Australian National Maritime Museum
On the 22/12/2006 I visited the Australian National Maritime Museum at Pyrmont Bay, Sydney, Australia specifically to see Cook's ship the Endeavour. I travelled down from Newcastle to Central Station, jumped on the light rail and got off at Pyrmont Bay. I was in luck and got to see the Bounty. At first I wondered why it had a figurehead because the Endeavour does not have one. They are pretty similar ships I guess it might be easy to mistake them.
The entry into the Australian National Maritime Museum itself is free. The first thing that I sighted was the anchor off the Sirius that was recovered by divers off Norfolk Island where she was wrecked. Incidentally, the longboat of the Sirius was extended to make the sloop Norfolk which was supposedly wrecked in Newcastle harbour after being captured by convicts. The Australian National Maritime Museum had a good exhibition about the Spanish Explorers of the Pacific Ocean from the 16th to the 18th Century. I took particular interest in the voyages of Mendana, Quiros, and Torres. The other fascinating story for me was how Spain got the Philippines nad the Dutch the East Indies trade. And the Manila Acapulco galleon which Admiral Anson sacked off the Philippines in 1740.
What else did I like at the Australian National Maritime Museum? There was an exhibition of clipper ships that used to come to Australia to bring the gold miners after the 1850s. They had lots of clipper models and a painting of The Red Jacket.
And of course the crowning glory after that was HM Bark Endeavour replica. It cost AU$15 to get in and it was well worth it. The stem of the Endeavour is shockingly blunt and flat. I was extremely surprised. Maybe the Endeavour was built for comfort not speed. I know that the Endeavour only did about 4 knots up the coast of Australia but that was against the East Coast current which runs at about 2-4 knots. The windlass was quite large and then I went to the lower deck below the forecastle to the crew quarters where they had the mess tables set up complete with ships biscuits and weavils. You could see their hammocks and a cot for the officers. The Australian National Maritime Museum volunteer showed us the cat-o-nine tails and the red bag it goes in.
We then went aft to the midi-mates quarters where the midshipmen and mates messed. At the stern there was the port hole where spars came in. I do not know where they stored any spars. Did they go into the hold, and if so, how? Then we went up again below the quarterdeck.
The first section was where Banks' assistants, artists, and the officers messed. This then led into the Great Cabin where Cook and Banks slept and ate and did their work at the big table. The Great Cabin also had a stove and was very airy, illuminated and most comfortable. I could imagine Cook and Banks arguing over space on the big table - Cook with his charts and Banks with his flora and fauna all scattered about.
I then went up to the quarterdeck. The tiller is huge and takes up so much space. But I guess that it did not move much when the Endeavour was under way. I assumed that part of the deck had to be kept clear in the range of the tiller. I could not work out how the ropes went from the wheel to move the tiller. The volunteers at the Australian National Maritime Museum were very friendly and gave good talks and answered any questions. They were very nice people indeed. Well, that is it. I caught the ferry from Pyrmont Bay to Circular Quay and that goes right under the Sydney Harbour Bridge so I highly recommend that ride. Plus you go right past Luna Park. I tried to imagine how it must have felt and looked like for the first fleet coming into Sydney Cove but it was a bit hard with all the skyscrapers there! And I also wondered why they stopped at Sydney Cove. There are hundreds of little bays in Sydney Harbour, why did they pick that one?
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