The Captain Cook monument

Kurnell
Historic First Landing Site of Captain Cook and Governor Phillip
Kurnell is a large peninsula that juts out from the mainland between Botany Bay on the northern side and Port Hacking on the southern side. Although it has not exactly been handled with kid gloves, it is, in fact, a site of great historical importance, as it was at Kurnell that both Captain Cook and Governor Phillip first set foot on Australian soil, first raised the flag of British territorial claim, and had their first encounters with indigenous Australians and the unfamiliar Australian bush. Today much of the peninsula is reserved either for industry or national park and the only habitation is at Kurnell itself, on the southern shore of the Bay, where about 2000 people make their homes.

The neck of the Kurnell peninsula consists principally of sand with a rocky headland at its eastern end. Thus, although 100 hectares of land around Captain Cook's original landing point were set aside in 1899, the peninsula has been devastated by massive sandmining operations, as well as by earlier clearing, grazing and hunting (koalas, now entirely absent on the peninsula were once plentiful). Since the 1950s numerous large-scale polluting industrial operations have sprung up on the peninsula. It has also been used for landfill, sewage is discharged from the peninsula's coastline, noxious weeds have spread alarmingly and development is also posing a serious threat to the peninsula's ecology. Fortunately, portions of land have been reserved over the years and Botany Bay National Park, covering the entire eastern headland, was declared in 1984, protecting a number of interesting historic sites on the headland (listed under Things to See). The bays between Towra Point and Bonna Point (in the middle of the peninsula's northern shore) were also declared a reserve in 1975. In fact, Towra Point was the Federal Government's first declared Nature Reserve. It preserves Sydney's largest extent of saltmarsh and mangroves, which has become an important breeding, roosting and feeding site for waterbirds, including a number of threatened species.

Given its obvious access to marine life, indigenous Australians had long occupied the land at Kurnell prior to Captain Cook's arrival. Archaeological evidence indicates feasting on fish and shellfish on the peninsula, dating back over 2000 years. The Gweagal tribe, a northern outpost of the larger Dharawal group, inhabited the peninsula at the time of British settlement. Owing to the abundance of seafood they tended to inhabit the area on a more or less permanent basis. They fished with barbed spears and fishing lines with hooks made from shells and were guardians of sacred white clay pits - the clay being used, variously, to line the bottoms of canoes, for body painting, to make a base for fires, and it was eaten as an antacid and a dietary supplement, being rich in zinc. The word they attached to the area was pronounced 'Cunnel'.

The first white man to visit the area was Captain James Cook who had been sent to the South Seas with a dual mission: to observe the transit of Venus across the sun and to secretly investigate the largely uncharted southern lands. He reached Botany Bay on April 28, 1770, whereupon he and his party observed Aborigines onshore and others fishing from canoes. As the Endeavour approached, about 10 of them left their fireplace and sought higher ground to view the ship. The British party anchored at Kurnell. Onshore was what Joseph Banks described as 'a small village consisting of about 6 or 8 houses.' An old woman gathered the children together and the men landed their canoes on the beach. As two small boats from the Endeavour approached, bearing Cook, Banks and others, all retired to the bush except two men. As language problems proved insuperable, Cook threw some nails and beads ashore which, he says, 'they took up and seemed not ill pleased'. He thought the men were signalling encouragement to come ashore but, when he advanced, the men, perhaps unsurprisingly, threw stones and 'darts' at them. Cook fired a musket between the two in response. As it had no effect, he then fired 'a second musket load with a small shot', some of which struck one of the men, 'yet', he observes, 'it had no effect than to make him lay hold of a shield and defend himself.' Cook then continued to shore where two more 'darts' were thrown. The two men left when a third shot was fired and Isaac Smith, cousin of Cook's wife, held the boat while Cook clambered ashore at Milgurrung Beach, which has been described as Œthe birthplace of modern Australia.ı On the beach, Cook found '4 or 5 small children' in one of the bark huts, to whom they gave some beads, some 'darts' and three bark canoes ('the worst I had ever seen' wrote Cook), each made of a single piece of bark, 12 to 14 feet in length. Fish could be cooked on open fires which sat on a base of clay inside these canoes. The only fresh water about was in a 'small hole dug in the sand', presumably by the Aborigines.

On the third day, Cook sent a party ashore to exploit this underground stream. Another party went ashore to cut wood and Cook made a landing at a place from whence some other Aborigines had just fled, finding mussels broiling on a fire and 'the largest oyster shells I had ever seen' scattered about (overexploitation saw the complete disappearance of these large mud oysters from the bay by 1900). Later, a group of '16 or 18...came boldly within 100 yards of our people. Mr Hicks tried to entice them to him but all they seemed to want was for us to be gone.' Cook wrote that they were 'well armed' although their weaponry, he states, consisted of throwing sticks and their 'darts'. The latter, he noted, 'have each four pointed prongs made from fish bones and seem to be intended more for striking fish than as offensive weapons.' They also caught 300 pounds of fish 'in 3 or 4 hauls of the fishing net.'

The next day a seaman named Forby Sutherland died of tuberculosis and his body was buried at the watering hole, making him the first European to be buried in eastern Australia. The southern point of the bay was named after him and the approximate location of his grave was marked by the Royal Australian Historical Society in 1923.

Later that day, Cook and others made an excursion inland noting the condition of the land, sighting 'a small animal something like a rabbit that ate grass' and finding huts, trees that had been cut with a blunt instrument, barked trees and steps cut into trees for climbing. At the watering place '17 or 18 natives' attacked a Mr Gore. Cook and others followed them but they 'could not be enticed to come near us.' This pattern of assiduously attempting to make contact with the locals continued for the rest of the stay at Botany Bay but they continued a pattern of flight and attacks with fishing darts. One can only speculate that musket shot was not endearing as an opening salvo. Cook did attempt leaving some beads at one campsite, where they tasted the roasting mussels after the inhabitants had fled, and another party found a very old man, a woman and two small children ('they...were quite naked') who were clearly terrified, would not speak and refused to touch a dead bird the party offered them. Cook named the inlet Botany Bay because of 'the great quantity of new plants'.

The rocks where the first European stepped ashore on eastern Australia

After catching some large stingrays (two together weighing 600 pounds), Cook made some summary notes in his journal, describing the bay as 'safe and large' with 'ample fresh water and wood for fuel' on the southern shore. The gum trees were described as 'large and straight and the wood hard' and he noted shrubs and palms and mangroves at the head of the bay. 'The country is woody, low and flat as far inland as we could see and I believe the soil is generally sandy.' He noted many beautiful birds and waterfowl, oysters and mussels 'which I believe to be the natives' main food supply'. Of the locals he wrote: 'The natives do not appear to be numerous, and are scattered in small groups. They are of average height, very dark brown in colour and have lank dark hair. No sort of clothing or ornament is worn. Some had white paint on their faces and bodies. We know little of their customs.' With this, he weighed anchor and put to sea again.

Elsewhere Cook wrote more philosophically of indigenous Australians:

'They may appear to some to be the most wretched people on Earth, but in reality they are far more happier than we Europeans; being wholly unacquainted not only with the superfluous but the necessary Conveniences so much sought after in Europe, they are happier in not knowing them. They live in a Tranquility which is not disturbıd by the Inequality of Conditions. The Earth and Sea of their own accord furnishes them with all things necessary for life, they covet not Magnificent House, Household-stuff etc, they live in a warm and fine climate and enjoy a very wholesome Air, so that they have very little need of Clothing and this they seem to be very sensible of, for many of whom we gave Cloth etc to, left it carelessly upon the Sea beach and in the woods as a thing they had no manner of use for. In short they seem'd to set no Value upon anything of their own for any one article we could offer them; this in my opinion argues that they think themselves provided with all the necessaries of life and that they have no superfluities.'

With Britain's defeat in the American War of Independence, the UK government was looking for a new outlet for its unwanted convicts and, between January 18 and 20, 1788, the First Fleet, under Governor Phillip, anchored off Kurnell, with a view to establishing Australia's first penal colony. However, lack of shelter from prevailing winds for the ships, insufficient water and poor soil led him to seek greener pastures. On January 24, 1788 two French ships were sighted off Botany Bay. Phillip thus raised the British flag on the south side of the bay, near Sutherland Point before continuing on to Port Jackson.

The first landowner at Kurnell was Captain James Birnie, a mercantile trader who established Alpha Farm in 1815. He worked the farm, a dairy and market garden (the farm was known for its fruit and vegetables) with the assistance of convict labour and built a small cottage he named 'Curnell', which he took to be the Aboriginal name for the area. In 1821 John Connell received further land at Kurnell and, in 1828, when Birnie was declared insane, Connell also bought Burnie's land, building a new homestead (Alpha House) where Birnie's cottage had stood. Connell's grandson cut much of the large timber from Kurnell and Woolooware for the Sydney market and, by 1838, most of the peninsula was in Connell's hands. The government reserved land for fortifications from Cape Solander southwards around to Boat Harbour.

Noted businessman and landowner Thomas Holt, a member of, and the treasurer of, the first NSW Legislative Assembly, purchased Connellıs land from Connell's grandson in 1861. He employed convicts, Aborigines and runaway sailors on his estate. Unfortunately, his determination to clear, cultivate and profit from the peninsula's land led to further felling of timber, the burning of scrub and the introduction of grazing sheep then cattle, all of which destroyed much of the vegetation that bound and covered the dune system, creating an unstable mass of sand that rapidly began to spread. Sadly, this undermining of the peninsula only beckoned a worse fate for the open dunes proved attractive to sandmining operations which commenced in the 1930s. By the end of the 1990s, over 70 million tonnes of sand had been carted away for usage in the construction industry, depleting the dunes, which stood 60 metres high in Cook's day, and further destroying the woodlands that once grew on them. Today, just two major sand dunes remain. An estimated 1.5 million tonnes of sand are removed per annum leaving a series of deep, water-filled ponds filled with demolition waste from building sites around Sydney.

The township of Kurnell was established in the 1880s, though it had long been something of a holiday spot, known for its fishing and shooting and the annual celebrations of Cook's landing, centring on a large obelisk erected on the spot by Holt. Early dwellings tended to be shanties, fishing shacks and holiday camps built of bush and scrap materials on land leased to individuals by landowners. The first store was established in 1918 and a school was built in the early 1920s, although the village of Kurnell was not officially proclaimed until 1933.

The Depression-era of the late 1920s and 1930s saw the emergence of more improvised housing in the area. It was at this time that a series of cliff houses sprung along the peninsula's eastern edge. Some became quite sophisticated structures with the inhabitants paying fees and rates for the right to their idyllic existence. Sadly but unsurprisingly this came to an end when the Lands Department changed its policy and ordered them to leave, although one insistent hanger-on did not vacate until someone set light to a stolen car and pushed it over the cliff whereupon it happened to plunge into, and destroy, his home.

Over the years income has been extracted from the peninsula by a number of small-scale industries, such as kelp gathering (filling a hole in the market created by Japan's inability to supply world markets in the Second World War), shell gathering (burned to produce lime), shellgrit (for the pet bird and poultry industries), worms for bait, and, most profitably, oyster cultivation and fishing. The northern side of Botany Bay saw the development of the first commercial fishing village in Australia in the late 1820s although fishing shacks dotted many points on the southern side by the 1850s. Salted catches were sent to the Sydney markets. However, overfishing saw the numbers of professional fishermen working the bay decline in the early 20th century. Matters improved considerably from the 1940s but stocks are again in poor shape today and there are plans to buy out professional anglers working the Bay and develop fish-breeding programs. Australia's only marine fish farm also exists at Kurnell.

Captain Cook Drive, from Caringbah to Kurnell, was constructed in 1953 in conjunction with the establishment of the enormous Australian Oil Refinery, with its shipping berths and kilometre-long wharf, at Kurnell. It attracted further large-scale industries to Kurnell, including a new port, airport runways, a container terminal and chemical storage facility on the northern side of the bay. This development led to extensive dredging to deepen the bay and provide material for shore expansion. However, the impact of the dredging was severe, altering wave patterns which caused extensive shore erosion, necessitating the reconstruction of half the bay's shoreline. At Kurnell, in addition to the oil refinery and the sandmining, other industries have emerged such as a brick works, a chemical and pharmaceutical plant, a tip for non-putrescible waste materials, carbon black plants, a sewage treatment works and smaller industries such as electrical engineering, a concrete products plant, steel-fabrication, automotive repairs, plastics manufacture and refrigeration. Further industrial and residential developments are currently under consideration, including expansion of sandmining operations. Consequently there is a push on to attain a heritage listing for Kurnell to attempt to preserve some of its features and its endangered species.

Things to see:  

The monument to Joseph Banks on the Monument Track

SOUTHERN SECTION - KURNELL
Captain Cook's Landing Place and the Monument Track
The Landing Place denotes the site where Cook and his crew, including noted botanists, Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, became the first white men to set foot on the soil of eastern Australia in 1770. It was here that British men and Aborigines also had their first fateful encounter (for full details of Cook's visit see the history detailed above). In 1870, Kurnell landowner Thomas Holt erected a monument to celebrate the centenary of Cook's visit. The Monument Track (an easy 1.5 km walk with medium-difficulty wheelchair access) is a self-guided walk which starts at the main flagstaff, not far through the picnic grounds from the Discovery Centre. It takes in Aboriginal sites and a number of historic sites, such as Holt's obelisk, the site of the stream which supplied the Endeavour with fresh water supplies and where Cook encountered a number of Aborigines (see historical account above), the anchorage buoy of the Endeavour, the approximate site of Seaman Forby Sutherland's grave (marked by the Royal Australian Historical Society in 1923), the site of the area's first home, Alpha House, originally built by James Birnie in 1815. Next owner, John Connell, built a new house on the foundations in 1828, retaining the underground cool rooms. When it was abandoned in the 1890s, a local boy found a tin pot full of half crowns in the foundations and what remained of the house was destroyed by hopefuls who went treasure hunting. A new Alpha House was built on the site around 1901. Also along the track are Bank's Memorial, the old ferry shelter shed, the ferry wharf abutment, the landing rock and Cook's Well.

The Discovery Centre
This wheelchair-accessible Centre, on Solander Drive, has displays and information relating to the history of the area, the first meeting of the local Aborigines and the crew of the Endeavour, and the ecology of the peninsula, particularly its significant wetlands and the woodland forests that have evolved since the observations of the local flora by Joseph Banks in 1770. There is also a souvenir shop with a range of books, maps, gifts, souvenirs and refreshments. It is open from 10.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. on weekends and from 11.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. on weekdays, tel: (02) 9668 9111.

Muru and Yena Tracks
These two tracks form a 2.5-km, one-hour loop walk of easy proportions. They take visitors from the Discovery Centre to the gouged sandstone cliffs which provide excellent views over the Pacific Ocean and the coast. It is possible to branch off the Yena Track along the Banks-Solander Track. Along the way it is possible to see a wide variety of Sydney's coastal scrub plant species. Whales can sometimes be seen offshore between May and November.

The Banks-Solander Track
This easy-going 1-km walk is a nature trail that deviates from the Yena Trail. Starting a short distance from the Discovery Centre, it is a self-guided track that furnishes glimpses of some of the remnant vegetation that was noted by Cook's botanists, Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, in 1770. The views are well worthwhile.

The Cape Baily Coast Walk
This walk (of medium difficulty) takes in outstanding coastal views from atop the sandstone cliffs of the peninsular headlands, hanging swamps, sand dunes, spring wildflowers, historic sites and Cape Baily Lighthouse. 4 kilometres each way, it also offers the possibility of seeing birdlife such as terns, kestrels and sea eagles and, from May to November, humpback whales can sometimes be seen migrating offshore.

The walk starts at the end of Solander Drive and takes walkers to Cronulla Beach. From there, you can simply walk back the way you came or continue along the beach for another 5 kilometres to Cronulla Station. The coastline around Cape Baily is exposed, often windy and it offers no facilities or shelter from the elements.

The lighthouse was built in 1950, although its lantern enclosure was taken from an unknown late-19th-century lighthouse. It provides fine views of Kurnell Peninsula and its coastal heathlands and is close by significant Aboriginal sites and several important wetland areas.

The Meeting Place Precinct
The National Parks and Wildlife Service has a master plan for the Meeting Place Precinct. Below are some excerpts from that plan. It aims to offer visitors:

* a world-class experience, consistent with the cultural significance and conservation values of this unique site

* a venue for the meeting of cultures, providing opportunities for cultural expression, reconciliation and celebration.

The master plan has been developed through a process of extensive consultation with local Indigenous and community groups.

Key concepts in the plan include: the reintroduction of a ferry service between La Perouse and Kurnell, linking both sides of Botany Bay, providing visitors with an arrival at the site by water; a new café and information gallery as part of the historic Alpha House; a walking trail through the site, taking in:

* historic monuments

* important natural landscape elements such as 'Cook's Stream'

* information about Aboriginal history and stories of the area, as well as the history of European exploration and discovery of the site. The walk aims to give the visitor the experience of being in an 'outdoor museum' and to develop an understanding of the parallel cultural histories that are part of this unique site. The current program of Discovery walks, talks and tours will be expanded throughout the site.

There are opportunities to develop:

* group-guided tours along the walking trail

* floor talks in the gallery

* tours across the whole site, emphasising natural aspects and significant sites outside of the immediate recreational foreshore area.

There will be intensive rejuvenation of the natural vegetation of the precinct, attempting to provide visitors with an insight as to what may have been there before Cook arrived. Remnants of original vegetation types still exist on the site, and these are the descendants of plants collected by Sir Joseph Banks.

Restoration of 'Cook's Stream' will also be a priority, with a view to re-establishing the connection between the stream and the sea. The NPWS plans to build a new visitor and cultural centre on the site of the current Discovery Centre, which will provide a venue for meeting and education. The new centre will contain resource, exhibition and education areas, as well as an Indigenous 'Keeping Place', for the keeping of significant Indigenous artefacts and material.

Towra Point Marine Reserve
The bays between Towra Point and Bonna Point (in the middle of the Kurnell Peninsula's northern shore) were declared a reserve in 1975, making it the Federal Governmentıs first declared Nature Reserve. It preserves Sydney's largest extent of saltmarsh and mangroves, which has become an important breeding, roosting and feeding site for waterbirds, including a number of threatened species. Some 95% of Sydneyıs saltmarshes and 50% of its mangroves are to be found here. There are 200 bird species and 300 plant sepecies. The flora represents a remnant of what predominated when Captain Cook arrived. Apart from saltmarshes and mangroves, the wetland complex includes environs such as littoral forest, artificial lakes created by sandmining which have evolved into frail ecosystems, seagrasses (eelgrass, strap weed and paddle weed), mudflats, dunes, beaches, sandspits, bars and tidal wetlands. Plans are afoot to create a substantial environmental education facility with boardwalks, an open-air theatre and an interpretive centre.