Issue No. 8, July 2001
Latest News
The BBC will begin filming their series in Queensland in August 2001. The series will concentrate on the Endeavour voyage and, amongst other things, will attempt to recreate life aboard the ship. The replica Endeavour will be used in the filming. The BBC hopes to have it ready for screening in the UK in late 2002.
Natural History NZ has begun researching a series of its own that will attempt to look at Cook in different ways. People with an interest in Cook will be invited to discuss their viewpoints about the explorer. This series is still at the research stage and has not guaranteed funding as yet.
And there is a possiblity that Channel Four in the UK may make a Cook series as well. This series is still just an idea. We will be well served in the near future.
A visit to Southeast Australia, May 2001. John Robson
I recently spent ten days in Australia and James Cook was the focus for much of the visit. The visit began in Melbourne, which I had not been to for 30 years. I had contacted Riemer Brouwer, the Australian representative for the Captain Cook Study Unit before I left and we arranged to meet at Cook's Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens.
I was able to look round the cottage, examine the statue in the garden and write some postcards before Riemer turned up. The cottage was much how I remembered it but it was interesting to see the statue. This was previously situated in the Melbourne suburb of Endeavour Hills but had been moved from there to Cook's Cottage recently. Postcards posted at the cottage receive a special franking.
When Riemer arrived, he was accompanied by Ken Sheahan, another Melbourne CCSU member. We adjourned to the café in the Gardens and enjoyed a long and interesting conversation, mostly, of course, about Cook. From them, I learned that the statue previously in North Fitzroy was no longer there, which saved a journey. They also told me that the secondhand book dealers, Gaston Renard, no longer operated in Melbourne so I was denied the opportunity to spend my money. Riemer took me, instead, to a print dealer who had some lovely charts and prints from Cook's travels. I enjoyed very much meeting with Riemer and Ken and appreciate them coming in from the suburbs to meet me.
The next day, I took the tram out to St. Kilda, where I saw the statue of Cook that looks out onto Port Phillip Bay. His view is becoming more restricted as a shopping and café complex goes up by the water's edge and joins a yacht club between Cook and the water.
Four days in Melbourne was sufficient and I hired a car with the intention of driving to Sydney following the coast so that I could visit or see some of the features associated with Cook. Distances, of course, are deceptive in Australia and I was later than I hoped when I left the highway at Cann River to drive down to Point Hicks. It takes 45 minutes to negotiate the dirt road down to the coast at Thurra River and it was already late in the afternoon when I parked the car near the sea. The track was blocked and I could not get close to the point and the lighthouse with the car. I calculated the return walk would have me driving back up the track in the dark so I contented myself with a long distance view of Point Hicks (Cape Everard) and the lighthouse.
Regaining the highway, I pushed on to spend the night at Eden, enjoying one of the best meals I have eaten in a long time. It is a beautiful spot and I regretted not being there at the right time to go whale watching. Driving north the next day, the first point of interest was Mount Dromedary near Narooma. Montague Island nestled just offshore. Continuing on past Batemans Bay I reached Burrill Lake and, after a little searching, located a small memorial to Cook by the side of the lake. The memorial mentioned the nearby peak, Pigeon House, named by Cook as he sailed north up the coast.
Nowra was supposed to have a memorial to Cook in the form of a boat and I went into the local information centre to ask where I could find the boat. None of the staff had any idea but a phone call provided the information that it used to be over the road from the centre. It had been removed for repairs but was not expected to return.
I had timed my visit to Australia to see an exhibition, "Cook and Omai: the cult of the South Seas", that was being held in the National Library of Australia in Canberra. I now, therefore, left the coast and headed inland to Canberra. It was worth the whole trip and more. Rex Nan Kivell, originally a New Zealander who became a book dealer in London, amassed a huge collection of books, paintings, charts and prints about the South Pacific. Sadly for New Zealand, he bequested and sold it to Australia and it now resides in their National Library. Many of the items have Cook connections and so the National Library has one of the most wonderful collections of Cook material anywhere in the world. Many of the treasures had been brought out to form the exhibition, which concentrated on the role Mai (commonly known as Omai) played in the Cook story.
Suffice to say the exhibition was marvellous. There, in front of me, were all these items familiar from the books of Bernard Smith and Andrew David, amongst others. Paintings by Hodges and Webber adorned the walls while cabinets held original journals, charts, letters and much, much more. The hope would be that the exhibition will travel the world for others to see these treasures.
Time in Canberra was short and, while I also saw the Captain Cook Water Jet and drove down Captain Cook Street, I did not get to the National Portrait Gallery to see their recently acquired Cook portrait. Nor did I see the Globes memorial by Lake Burley Griffin that depict Cook's voyages. I did get to the new National Museum but Cook hardly raises a mention and, even then, they make mistakes. A supposed picture of Cook's Endeavour is, in fact, a later Endeavour from about 1790.
Leaving Canberra, I headed back to the coast to resume my journey north to Sydney. I made for Kiama where I managed to locate a Cook memorial at Endeavour Lookout near Little Blowhole Reserve. So far, the trip had been past features seen and named by Cook but not visited by him with memorials erected around 1970 to mark the 200th anniversary of his voyage. North of Kiama lay Bulli where Cook had attempted to land.
Before then, I went to Red Point at Port Kembla, which afforded a wonderful view north toward Bulli. The islands off the point including Tom Thumb were clearly visible, as were the line of beaches that had attracted Cook. At Flagstaff Point in Wollongong I discovered a Cook memorial that had not been on my list. A piece of metal in the shape of ship's sails is set in a cairn and records the visit of the Endeavour. Cook is believed to have tried to land on Bulli Beach but gave up because of the ferocity of the surf. Collins Point, just south of this beach, has a memorial to what would have been Cook's first landing in Australia.
The listing of memorials in New South Wales that I had used to identify Cook memorials reported one at Appin, to the northwest of Bulli. To reach Appin, I had to climb the Bulli escarpment and the view from the top alone was worth the climb. The whole coast south back to Kiama could be seen clearly. Appin though was a disappointment as I could not find any signs of a memorial and the couple of people I asked appeared never to have heard of Cook, never mind a memorial to him.
Mention had been made on the online Cook discussion group shortly before I went to Australia about a memorial to Elizabeth Cook in South Sydney. As I was going to Kurnell, I had the perfect opportunity to call in on the way and see the memorial in the E.G. Waterhouse Camellia Gardens at the head of Yowie Bay, Miranda. There is a small, attractive area of the garden given over to the memory of Mrs. Cook.
Kurnell has always been a highlight of a visit to Sydney but this time I came away a little disappointed. I had read the newspaper reports earlier in the year about the possibility of building a new airport on the Kurnell Peninsula and how it would destroy the feel of the place. However, driving along Captain Cook Drive to reach Kurnell, you realise that the oil refinery and other businesses along the way have already spoilt the approach to one of Australia's historic sites. To compound the air of negativity, the Discovery Centre has been allowed to run down. The grounds and the memorials are still well maintained and a walk around the headland is still a wonderful experience but the centre does not appear to have people, knowledgeable about and interested in Cook. Nor is there any longer a shop where you can buy items related to Cook.
Some days later I visited the Laperouse Museum on the other side of the entrance to Botany Bay and was struck by the difference. This museum, which has to fight for funding, carries a very good display of material about Laperouse and had a person on duty, who was enthusiastic about the French explorer. Sadly, it only served to highlight how poorly Cook and people interested in him are being served at Kurnell. I am not suggesting the creation of a Disney-style theme park but Kurnell could be far better staged and promoted as a tourist spot.
Leaving Kurnell, I returned along Captain Cook Drive to cross the George's River by the Captain Cook Bridge. A busy road runs north from Sans Souci along the western edge of Botany Bay to Cook's River, next to Sydney Airport at Mascot and, for much of its length, a ervery thin park lies between it and the water. In some places it is only a few metres wide but it is called Cook Park. I tried to locate a Cook memorial in this park at Brighton-le-Sands but parking was difficult and I gave up.
Next day, I went into the centre of Sydney and made my usual visit to Cook's statue in Hyde Park. For many years a piece of open ground at the intersection of William and College Streets, a hundred metres from Cook's statue, has appeared on maps as Cook Park. There was never anything there and nothing to link it to James Cook. It has now been developed with buildings and new planting of trees and shrubs, and has been renamed Cook+Phillip Park. Signs carry pictures of Captain Cook and Governor Arthur Phillip.
The Mitchell Library, part of the State Library of New South Wales, published the definitive bibliography about Cook in 1970. Unfortunately, the wealth of material that has appeared since then has not had the benefit of a similar bibliography and previously the Mitchell had indicated it had no intention to produce another. Cliff Thornton visited the Library a few months ago and he received word that, after all, they were considering a new bibliography. Before flying to Australia I contacted the Library and arranged a meeting to discuss this possibility.
I went along ready to offer my assistance if such a project became a reality. However, a new person had just taken over in charge of the Library and she told me that another Cook bibliography carried no priority for her. She did not have the staff or other resources to create such a tool. I contented myself by taking pictures of the reliefs of Cook and his ships in the metal doors of the library. Sydney Town Hall is a short walk from the Library and went across to see one of its unheralded treasures. I sought permission to enter so I could see the beautiful stained glass window showing Cook on the deck of one of his ships. The window was designed by Lucien Henry and dates from 1889. It is well worth a visit.
The last Cook related item on my agenda was a trip to Randwick to see Cook's statue there. My route took me past the Captain Cook Hotel overlooking Moore Park. The red sandstone statue of Cook stands in a tiny triangular enclosure where Avoca Street and Bellmore Road intersect, close by the Randwick Shopping Centre.
A very full and satisfying trip to Australia was over and it was time to fly back to Hamilton.
I am compiling a list of Cook memorials. It can be seen at Cook memorials. Please let me knoe about omissions and errors.
Forthcoming or recently published books
The book Young Nick's Head by Karen Hesse, reviewed in New Zealand Herald (14 July 2001) is the same one previously listed under the title, Stowaway. For some reason, the publishers have chosen to use a different name in New Zealand.
Interesting homepages with Cook connections.
NZ CCSU news.
A couple of members have dropped out in the last year but we have also gained some new people and currently we have 18 members.
Please feel free to contribute to this newsletter and send articles, letters, news, etc for inclusion in future editions. Back issues may be seen at NZ James Cook Journal. Perhaps people would like to introduce themselves and give details about their interest in Cook.
John Robson
232 b Old Farm Road, Hamilton
home ph 07-856-4807 jcr@quicksilver.net.nz
work ph 07-856-2889 x 6522 j.robson@waikato.ac.nz