The story of HMB Endeavour's 1770 voyage lies at the very core of the Australian nation. Check here regularly until August 2020 as we release new content on key dates marking the 250th anniversary of the journey up the east coast of Australia.
What's new
Explore the home of the Gooreng Gooreng people, where the Endeavour made its second landing on the continent in 1770.
Explore these curriculum-aligned education resources designed for students to explore the Endeavour Voyage online exhibition.
James Cook is celebrated as a peerless seaman and a remarkable captain. His meticulous maps of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, and the botanical work of Joseph Banks and others aboard the ship, reshaped understandings of the world.
But the land Cook charted — strange and ‘new’ to European eyes — was an ancient continent, home to First Peoples whose history stretches back more than 65,000 years. Until now, their voices have been missing from the Endeavour story.
Colliding Worlds
Alison Page offers a different perspective on the story of James Cook and the 1770 Endeavour voyage in this film by Zakpage.
Views from the ship and shore
This website contains many stories — some you probably know and others you will not have heard before. Some are about life on the Endeavour, the 'new' and amazing things that the voyagers saw, drew and collected, and the perils of sailing up Australia's east coast.
Others are from the First Peoples of this land, whose ancestors witnessed the ship's passage. The voyage set in train events that led to the British colonisation of the Australian continent and the dispossession and devastating consequences suffered by the First Peoples. For many of them, Cook is synonymous with the resulting impacts on their lands and cultures.
The Message: The Story from the Shore
The Museum commissioned award-winning filmmaker Alison Page and director Nik Lachajczak to create a film in collaboration with Indigenous communities along Australia's east coast. The Message features descendants of those whose ancestors witnessed Cook's passage, powerfully reimagining the message of the ship’s arrival being passed up the coast line.
Learn about the making of The Message
Up the coast
For 126 days, Cook and his crew travelled up Australia’s east coast — from what we now know as Point Hicks in southern Victoria to the tip of Cape York in Queensland.
Travel in the ship’s wake, visiting nine places connected to the Endeavour story and reflecting on key moments of the journey.
Join us as we regularly deliver stories and perspectives that Indigenous people have shared with us — stories missed by those on the Endeavour.
The National Museum of Australia's 250th anniversary activities are funded by the Australian Government.
Join the Endeavour Voyage
Cook's record of the journey
Read James Cook’s daily entries from his Endeavour journal.
Read Cook's journalScientific and cultural discoveries
The work of the Endeavour voyagers captivated Europe’s imagination and changed scientific knowledge. Explore the intersection of Indigenous and European knowledge in our new online plants feature and language game.
Talkin’ Guugu Yimidhirr
Play this game about communicating miscommunication to learn some words in Guugu Yimidhirr, an Aboriginal language from Far North Queensland that the Endeavour crew learnt along the way.
Learn some Guugu Yimidhirr wordsTrace the voyage with us
We are bringing our online Endeavour Voyage exhibition straight to you at home, while the Museum in Canberra is closed.
Check our website regularly and connect via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for curator tours, Q&A sessions and other digital programs and features. #YourMuseum
Anne Nunn, Kuku Yalanji artist:
When Cook left, Bama [people] would wonder 'Will that thing [ship] come back?' I think they might have wondered if things were going to change forever.
In this, the 250th anniversary of the voyage, join us in re-looking at the events of 1770, and embrace a shared history of this country.
Bana Yirriji Artist Group:
We want Australians and the rest of the world to hear the other side of the Captain Cook story.
Go behind the scenes in the making of this exhibition
Acknowledgements
The Australian Government has funded the National Museum of Australia, the National Library of Australia, the Australian National Maritime Museum and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies to deliver a program of activities marking the 250th anniversary of the Endeavour voyage.
The National Museum thanks our supporters.
