Today (Thursday 18th January) marks the day that if all had gone to plan would have been Australia Day. It was on this date that the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay, their intended destination.
Joseph Banks had apparently recommended Botany Bay as the site for settlement, but upon arrival Phillip found poor soil, little water, poor anchorage, and apparently trees very hard to cut down.
So eight days later they moved north to Port Jackson and settled and named Sydney Cove (sycophantically after the British Home Secretary Lord Sydney).
Botany Bay was first however, so today could have been Australia Day except for the association with failure. Still given the whole invasion thing, and the fact that the whole exercise was a way to get rid of convicts, how high are we really setting the bar here.
Just out of interest Cook sighted Australia on April 20th 1770, and made first landfall on April 29th.
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1 comment:
Good words.
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