A visit to Cooktown is not complete without visiting the Cooktown museum.
The museum is situated in a renovated nineteenth-century convent and school, set on a hill overlooking the beautiful Endeavour River.
Kids will enjoy dong the treasure hunt around the museum, looking for a list of different items.
The Cooktown museum has two floors to explore.
The ground floor shows the amazing and informative story of Captain Cook’s arrival in Cooktown, from almost a shipwreck on the Endeavour Reef to his interactions with the local Guugu Yimithiir people who encountered him and his crew. Their stories are told from both perspectives.
The highlight is the original anchor and cannon from the Endeavour, let loose from the ship in 1770 and only retrieved from the reef in the early 1970s. These are housed in a special climate controlled room behind glass to preserve them forever.
Some of the other items of interest include:
The local Guugu Yimithiir people
Changing face of Cooktown
Palmer River Gold Rush
Chinese in Cooktown
The Sisters of Mercy Nuns
Queens Elizabeths’ visit
Shipwrecks and light houses
Our favorite activity that we enjoyed doing the most at the Cooktown museum was the treasure hunt, searching the cabinets for items and opening the many drawers to see what we would discover. From shells to old surgical instruments.
We also enjoyed the views from the veranda and of course posing in front of the famous Endeavour Anchor.
There is an entry fee to visit the museum
To find out the current prices and more please visit their website.
Getting to the Cooktown Museum
The museum is located on the corner of Helen and Furneaus street and is easy to find.
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