Wednesday 19 June Cook's Look

London's that way!

signing book in front of cairn

It had to be done; a climb to Cook's Look to gaze on the GBR. We left the dinghy on the beach, read the national park advice board on distance and estimated time to get to the top and back, about 2 ½ to 3 hours with warnings of steep rock faces on the way. It was an interesting path winding up the mountain, in places very steep over massive blocks of rock but the rock is an aggregate, nature's concrete so good and grippy. We were lucky with the weather; a fine, clear day affording good views over the anchorage and as we reached the spine of the rock miles and miles of reef stretching north to south. When we reached the spine and the path flattened out we thought it can't be far now. It was another half an hour to reach Cook's cairn at the highest spot of the land. He must have been so happy to stand here and see the breaks in the reef which would allow him to escape the never ending shallows back in to deep water. I read before he took Endeavour through he surveyed using the tenders and that the information we see on our charts is based on his work 240 years ago. He was an amazing man. Everywhere we go he seems to have been there from the Pacific to New Zealand and now Australia. What a legacy to leave. Now we can say we've also walked in his footsteps (assuming we took the same path he did).

At the top there is a cairn his crew built and a visitors book left by the one of the directors of the research station. People leave their name and where from and comments. Students from the centre and workers from the resort leave their name and the time it took them to reach the summit, it looks like a regular challenge. The fastest time in the current book is 34 minutes so our hour isn't too shabby. We stayed a while, got buffeted by the wind, took photos, signed the book and then a fast descent back to the beach.