Saturday, October 25, 2014

Cooktown, day 2...

On Tuesday Mr E had a day free between work meetings so we packed water, fresh fruit, my stitching, some audio books, and headed west up the mountain range, then north to...
I'd only been there once before, back in 2011 when we rode the motorbike 900 kilometres in one day for a long weekend stay, but I've always wanted to return.
First of all we drove to the top of the lookout and gazed over this tiny coastal town...



With only two hours to spend in Cooktown (it's an 8 hour round trip from Cairns)  we knew exactly what we would be doing, so next stop was the Captain Cook Museum!


In the early days of the last century this was a convent and school...



Everything about it is beautifully crafted...


The top floor verandah has magnificent views out over the harbour...


...and large frangipani trees all along one side that are so high they tip onto the verandah.


Inside we did not know where to begin as the museum holds a vast amount of incredibly interesting and beautiful things, like this staircase. The students would climb and descend it every day when moving from their dormitory to the classroom. It's incredibly narrow - just 12 inches wide and some steps were only about 3 inches in depth...



I was transfixed by this hand painted Lord's Prayer, a gift from the Irish artist, Father Dempsey...


Mr E spent much of his time in the Captain Cook/Endeavour room. The anchor and cannon are originals from the ship...



Meanwhile, I spent much of my time looking at the vast array of artifacts gathered from the area around the late 1800's - early 1900's...








This is carved ivory, and belonged to the local police officer who stored his 'calling cards' inside...


 (There was something else incredibly lovely that I found at the Museum but I'll wait until next week to share about it because it sparked an idea...)

We left the Museum with hearty appetites and there is nothing better to eat in Cooktown than fresh fish! We love how they serve it on a bed of rice with a quarter of lemon...


After a short walk around the harbour...


...and a few stops to capture the glorious colours surrounding the walkways...




...we waved goodbye to Cooktown and headed south once more.


What a memorable day we had!

hugs


17 comments:

Christine M said...

What a fascinating museum. I just love seeing old things like that. Cooktown looks like a lovely place. I've never been that high up in Australia.

Victoria said...

I am constantly amazed by the views & the architecture of your country.

Allie said...

Seeing as how I'll probably never get there, I'm so glad I got to go through you - looks like an amazing place, Jenny!!!

cucki said...

Wow so beautiful and amazing x

Maria said...

Love your photo's Jenny - it sure brought back some memories. I hitchhiked up to Cooktown from Cairns, via Port Douglas, about 28 years ago (well before Jesus entered my life!!) and had a ball. We were befriended by some lovely local folk who owned the local bookstore, come everything you want store, who took us out to a pub in the middle of nowhere called the Tin Hut (maybe the Tin Shed?) - stopping on along the way to fill up the little ones drink cups from a stream that was full of gold dust! Australia is such a land of wonders!

Tammy said...

What beautiful pictures. That stair case is amazing and looks extremely dangerous...lol...guess they didn't have building codes way back when..

Patricia said...

Beautiful, thanks for sharing!

Patricia

Kathleen said...

Beautiful pictures. Thank you for continuing to share your travels.

Lin said...

Great pictures Jenny - thank you. Love all those artifacts but the buckle is stunning! xx

Farm Quilter said...

Another beautiful day Down Under!! I'm so glad you always take your camera and take us along on your adventures!! You just keep adding places to visit to my bucket list!

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

Great post Jenny...I am intrigued by the last verse....something 'lost His parents in France and found them n Tasmania'. I'm wondering do you recall the first part? Thanks Jenny!

Victoria said...

Hi Jenny! Lovely photographs, in fact I've changed my laptop wallpaper with the photograph you show of the plant with the little pink flowers in your today's post. Thank you very much!!

Christina said...

Lovely pictures as usual. Thank you for sharing another adventure with us.

Anonymous said...

Ah, it's working at the moment - yay! I look forward to seeing the other pictures you took.

Unknown said...

Thank you Jenny... for your trip photos. We were in Cooktown in 2000... we loved every minute... every location. Of Our trip from USA to Austrailia...was a Wonderful country of beautiful people and is one we always hope to return to.... It's so worth the long flight... as is it's neighbor island New Zealand.

Clairellen said...

Thank you so much, Jenny. I'll never get to Australia but just love your posts, especially the historical ones like this. Please do more if you're able. Know that we are enjoying them all the way over in the USA, in northern Michigan.

Baa. xxx said...

What lovely interesting things in the museum.