Do you dream of relaxing on a tropical island? Tourist bureaus still trade on images of paradise in the Pacific first created in the 18th century by explorers and adventurers.
It's now possible to read the actual Explorer journals written at the time… online on the ‘Expeditions to the Pacific’ website.
4ZZZ's Eliot Rifkin chatted about this ‘digital map website’ with its deep dive links to the Explorer’s actual journals with Dr Claire Brennan, a Senior Lecturer of History from James Cook University (JCU).
For a deep dive...
Visit the 'Expeditions to the Pacific digital map, Dr Claire Brennan's JCU bio/research page or download the pdf of her free book about exploration of the Pacific 'Beyond Cook'.
Some other websites, articles or videos Claire feels are of interest:
Map showing locations of Cook monuments vs places visited by Cook (website)
Restrictions Ships placed on Expeditions (article)
Coral Discovery Project (video)
Exploration for the Australian National Maritime Museum (video)
Interview about the Location of the HMS Endeavour shipwreck (video)
...and finally, email Claire with your input on any incorrect info (especially longitude corrections) as well as other Pacific Explorer (1766 to 1834) journals for her to add to the mapping website
Eliot Rifkin is a Journalist and Producer on Thursday Brisbane Line