Cooktown

After being woken up by some bogan in a Winnebago at 0330 and on the phone so everyone could hear, I had a great start to the day!

Anyway, it did not go too badly. I started by getting the washing done and hung out by about 0745. The wind blows so well here, the moisture leaves damp clothes very fast ably assisted by the warmth, 24 degrees.

As soon as the washing was organised, I set off on my bike for a look around the town. It is not a very big town but it is steeped in history. Also, there are some steep little hills around here. Enough to make the front of the bike want to lift up.

The name of the town, Cooktown, came about following Capt. James Cook in 1770 having to careen his ship the Endeavour after receiving damage from hitting the Great Barrier Reef. He had to be here for about 40 days while it was repaired. The river was named by Cook after his ship, Endeavour. A lot took place while Cook was here with discovery and naming of new plants.

About a century later, gold was discovered in the Palmer River region which is not too far away from this port. This town saw a lot of people arrived by the safest means, which happened to be by sea. A large number of Chinese gold diggers arrived through Cooktown and as a result there was a large population that lived here in those days. During this time Cooktown was around 35,000 people. 

However, following the cessation of gold mining the town slid to about 200 people and during World War II most of the population was evacuated and became a military base. Following the War, the population faded away until in the late 1950s it started to grow again due to tourism and today is a larger and vibrant town with it still expanding again. By the state of caravan parks here, tourism is booming with parks full almost every night.

So the day was mainly wandering around the town visiting some of the sites including a visit to the Botanic Gardens and Nature’s Powerhouse. Afterwards, I was checking out the various historic points which are well described on the “Welcome to Cooktown” map. We can thank Apt Cook for deciding to visit here to repair his vessel. 

It is hard to get a decent coffee here and I will probably have to get used to that although there was one coffee shop closed for some reason today. Tomorrow, I hope it has nice cappuccinos.

During the middle of the day, I repaired a leak on the filter that looks after the water into the Karavan.

I did go for a swim in the pool here again this afternoon and chatted to a few doing the same, cooling off. Later, a lovely young couple, Sam and Rebecca and their little son, came to have a look at the Kimberley Karavan. They have been travelling for a while from Tasmania and tomorrow they turn for a slow trip home to Bridgeport.