Kurnell, New South Wales
The Kurnell Peninsula Headland, ( German: Cape of Kurnell Peninsula ) at the Botany Bay, the area is on the James Cook first time on April 29, 1770 set foot on Australian soil. The southeastern area at the tip of the peninsula with significant historical traces was provided by the Australian government in 2004 under national monument.
History
Cook sailed his ship, the Endeavour, on the east coast of Australia in search of a safe landing site along after he had come from Tasmania. He found on the northeastern coast of the Kurnell Peninsula a suitable place and staying for eight days there, surveyed the coast and took on food and water. The British saw the indigenous population, but Cook tried unsuccessfully to contact the resident Aborigines of Gweagal.
" I thought thatthey beckoned to come ashore, but in this we were mistaken, for as soon as we put the boat in again They come to oppose us ... I fired a musket in between the two Which had no effect ... one of them Took a stone and threw it at us ... " (Cook 's journal, April 29, 1770)
The naturalist Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, the Swedish botanist explored in the eight days of their residence time, the Kurnell Peninsula, Botany Bay. They provided the first scientific results about the Australian flora and fauna. A tree species that Banks discovered at that time, the Banksia, is named in his honor after him.
Cooks detailed description of Botany Bay and the Peninsula, the presence of water, meant that the British sailors of the First Fleet possessed accurate information.
The first-time entering Australia and the journey of Cook is not only enshrined in the memory of European history, even in remote areas of Australia, in Victoria, Central Australia and the Northern Territory it is common among the Aborigines.
Conservation
Due to the historical significance of this area of the southeastern part of the Kurnell Peninsula was made on 20 September 2004 by the Australian Government under the national monument and entered into the Australian National Heritage List. The area covers approximately 400 ha within the Botany Bay National Park.
Monuments
On the reserve of the Kurnell Peninsula there are several monuments that can be achieved on trails, there are:
- Captain Cook Memorial Obelisk
- Sir Joseph Banks Memorial
- Daniel Solander Monument
- Joseph Banks Monument
In addition, located on the Kurnell Peninsula a grave sign of British sailors Forby Sutherland, who was the first Briton who died in Australia. He died during the stay of tuberculosis on May 2, 1770.
Photos
Monument to Cook's landing place
Monument to Joseph Banks
Monument for Daniel Solander
Bronze badge on Cook's landing place
Grave stone of Forby Sutherland