The Explorers, The 1st Voyage of Captain James Cook.

Perhaps the most famous Explorer of them all, Captain James Cook embaked upon three epic voyages of exploration between 1768 and 1779, discovering vast new lands, charting coastlines of eastern Australia, circumnavigating and charting New Zealand, the Hawaiian Islands and many other Pacific Islands,  exploring and charting the west coast of North America from Oregon to Alaska, venturing into the Bering Sea looking for the North West Passage. Also sailed south of the Antarctic Circle on several occaisions looking for the mythical southern continent, Terra Australis. A truely remarkable man of the times. Like the earlier explorer, Magellan, he was killed ( and eaten ) by natives in Hawaii during his third voyage.
James Cook is a highly venerated figure in Australian history as he was the first European explorer to sight and later land on the east coast at Botany Bay in April 1770. His and the ships botanist Sir Joesph Banks glowing reports of the region to the British Admiralty inspired the British Government to commision the First Fleet of settlers and convicts to faraway New South Wales, they arrived at Botany Bay in Jan 1788. Finding the Botany Bay area unsuitable, they relocated to protected harbour anchorage at Port Jackson, the site of today's Sydney.
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Plymouth


Maderia 


Rio de Janeiro


Punta Arenas


Tahiti


Bora Bora


Poverty Bay ( Gisborne )


Botany Bay ( Sydney Airport )


Cooktown


Batavia ( Jakarta )


Cape Town


Saint Helena


The 'Endevour' and ships crew arrived home at Plymouth in July 1771