Botany Bay, Sydney

Botany Bay, Sydney

Botany Bay (GPS: -33.98249, 151.18552) is a bay located to the south of Sydney, located a few kilometers from the Sydney Central Business District. The Sydney International Airport is on the northern bank of Botany Bay, with two of its runways jutting right into the it.

Botany Bay was where Captain James Cook landed on 6 May, 1770, sparking Britain's interest in establishing settlement and eventually colonising the continent of Australia. He arrived there in the company of Sir Joseph Banks (then Mr Joseph Banks), the imminent botanist and naturalist. As Banks discovered a huge variety of flora there, the area was given the name Botany Bay.

Later when Captain Arthur Phillip was sent to establish the first British penal settlement in Australia, he was instructed to set it up at Botany Bay. However, Phillip found the area has no proper anchorage or source of fresh water, and he ended up founding the settlement further north, in what became present-day Sydney.

Botany Bay is on the Map of Sydney, Australia

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