"At noon on Sunday, 13 May 1770 we were between three and four leagues from the shore, the northernmost part of which bore from us N13W, and a point, or headland, on which we saw fires that produced a great quantity of smoke. To this Point I gave the name of Smokey Cape."

And so Cook recorded in his journal another feature of the east coastline of Australia.

Laurieton, New South Wales, is a small town gem in a delightful setting. A few kilometres north is a side road leading to the Cape and the lighthouse. Wild flowers were a blaze of color along the way. There was a sharp pull up to the car park and it was well worth the effort.

It was a perfect blue spring day for our visit. The stark white lighthouse stands on top of the high cliff of the Cape right on the spot of the smokey fires of years ago.

The view south along the hundreds of miles of expansive snow white beaches is tremendous and native shrubs clothe the shoreline. On the north side of the Cape is picturesque North Smokey Beach with a small island offshore. This is appropriately named Green Island.

The McLeay Historical Society unveiled a plaque on the green verge of the cliff top on 13 May 1970, during the Cook Bicentenary celebrations. The area has been named Captain Cook Lookout.

Cook might well have landed just for the view if he had chosen a day like we did to visit.

Doug Gibson

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 568, volume 11, number 1 (1988).