Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Captain Cook's
Landing Place
i
Captain Cook Drive, Botany Bay
National Park, Kurnell.
Tel
9668 2000.
@
7am-7pm daily
(to 5:30pm Jun-Jul).
Discovery Centre
#
987.
Toll Gate
#
11am-3pm Mon-Fri, 10am-
4:30pm Sat & Sun.
¢
25 Dec.
&
6
7
www
.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au
Although difficult to get to,
visitors will find this place
worth the effort. It is, after all,
one of Australia's most impor-
tant European historic sites.
Here James Cook, botanists
Daniel Solander and Joseph
Banks and the crew of HMS
Endeavour
landed on 29 April
1770. Aboriginal peoples with
spears were shot at. One, hit
in the legs, returned with a
shield to defend himself.
Nowadays people can cast
a fishing line from the rock
where the Europeans stepped
ashore. Nearby are the site of
Pampas grass and banana plants in the garden at Elizabeth Farm
Elizabeth Farm
p
70 Alice St, Rosehill.
Tel
9635 9488.
4
the importance of their con-
servation; an interesting exhi-
bition detailing Cook's
exploration of the area; and
an introduction to Aboriginal
customs and culture.
Parramatta.
Parramatta or
Granville.
9:30am-4pm Fri-Sun
(daily in Jan, NSW school hols &
public hols).
#
¢
Good Fri, 25 Dec.
&
Sydney Olympic
Park
o
Homebush Bay.
Tel
9714 7958/
7888.
6
7
-
8
www
.hht.net.au/
museums
The discovery of fertile land
at Parramatta, and the harves-
ting of its first successful grain
crop in 1790, helped save the
fledgling colony from starva-
tion and led to the rapid
development of the area.
This zone was the location
of several of Australia's first
colonial land grants. In 1793,
John Macarthur, who became
a wealthy farmer and sheep
breeder, was granted 40 ha
(100 acres) of land at Parra-
matta. He named the property
after his wife and this was to
be Elizabeth's home for the
rest of her life. Macarthur was
often absent from the farm as
the centre of his wool opera-
tions had moved to Camden.
Part of the house, a simple
stone cottage built in 1793, still
remains and it is the oldest
Olympic Park. Visitors
Centre (1 Showground Rd).
#
9am-
5pm daily.
¢
Good Fri, 25 Dec, 26
Dec, 1 Jan.
www
.
sydneyolympicpark.nsw.gov.au
8
7
-
S
Once host to the 27th Summer
Olympic Games and Paralym-
pic Games, Sydney Olympic
Park is situated at Homebush
Bay, 14 km (8.5 miles) west
of the city centre. Visitors can
follow a self-guided walk or
buy a ticket for a guided tour
to access venues such as the
Showground and the Super-
Dome. The interactive “Exp-
lore, Telstra Stadium Tour”
gives a taste of some of the
stadium's best-loved sporting
moments. For nature lovers,
there is a tour of the five wet-
lands of the Bicentennial
Park. You can buy tickets for
tours at the Visitor's Centre.
Other facilities at the park
include the Aquatic Centre,
with a kids waterpark, and
the Tennis Centre, where you
can play in the footsteps of
such greats as Lleyton Hewitt.
There are picnic areas and
cafés throughout the park and
on the fourth Sunday of every
month you can sample fresh
produce and gourmet food at
the Boulevard Market.
Cook's Obelisk, overlooking Botany
Bay, Captain Cook's Landing Place
a well where, Cook recorded,
a shore party “found fresh
water sufficient to water the
ship” and a monument which
marks the first recorded Euro-
pean burial in Australia.
There are also monuments
to Solander, Banks and Cook,
but it is the peaceful ambience
that is most impressive. Now
part of Botany Bay National
Park, Captain Cook's Landing
Place has lovely walks, some
accessible to wheelchairs,
where visitors may roam and
observe the flora which led to
the naming of Botany Bay.
The Discovery Centre in the
park focuses on a number of
themes: the bay's wetlands and
John Macarthur, 1766-1834
