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New South Wales (Sydney Region) |
| La Perouse | |
| La Perouse, tucked into the northern shore of Botany Bay, contains Sydney's oldest Aboriginal settlement, the legacy of a mission. The suburb took its name from Laperouse, the eighteenth-century French explorer, who set up camp here for six weeks, briefly and cordially meeting Captain Arthur Phillip, who was making his historic decision to forgo swampy Botany Bay and move on to Port Jackson. After leaving Botany Bay, the Laperouse expedition was never seen again. A monument erected in 1825 and an excellent museum between them tell the whole fascinating story. | |
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surrounding headlands and foreshore have been incorporated into the
northern half of Botany Bay National Park, with a visitor centre
(no park fee; tel 9311 3379) sitting on a grassy headland between the
pretty beaches of Congwong Bay and Frenchmans Bay in the same building as
the Laperouse Museum where details of potential walks are available -
there's a fine one past Congwong Bay Beach to Henry Head and its
lighthouse (5km return). Nearby, the Boatshed Café is an idyllic
spot for a cappuccino sitting right over the water with pelicans floating
below. La Perouse is at its most lively on Sunday (and public
holidays) when, following a tradition established at the turn of the
century, Aboriginal people come down to sell boomerangs and other crafts,
and demonstrate boomerang throwing; snake-handling skills are on display
from 1.30pm. There are also tours of the nineteenth-century fortifications
on Bare Island (Sat, Sun & public holidays 12.30pm, 1.30pm,
2.30pm & 3.30pm; $7; no booking required, wait at the gate to the
island), joined to La Perouse by a walkway.
Laperouse Museum |
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| The
Laperouse Museum, run by the NPWS, traces Laperouse's voyage in
great detail, the displays enlivened by relics from the wrecks, exhibits
of antique French maps and copies of etchings by the naturalists on board.
The voyage was commissioned by the French king Louis XVI in 1785 as a
purely scientific exploration of the Pacific to rival Cook's voyages, and
strict instructions were given for Laperouse to "act with great
gentleness and humanity towards the different people whom he will
visit".
After an astonishing three-and-a-half-year journey through South America, the Easter Islands, Hawaii, the northwest coast of America, and past China and Japan to Russia, the Astrolobe and the Boussole struck disaster - first encountering hostility in the Solomon Islands and then in their doomed sailing from Botany Bay, on March 10, 1788. (Even as he was about to be guillotined Louis XVI asked "At least, is there any news of Monsieur de Laperouse?") Their disappearance remained a mystery until 1828, when relics were discovered on Vanikoro in the Solomon Islands; the wrecks themselves were found only in 1958 and 1964. A recent addition to the museum is an exhibition which looks at Aboriginal history and local culture. |
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