Well, mate�Australia did not start out as those of a new Promised Land after being claimed for Britain by Captain Cook. With the loss of Maryland and Georgia in the American War of Independence, Britain was forced to find another place of exile for its unwanted convicts. The prisoners in Britain were temporarily stuffed into rotting river hulks around London, but these sinks of disease, depravity and escape soon became a source of public outcry. In desperation, the British government took up Sir Joseph Bank�s (remember him, the botanist with Captain Cook?) that Botany Bay in New Holland would be a suitable place for the prisoners.
ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST FLEETIn May 1787, 11 small ships of the �First Fleet� under Captain (later Governor) Arthur Philip sailed from Portsmouth, England. Eight months later (yes, it took that long in those days, mate!), the 1000 passengers � three-quarters of them convicts � arrived at Botany Bay. 
They sailed up to Port Jackson, and after a few toasts, raised the flag for King George III on 26th January 1788. Officers, marines, transportees, sheeps, goats and cattle were disgorged by these latter day �Noah�s Arks� into a cove (now Sydney Cove) that is now overlooked by the Sydney Opera House. [see map location of landing point] (picture on the right is of Circular Quay today - where the First Fleet first landed) It is said that even the convicts, on sighting the fine blue bays and glistening headlands, raised a cheer of joy. [see panorama of modern day Circular Quay] However, it is also noted that two Aborigines nearby shouted �Warra ! Warra !� (Go Away !) but no one heeded � and the land that is to be Australia, and that had been home to the Aborigines isolated for 50,000 years, will be changed forever.
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