Day 59: Thu 23 Jun - Cooktown

Day 59: Thu 23 Jun - Cooktown

20 – 26°. Strong winds with gusts reaching 70km/h overnight made for a very restless night. At times the wind was so strong and noisy it sounded like a train running through the van - it was especially worrying with all the tall trees around us, but thankfully they are tea trees and not gum trees which are apparently much more susceptible to losing limbs in such windy conditions. The day remained windy until around mid afternoon, when it dropped to about 25km/h with gusts to 47km/h, but it also started raining which continued late into the evening. 

Greg and I went for a longer than usual morning walk into town and along the foreshore of the Endeavour River. It was a nice clear morning with lovely light, but the wind gusts were horrible. After returning to our vans for breakfast, Noeleene and I went back into town for another walk along the esplanade, then we all met up for coffee and morno's at the Driftwood Cafe. Afterwards, Noeleene and I continued walking around the foreshore while Greg and Wendy went their way on their bikes. We finished off our touristy  morning with a drive up to the lookout and lighthouse at the top of Grassy Hill which has magnificent views overlooking Cooktown, the Endeavour River and the Coral Sea. 

After lunch back at the van, it was still windy but it also started to drizzle. Noeleene did some domestics, while i went to school watching Greg work out an issue with the brakes on the right rear wheel of his caravan, which has been overheating. After a bit of detective work, Greg established that he either has a bent axel or needs a wheel alignment. The solution until we return to Mareeba for a professional assessment is to remove the magnet from the faulty brake, figuring he still has three other brakes to do the job for now. After re-fitting the wheel, we set off on the bikes for a quick reccy ride to find the carpark to access the Mt Cook walk which Greg and I will do tomorrow morning. It's only a 6km return walk, but apparently quite a strenuous one.  Satisfied with where to go, we returned to move my van forward about 10m from under a suspect looking tree, followed by a pre-dinner drink and a very tasty baked chicken and vegetables done in the Air Fryer - life's tough. 


James Cook Monument commemorating Cook's landing on 17 June 1770

James Cook Monument commemorating Cook's landing on 17 June 1770

The Cooktown Cannon dating from 1881 was cast in Scotland in 1803 and is still fired on the Queen's Birthday Weekend in June

About the Cooktown Cannon dating from 1881 

The Old Town Well - one of many water wells which use to supply Cooktown's water

Endeavour River

Endeavour River

Endeavour River

Stone Cairn marking where Cook beached the Endeavour

Milbi Wall - a 12m long Story Wall created by local Aboriginal artists 

'Mick the Miner' in memory of  the Palmer River Gold Rush

Trawler moored on the Endeavour River

Monument celebrating the contribution that Chinese migrants made to Cooktown

About the Chinese Monument

Old Cooktown Courthouse

Dinner venue last night -The RSL Club (excellent food)

Post Office in the morning sun

Cooktown History Centre

Cooktown Creative Arts Centre - originally the Railway Station

James Cook Statue

River of life walkway along the foreshore - hand-painted and carved ceramic tiles

River of life walkway along the foreshore - hand-painted and carved ceramic tiles 

River of life walkway along the foreshore - hand-painted and carved ceramic tiles 

A very windy day - hard to capture how strong it was in a photo

Cooktown Foreshore

Cooktown Foreshore

View from Grassy Hill over the Endeavour River

View from Grassy Hill over the Cooktown


View from Grassy Hill over the Coral Sea


View from Grassy Hill over the Coral Sea



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