Things you didn't know Part 1

James Cooper is a good man. He always remembers stuff and even sends me a birthday pressie all the way over to deepest darkest Africa. He recently sent me a biography of another great man who shares his initals - Captin James Cook.

If you are an Australian, you know Cook was an Englishman who sailed into Botany Bay in 1788 and claimed the place for the British. Seven years later, they started shipping the convicts our way. He was the compulsory start for year 7 history and let's be honest, it was about as inspiring as school assembly.

If you're not an Austrlaian, you would be lucky to even know this much.

But friends; we have been mislead! Misinformed! This book is great, and Captin James Cook is a pretty amazing guy. In honour of the man (and as a thanks to Jimmy Cooper) I'm going to pop up a fact or two about Cook over the next week or so. Do yourself a favour and pop in.

Stuff about Captin Cook you Didn't Know Part 1:
James Cook charted and named more of the world than any other navigator in history!

Over his 3 journeys of discovery, Cook sailed from the Antarctic to the Arctic, from Tasmania to Soth America, from North America to Siberia and the Pacific Islands.

All in all he clocked up 200,000 miles, roughly equivilent to circling the equator 8 times or travelling from the earth to the moon.

If it wasn't for the fact that he saved me from growing up in a dreary mining town in England, you wouldn't say that Cook sticking the Union Jack in the sand at Botany Bay even rates that high on his list of all time acheivements.

But stay tuned . . . there's more

Scott