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Grand Luxury Hotels - Voyage to the South Pacific

After the adventures of Ferdinand Magellan and Jacques Cartier, this time let’s leave the Age of Exploration that began in the early 15th century and lasted through the 17th century to the Age of Enlightenment with British explorer James Cook, and on

By: Easy Branches Team

  • Apr 06 2020
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Grand Luxury Hotels - Voyage to the South Pacific
Grand Luxury Hotels - Voyage to the South Pacific
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James Cook
Voyage to the South Pacific
After the adventures of Ferdinand Magellan and Jacques Cartier, this time let’s leave the Age of Exploration that began in the early 15th century and lasted through the 17th century to the Age of Enlightenment with British explorer James Cook, and on Tuesday, Jean-François de Galaup, Count of La Pérouse.
The Story
Who was he?
Who was he?
Born in 1728 in Yorkshire, England, and son of a farm worker, James Cook showed a gift for math, cartography and the art of navigation from a very young age. He is credited as the first European to discover Australia and complete the first tour of Antarctica. He also mapped several detailed charts of the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia, radically changing the perception of world geography. His expeditions took him across the globe, from the east coast of Australia to the west coast of North America, passing by several island groups along the way.
A passion for the sea
A passion for the sea
When he was just 17 years old, James Cook moved to the coast, settling in Whitby and finding work at the maritime port. He took advantage of his time there to develop his navigational skills and continue his studies. Cook was quickly noticed for his attention to detail and talent. In 1755, he enlisted in the British Royal Navy, a move he was convinced would help him rise through the ranks faster and someday take command of a vessel, at a time when the Seven Years’ War was in full swing. He served in North America, taking part in the siege of Québec City where he mapped detailed charts of the St. Lawrence River and the surrounding areas, and helped the British pull off a surprise attack against the French-held Quebec. After the war, he stayed in the Newfoundland region for a few more years, tasked with charting the island. The maps he produced are considered the first detailed and accurate maps of the area.
Voyage to Australia
Voyage to Australia
Cook’s career as an explorer began in 1768 when he left England for an expedition mounted by the Royal Society aboard Endeavour, with a crew in tow, including famous naturalist Joseph Bank. Their journey was a scientific expedition, charged with sailing to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus across the face of the sun, but it also had a hidden military agenda. Cook carried sealed orders instructing him to seek out the “Great Southern Continent,” an undiscovered landmass that was believed to lurk somewhere near the bottom of the globe. He left Plymouth in the summer of 1768 and rounded Cape Horn to reach Tahiti in April 1769. Once there, he established a base for their research. Cook also sailed to some of the neighboring islands before heading south, in search of the Southern Continent. In October 1769, Cook and his men made landfall in modern day New Zealand, but he was not the first European to reach it; Dutch explorer Abel Tasman reached there first in 1642. Cook is however credited with producing highly accurate maps of the area, distinguishing the two parts of the island separated by a strait that now bears his name. Cook then decided to sail north and reached the coastline of New Holland (modern day Australia) in April 1770. He was the first explorer to set foot in Australia. The crew landed in Botany Bay near modern day Sydney, which would later become the springboard for future English colonization. After a brief meeting with the Aborigines and a study of the local fauna and flora, Cook set sail east, back to England, but the expedition soon came to a standstill for several weeks after hitting the Great Barrier Reef. The expedition eventually sailed onward, once his ship was seaworthy, and Cook went on to explore Cape York Peninsula, New Guinea, Possession Island, Batavia (Jakarta) and Cape of Good Hope. After a three-year voyage, Cook and his crew reached England on June 12, 1771. The journey also enabled naturalist Joseph Banks to bring back some 30,000 plant specimens, including about 1,500 hitherto unknown to botanists, and a thousand animal species.
Looking for the Southern Continent
Looking for the Southern Continent
Still convinced of the existence of a continent at the southern tip of the globe, the Royal Society charged James Cook with a second expedition for which he left England in 1772 with two ships: Resolution and Adventure. In January 1773, he crossed into the Antarctic Circle, but his two ships became separated. Adventure returned to England. Cook and the Resolution continued south. Cook came very close to Antarctica without ever seeing the continent. He sailed around it, convinced it didn't exist, and the crew went back up to Tahiti, New Caledonia and Easter Island before returning to England in 1775. Cook was warmly welcomed by the Royal Society, which awarded him their most prestigious scientific award, the Copley Medal, in 1776. That year, Cook again left England with two ships in what would prove to be his last expedition. On his way to New Zealand, he discovered two new islands: the Kerguelen Islands near Antarctica, and the Christmas Island, between Indonesia and Australia. In 1778, he made a significant discovery when he came upon the islands of Hawaii. He would later try to leave these islands twice but would be forced to return: the first time after failing to cross the Bering Strait because of the weather, and the second time due to damage to his ships. The second time they landed in Hawaii, he was met with angry natives and the situation quickly deteriorated. Cook was killed on February 14, 1779 during a confrontation between the locals and the British. The next day, the remaining crew left Hawaii to return to England after paying him military honours.
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