The Cooktown in which we are currently sitting has arisen almost phoenix like from the decline which steadily beset the town since the end of the gold rush boom days. The combination of that, the early fires and cyclones, WW2 evacuations, the 1949 cyclone, the closure of the rail link to Laura in 1961 and the opening of the Peninsular Development Road, which allowed those in this area to more readily move south, all served to reduce Cooktown's population to a few hundred.
Then the locals fought back. Like so many other Australian towns facing economic decline with the end of a major local industry (Broken Hill is a good example) the good folk of Cooktown realised that tourism could well be their saviour, and indeed it has been.
And why not. The long main street of Cooktown is awash with history. The town is also ideally located as a jump-off point for those adventurers for whom a bash to 'The Tip' is an irresistible challenge. Indeed, we have never seen so many dust and mud caked 4WD's, laden with all manner of roof packs or towing genuine off-road campers, in one place at one time....and they turn over every day! We have conservatively estimated that in any one 24 hour period Cooktown hosts upwards of 100 of these rigs, some of which just have to be seen to be believed.
This one example pictured is relatively conservative when compared to some.
This one example pictured is relatively conservative when compared to some.
The way in which these vehicles and their often somewhat jaded looking occupants can be found at either the supermarket or the bakery, and the number who have staggered into our caravan park "looking for a patch of grass for the night", as we heard one say, is a demonstration of the significance of the provisioning or respite offered in Cooktown.
The town now boasts a resident population of just over 2,000. It is estimated that it provides services for another 4,000 who live in the area, folk involved in tourism, grazing, fishing and a burgeoning mining industry. This resurgence in the town's fortunes also demonstrates just how critical the provision of a good, all weather highway can be. Things have really looked up since the Mulligan Highway was finally completed in 2006.
But enough of the present, Let's take a stroll down Charlotte Street and beyond and soak up some of 'historical Cooktown'.
The length of Charlotte Street makes it impossible to show in one photo. Here is one view looking east on the approaches to the main CBD with Grassy Hill rising to the right. Beyond the intersection the wonderful old buildings of Cooktown (those that remain that is) come into view.
The length of Charlotte Street makes it impossible to show in one photo. Here is one view looking east on the approaches to the main CBD with Grassy Hill rising to the right. Beyond the intersection the wonderful old buildings of Cooktown (those that remain that is) come into view.
The Cooktown Hotel is the first of three pubs to have survived out of the 47 originals (with the odd rebuild or two). Built in 1875, it began life as 'The Commercial'. It took its present name in 1982, but for the life of me I do not know why....it is universally known as 'The Top Pub'...and it's not bad!
And would you believe that the next original building of note is also a pub. The West Coast Hotel, 'The Westy', opened its doors in this very building at the beginning of the gold rush days in 1874. It is now renown for its $10 Sunday roast, a very acceptable offering and impossible to cook oneself for the price. Very popular with the locals and tourists alike.
And let there be no doubt that the local business folk know the significance of their pubs. I was tickled to read in the local rag an advertisement for the Cooktown chemist, which is to be conveniently found "between The Westy and The Top Pub".
On the same side of the street as The Sov, and immediately west of it, is a clutch of fine old buildings which I suspect are those most widely recognised as being 'quintessential' Cooktown.
The white building, now Ferrari Estates, erected in 1886 for the Bank of North Queensland, lies immediately to the east of what is now Seagren's Inn and beyond that is the jewel of the Charlotte Street architecture, the 'Old Bank' building.
Now given over to tourist accommodation, Seagren's Inn was built in 1880 by a former Cooktown mayor, P.E. Seagren, a Swedish immigrant who built and traded from this building in its original incarnation as a store.
Probably Cooktown's most recognised building, and certainly the one most used in the tourist blurb, this edifice was once home to the now defunct Bank of North Queensland. The relative grandeur of the two original town bank buildings and the number of pubs which graced (and in some cases disgraced) the streets of Cooktown is utterly typical of what we have found in towns which have been built on the discovery of gold. Charters Towers, West Wyalong and Forbes are three which spring immediately to mind.
On the opposite side of Charlotte Street the heritage listed wooden Post Office building, built in 1887, still serves that purpose. The building itself is comparatively unremarkable (other than for its capacity to have survived both fires and cyclones), but I was taken by the style of the post slots and the old stamp machine.
Cooktown supports a particularly active RSL community which has gone to great lengths to ensure that its licenced bar and restaurant is a veritable mine of service memorabilia. On the day Liz and I broke our walk around Cooktown to enjoy a fine lunch in this wonderful club, I was so busy looking at the displays I very nearly let my lambs fry and bacon get cold! You guessed it, that was the reason we ate there....and the meal was as good as the surroundings (almost as good as yours was, Mum)
Not only does the RSL maintain its club and restaurant area, their second premises located across the street provides a dedicated separate venue for Sub-Branch meetings and veteran support services. It was great to see how active this group are in such a relatively small community.
Another indication of the influence of this local group lies in the fact that a de-commissioned Leopard tank glowers at passers-by in nearby Anzac Park. These were limited in number and not easy to come by.
And as we were taking in the small memorial area, I was both surprised and delighted to find this plaque, which I have somewhat self-indulgently included for all my Sub-Branch mates.
Beyond the cluster of the rather regal old bank buildings, the RSL and bowling clubs, Charlotte Street curves around the base of Grassy Hill towards the wharf area.
Here, along the southern bank of the Endeavour River, a commemorative linear park provides a venue for all manner of statues, memorial monuments and assorted other bits and pieces of interest.
In my previous Cooktown offering I included the Cook monument, the old well and Cook's statue, but as they said in the old steak knife advertisement, "wait there is more".
In 1885 an external problem weighed heavily on the minds of the residents of Cooktown. On April 10th the local council carried the motion that, "A wire be sent to the Premier in Brisbane requesting he supply arms, ammunition and competent officer to take charge against a threat of Russian invasion".
And their cries for help did not go unheeded. With all speed, the Government sent this pictured cannon, 3 cannonballs, and 2 rifles, all under the command of one officer. Given the importance of the port of Cooktown at the time and the known armament of the Russian fleet, I suspect that the good burghers of Cooktown may have felt more than a little underwhelmed by the Government response. What a classic example of official arrogance and disregard by those many miles from the potential action! But the cannon does have its uses....it is still fired each June on the Queen's Birthday weekend....and not a Russian ship in sight!
I guess I was even more taken by the paltry nature of this defensive package in light of the massive guns built at Forts Largs and Glanville to secure the approaches to the Port of Adelaide against a similar threat (albeit some time later).
This nearby modest cairn commemorates the feats and tragic death of the explorer Edmund Kennedy who was speared to death by hostile natives in December 1848, a mere 20 kms short of his goal, the tip of Cape York. He died in the arms of his faithful aboriginal guide, Jacky Jacky, whose own exploits in evading those who murdered Kennedy included wading along a crocodile infested river for 10 kms with only his head above the water!
The actual spot where Cook careened Endeavour is marked by this large rock and attached plaque on the edge of the river. It completes the trio of memorials to Cook's landing.
And to complete our historical tour there is the story of Mary Watson, "who survived an Aboriginal attack on Lizard Island in September 1881, to die later on Number 5 Island of the Howick group". The Watson story is an interesting example of the misunderstandings which can arise when different cultures collide.
As a 21 year old bride, Mary Watson moved with her husband Robert to the beche de mer fishing outpost he had established on Lizard Island. In doing so, Mary inadvertently trespassed on an area of the island which was, to a local Aboriginal tribe, a sacred place taboo to all women.
Their response was swift. Whilst Robert was at sea fishing, a raiding party of natives attacked Mary and her two Chinese servants one of whom was speared to death. The other was badly wounded. Mary managed to scare off their attackers by firing a gun at them before she, her four month old son, and the wounded servant took to sea in a cut down ship's water tank. Her intention to be picked up by a passing ship was doomed to failure.
After drifting some 40 sea miles over an eight day period, all three perished of thirst on the Howick group island where they eventually beached. In a wretched ironical twist, fresh water was to be found in a spring on the island near the spot where their remains were discovered and the water tank was awash with fresh water from recent downpours.
Official retribution was both immediate and brutal. A party of police shot and killed an estimated 150 natives of the three local tribes, but in yet another grisly twist to this sad tale, none was believed to have been involved in the attack.
The response of the Cooktown folk was more measured. They erected a drinking fountain in Mary's memory which still stands in Charlotte Street to this day.
For those for whom a little history is more than enough, relief can be had at the nearby 'Musical Ship',
where, by following the comprehensive instructions on the accompanying plaque, one can bash and thump away to produce all manner of 'musical' tones in what is described as "a musical playground for an interactive experience to delight both adults and children". Perhaps.....From what we saw and heard, one would need to be easily delighted...but it is different.
Opposite the park, and further towards the wharf area, one passes the police station
the Court House
and the relatively swank Seaview Motel, all nestled in the lee of Grassy Hill.
And in Cooktown, a lee area is important. It is a town infamous for the hooting south-easterlies which beset it each year, at about this time! We have been enduring constant winds of over 30 knots for the past three days, as I write, with the forecast prospect of the same for the next three to four days. At lest our campsite is relatively sheltered, although one squally gust had me out of bed to check that our awning was still attached to the van at 0300 hours this morning. It takes a serious glob of moving air to shake a three tonne van on its wheels!
In my next and final 'letter from Cooktown', we'll have a look at the wharf area, tour some of the local attractions and enjoy a Cooktown 'must'.....sunset on Grassy Hill.
Let me conclude this missive with an apology to those who have already read the previous. I inadvertently referred to the Cook memorial as that commemorating Kennedy, an error now rectified (with embarrassment).
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