“Ambition leads me not only farther than any other man has been before me, but as far as I think it possible for man to go.”

Captain James Cook FRS RN

Cook (27 October 1728 – 14 February 1779) was an English explorer, navigator and cartographer who was a prominent figure in my early school education in Australia. From 1768 to 1779, he made three voyages to the Pacific Ocean during which he achieved the first European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands as well as the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand. He was killed in Hawaii with a whack to the back of the head. The distances he covered and time away from home while undertaking exploration are extraordinary, particularly in the era during which he undertook them.

Map showing the three voyages of Captain James Cook, with the first in red, second in green, and third in blue. The route of Cook's crew following his death is shown as a dashed blue line.