Botany Bay and Port Botany

A recent afternoon drive took us around Port Botany along Prince of Wales Drive.

Port Botany, is situated on the northern side of Botany Bay.

It was the original home base for the Kameygal (spear clan). 

They were part of the Eora language group. The Kameygal were custodians of this area for about 5000 years prior to white settlement.

Watkin Tench in his 1788 Diary noted,

'On the northwest arm of Botany Bay [the Cooks River] stands a village, which contains more than a dozen houses, and perhaps five times that number of people; being the most considerable establishment that we are acquainted within this country. The huts occupied by this clan of about sixty people live near the outlet’.

If you'd like to read more about the Eora clans that inhabited the Sydney area, the State Library's Indigenous collection produced this fabulous pamphlet in 2006 called Eora: Mapping Aboriginal Sydney 1770-1850.

On the 29th April 1770 Captain Cook landed in Botany Bay, near Kurnell (or Kundul - as the Gweagal (fire clan) called this area at the southern end of the bay).

Botany Bay - La Perouse headland on the left, Kurnell on the right & a big storm front to the east!

On the 18th January, 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip arrived in Botany Bay to establish a penal colony. After a few days he decided that there was insufficient fresh water for a settlement, so he moved the fleet north to Port Jackson (Cadigal country) on the 26th January.

On the same day, the French scientific expedition, led by Laperouse landed in Botany Bay. The two French vessels and their crew stayed for 6 weeks. 

Both the English and the French offered to help each other with supplies. 

Laperouse fortunately sent some of his journals, charts and letters back to Europe with the First Fleet ship, Alexander, as he and his crew were not heard of again after they set sail from Botany Bay on the 10th March. 

The north eastern headland of Botany Bay is now named La Perouse in his honour.

Port Botany is still a working port. 

It's Australia's second largest container port.

We enjoyed a dramatic, pre-storm sunset at Port Botany.

Seagull strutting along Banks Wall.

At the southern end of Prince of Wales Drive, is Molineux Point.
This area commemorates the Sydney Ports sister relationship with Yokkaichi Port Authority, Japan. The monument was officially opened in March 2001.

Molineux Point Lookout

This post is part of Saturday Snapshot