HM Brig The Lady Nelson 2
For the earlier part of the voyage of the Lady Nelson to the coast of South Australia, Click Lady Nelson Voyage part 1.
Cape Banks to Port Phillip
We left the Lady Nelson off the coast of South Australia on the last page. It is December 3rd 1800 and the Lady Nelson is just off Cape Banks in South Australia. He sights Cape Northumberland(near Port MacDonnell) and two mountains, Mount Schank and Mount Gambier. The next day Grant sights Cape Bridgewater which is at the eastern end of Discovery Bay. He tries to row into Bridgewater Bay with two armed sailors but the surf is too rough to land, there was no shelter from the Southerly winds, and the water was very deep. They name Cape Nelson which is 15 or 16 miles east-north-east of Cape Bridgewater.
Grant names Cape Sir William Grant and said that it looked like the Deadman in the English Channel. On December 6th grant sees a large island, covered with grass but no trees and names it Lady Julia's Island. They pass Cape Otway on 7th December and Grant says that the land is truly picturesque and beautiful with woods, very thick groves, and large trees. Near Torquay, he sees Point Danger, where he tries to land but cannot again because of large surf. The shore is a sandy beach with small rocks scattered about.
Port Phillip to Port Jackson
The Lady Nelson spots the entrance to Port Phillip Bay but does not go in. He sees a very deep bay but could not see the bottom of it from the masthead. They go east and find a long bay and name the northern end after John Liptrap, Cape Liptrap. With South Cape 10 miles away, the wind drops and they are in 50 fathoms with a fine sand bottom. They try to land on an island but still cannot because of the surf. The Lady Nelson makes it past Wilson's Promontory and then heads straight for Sydney as the coast from there had been charted by Cook and by Bass. The Lady Nelson enters the Heads of Port Jackson on 16th December 1800. There was a decent sized swell going in, but once inside it was smooth water and Grant called it "an excellent harbour, perhaps one of the finest in the known world". The voyage had taken 71 days from the Cape of Good Hope.
Lady Nelson Resources
Go onto the next part of the voyage of the Lady Nelson to Sydney. Lady Nelson
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Right click and "Save target as" Google Earth - Voyage of the Lady Nelson #2
Google Maps - Lady Nelson voyages 2
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