ARCH7216_La Perouse Final

T H E C A B L E S T A T I O N
:
La Perouse, located at the northern headland of the Botany Bay, is
a unique suburb where it seems so peaceful and settled with its
natural beauty situating around and within. However, if you
observe and study it furthermore, you will realise the hidden
history of its nature, people and industry.
A throwback to my first visit to La Perouse, it was a Sunday
afternoon. I saw a lot of visitors that were taking photos and
playing around at the site, and I was one of them. At that time I
was only fascinated by the beautiful natural elements, the fresh air,
the greens, the land, the water and the sky. Little did I know the
land I was walking on and the air I was breathing in, have a variety
of story that happened and weaved into them.
The story should start from the very beginning when La Perouse
was not called La Perouse. The land was known as “Gooriwal” by
the indigenous Muruoradial people who were believed to live on
this land since thousand years ago. The indigenous Muruoradial
people have never claimed the ownership of the land, they were
only living and protecting it with their traditional ways. They used
fishing to protect the water and treated everything as a whole.
However, with the geographic location of “Gooriwal”, where it
performed as an entrance to a beautiful bay. On the 26th of
January in 1788, French explorer Jean-Francois de Galaup, Comte
da Laperouse and his expedition found this beautiful site where
they can sail in and repair their ships while resting before they
headed back to Europe. They camped on the site for about six
weeks, and they witnessed the beginning of the British settlement
in Sydney, and that was another chapter of the story. This land was
later named “La Perouse”, in order to honour the navigator of the
scientific expedition, Jean-Francois de Galaup, Comte da
Laperouse.
I was walking along the driveway where the people were getting
fewer and fewer, and I saw this building that situates in the centre
of the meadow, with three kids chasing around each other at the
front of the building, it is the La Perouse Museum.
Side view of the La Perouse Museum
Kids playing in front of the museum