removed – most being taken south to Woorabinda in May, 1942, while some of the elderly people were sent to Palm Island. The senior missionary, Pastor Schwartz (known as Muni to the local people), was arrested and placed in internment as he were suspected as being an enemy sympathiser. The Aboriginal people were not allowed to return to their homelands until 1949, well after the end of the war. Many Aboriginal people died when moved from their traditional lands, and many Aboriginal and white families never returned from their exile. Some 20,000 Australian and American troops were stationed in and around the town. The busy airfield played a key role in the crucial Battle of the Coral Sea when Japanese expansion towards the Australian mainland was finally halted. The last military unit, the 27th Operational Base Squadron of the RAAF, ceased operations in Cooktown in April 1946.

Since World War II

In 1949, another cyclone devastated the town, and Cooktown’s population declined further. With the closure of the rail link to Laura in 1961 and the “Peninsula Development Road” opened up to the south, the population declined to just a few hundred people before it gradually began to climb again. There is an active Aboriginal Community Centre on the main street called Gungarde (from the original Guugu Yimithirr name for the region). The “Milbi Wall” (or “Story Wall”) marks the place of the first encounter between the British seafarers and the local Aborigines. The Milbi Wall tells the story of Cooktown and the Endeavour River from the perspective of the Aboriginal people, and is an outstanding monument to reconciliation. Cooktown Queensland has recently grown in importance again and has become a popular tourist destination.

Endeavour River

The paving of the Mulligan Highway now provides all-weather access by road for the first time. There are two flights a day connecting Cooktown with Cairns. The town now has good communications, more services, better roads, and offers residents a relaxed and healthy lifestyle.About 2,000 people live in the town itself while about another 4,000 in the region use it as a service centre. Visitors enjoy the delightful tropical environment, the historical connections, and use it as an access point to the Great Barrier Reef, the Lakefield National Park, and for fishing.

Surround Yourself With The Beauty Of Nature in Cooktown Queensland

Cooktown is of particular interest to botanists since the time of James Cook’s visit when extensive collections and illustrations were made of local plants. It is situated at the junction of several vegetation zones including tropical rainforest, sclerophyll forests, sandy dunes and lagoons. Vera Scarth-Johnson, a local resident, gave a priceless collection of her botanical illustrations to the people of Cooktown, which are now housed in a dedicated gallery at Nature’s PowerHouse situated in the Botanic Gardens, and features displays of local flora and fauna. Cooktown Queensland is a service centre for the district including the Aboriginal communities of Hopevale, 47 km to the northwest, and Wujal Wujal, 72 km to the south. Cooktown is the northern terminus of the Bicentennial Heritage Trail, which, at 5,330 km (3,312 miles), is the longest trail of its type in the world. The southern end of the trail is at Healesville, Victoria, a town 52 km north-east of Melbourne. The rugged Mount Cook (231 metres or 758 ft), named on 27 June 1818 by Phillip Parker King, forms a backdrop to the town and is now part of the Mount Cook National Park. Cooktown gets regular strong trade winds over the dry season months of May through to October that provides good conditions for kitesurfing and windsurfing at the beach near the Annan River mouth.

What Else Would You like to Know About Cooktown Queensland, Australia, Australian Towns, Australian Travel, Australian Real Estate, Australian Holidays, Queensland Real Estate, Queensland Holidays