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The Navigators: Cape of Good Hope

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Artistic print shows tall ships anchored in bay, Cape of Good Hope in background
The Navigators: Cape of Good Hope

SUBJECTS:  History

YEARS:  3–4


How would you like to be sailing in a leaking boat over rough seas, far from home?

As explorer Matthew Flinders makes the long voyage to 'New Holland', his ship begins leaking water. This short clip describes the poor state of Flinders's ship, 'The Investigator'. The crew must stop and make repairs at the Cape of Good Hope.


Things to think about

  1. 1.If your car broke down during a long drive with your family, what would happen next? Would your lives be in danger? How much do sailors rely on their ship during a long sea voyage? Flinders and his crew sailed for months far away from land. What might happen if their ship started to leak or fall apart?
  2. 2.Listen for reasons why Flinders's ship 'The Investigator' started to leak badly at this stage of the voyage. How does the commentator explain the poor state of Flinders's ship?
  3. 3.Picture the frantic activity on board when the ship starts leaking water quickly. Imagine you have to paint or act out the scene. What questions would you ask the crew to better understand the event? How would things have been different if the ship started leaking far away from land?
  4. 4.Like James Cook's ship 'Endeavour', Flinders's ship was built as a 'collier'. Find out what a collier is. Collect as many pictures as you can. Make a list of common features of colliers. How is 'The Investigator' the same or different from other colliers? Present your information as a slide show or podcast.

Date of broadcast: 23 Feb 2010


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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