2010OCT18

1 Cooktown's european history dates back to 1770, when James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs after striking the reef.

2 The British crew spent seven weeks on the site of present-day Cooktown, repairing their ship, replenishing food and water supplies.

3 Cooktown is unusually rich in biodiversity, being close to three major ecozones.

4 It contains a large proportion of the 3,000 plant species and the more than 500 terrestrial vertebrates recorded for Cape York Peninsula.

5 You also need to be on the lookout for "snapping logs" i.e. crocodiles, of which we saw plenty.

6 Here is the start of the The Bloomfield Track, which takes you down to the Daintree Forest.