Where did Captain Cook set sail from to discover Australia?

Answer 1

He set sail from Plymouth, England in 1768 and arrived back at Plymouth to end the voyage in 1771.

However, it is important to note that James Cook did not discover Australia. This is a fallacy which has continued to be perpetuated through much of Australia's history. Cook was important for being the first to chart the eastern coast, but he did not discover it, by any means.

The Dutch were the first to record obsevations of the continent, doing so in 1606. Numerous other expeditions by the Dutch followed. Cook was not even the first Englishman to set foot on Australia's shores: this honour belongs to English explorer and pirate, William Dampier, who first landed in 1688, and again in 1699, many years before Cook.

A further point is that Cook was not yet a captain when he sailed on this journey.

Answer 2

James Cook was not yet a captain, but a lieutenant, when he departed on his journey to the South Pacific in 1768. He was unaware at this stage of his secret orders to search for the "great south land", and this part of his journey was undertaken in 1769.

Answer 3

James Cook did not actually know he held secret orders that would eventually lead him to the shores of what we now call Australia. This particular journey departed in 1768 for Cook to observe the transit of Venus. Cook then went on to search for Terra Australis Incognita, according to his secret, sealed orders.