5th June 2026: Nic’s 76th birthday! We headed into town to the Cooktown History museum where we read all about Cooktown starting with the Gold rush in the 1870’s, including from an indigenous perspective. Two elderly women volunteers chatted with me about what Cooktown was like 45 years ago when I was there and filled me in on some people I knew then. We then visited Des Hill at his surgery. He was a resident at Cairns Base Hospital when I was there as a registrar in 1981. He has been a GP in Cooktown since 1983 but sold his practice last week and he is to work in his old surgery until the end of the year. He turns 70 in September.

We then went in search of the old Cooktown Hospital where I used to work. It was sold to Jehovah’s Witnesses after been saved from demolition and moved to a new site in town. We were able to go inside the building via an unlocked back door. I found it unrecognisable. We went upstairs where there was a photographic record of the hospital being moved.

We then went to the restaurant at the Botanic Gardens for lunch and coffee. We then went to the Cooktown museum for more Cooktown history. We went back to the van for a cup of tea then walked to the restaurant Seagren’s 2km away in town. We had baby barramundi filled with garlic prawns followed by panacotta and passion fruit sauce, with a shared bottle of Wiia Wirra Church Block Grenache, kept in the fridge like all red wines at the restaurant! We walked back to our van after a good day!

Old Cooktown Hospital in new location-verandahs seen on each side were where the beds were each with a mosquito net- one side male and one side female!
Story of sale of the building 
Anchor from the Endeavour found in 1971 on Endeavour reef out of Cairns
Cooktown Museum in Old Sisters of Mercy Convent
Our camping site Peninsula Caravan park
Birthday Dinner at Seagren’s








Comments

  1. JenniferJune 7, 2026 at 2:08 PM

    Lovely pic of the old Cooktown Hospital.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jill PierceJune 8, 2026 at 12:28 PM

    What a fascinating history-and visits to your old haunts!

    ReplyDelete
  3. NicJune 8, 2026 at 4:49 PM

    FUN FACT (More on the sale of the old Cooktown hospital): Suzanne worked at the old hospital in 1980 (or thereabouts). Patients typically had their beds on the surrounding verandah, protected by mosquito nets. It was a grand old building, earmarked by the National Trust. When a new hospital was built in the mid 1980s, it was sold to the Jehovah’s Witnesses for two cartons of beer and the cost of removal of the building to a new site by the developers of the new hospital, Leighton Construction Pty Ltd.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Markly WaltonJune 10, 2026 at 1:04 PM

      What an interesting way to spend your birthday. I hope it added to the joy of your trip . Happy B. Anniversary 🎉🎊🙏

      Delete
  4. Jill PierceJune 25, 2026 at 8:11 PM

    cb - wonderful stories and memories

    ReplyDelete

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