La Perouse
Just 15 minutes drive away from Maroubra along Anzac Parade Road, located on the northern side of Botany Bay, La Perouse was named after Jean-Francois de Galoup, Compte de La Perouse (1741 – 1788), a French explorer who arrived here in 1788 and tried to claim the country for France but was five days too late. The La Perouse museum commemorates the voyage of the French Navigator which houses maps, early navigation instruments and relics salvaged from shipwrecks. You can also learn about the French ill-fated continued search for land at the Solomon Islands after his expedition left Botany Bay in 1788. From the museum, a great walking trail leads to the Endeavour Lighthouse, offering spectacular views across the bay to the site of Captain’s Cook’s landing place. Just off shore explore tiny Bare Island (tours conducted) and the site of a fort completed in 1885 to strengthen Sydney’s coastal defence from warships. The site was used and hence made famous in Mission Impossible II where Tom Cruise did some of the stunts in the movie!
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