Captain James Cook First Attempted Landing in AustraliaPrint Page

The monument commemorates the place where Captain James Cook first attempted a landing in 1770.

The original monument was erected by the Rotary Club of Bulli in 1970 and consisted of a granite tablet on a brick wall. It has now been upgraded with a sandstone capping and ceramic tiles, designed and created by Wombarra’s Michael Keighery. 

On the afternoon of Saturday, 28 April 1770, a small, two-masted wooden boat (yawl), was hoisted out from the former Whitby collier His Majesty's Bark Endeavour, then under the command of Lieutenant James Cook, Royal Navy. At the time the Endeavour was anchored less than 2 miles off the Illawarra coast near present day Collins Point, Woonona, also known as Collins Rock. The yawl headed towards the shore, with its crew hoping to make contact there with the local Aboriginal people and collect specimens of flora and fauna. On board was Cook, scientists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, the Polynesian guide Tupia (Tupaia), and three others. Due to the rough surf along the coast that day, the yawl was not able to land. After observing the shoreline close at hand for a couple of hours, the crew returned to the Endeavour. Following a close encounter with Bellambi reef to the south, she set sail and continued her voyage north along the coast.

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