Monterey Accommodation, Hotels, Tours & Information

Monterey

Monterey might not bear much resemblance to Plymouth where Sir Francis Drake, who gives his name to the local Sydney club, was wont to spend much of his shore leave on the bowling green. But Monterey does look out over Botany Bay to where another old English sea dog, James Cook, first planted the English flag on Australian soil. Cook, in fact, named the haven, where Endeavour anchored in 1770, Stingray Bay. The name lasted only for the week the Endeavour's botanist Joseph Banks spent ferreting round in the coastal bush with his specimen jar. He found so many plants unknown in the Old World that he convinced Cook to change the name to Botany Bay. It is, then, a very special place not only in our history but as an aquatic playground for Sydneysiders and their guests. On weekends and holidays, the bay swarms with small pleasure and fishing craft and the shoreline teems with picnickers and swimmers.