The Captain James Cook Memorial was built by the Government of Australia to commemorate the Bicentenary of Captain James Cook's first sighting of the east coast of Australia. The memorial includes a water jet located in the central basin and a skeleton globe sculpture at Regatta Point of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, showing the paths of Cook's expeditions. On 25 April 1970, Queen Elizabeth II officially inaugurated the memorial. [1]
The water jet is driven by two 4-stage centrifugal pumps capable of pumping up to 250 litres per second against a head of 183 metres. The water velocity at the water nozzle is 260 km/h. While running both pumps simultaneously the main jet throws approximately six tons of water into the air at any instant, reaching a maximum height of 152 metres. Alternatively the jet can be run on a single pump reaching a lower height of 114 metres. During special occasions it can be illuminated, often with coloured lights. [2] The design of the jet is based on the Jet d'Eau in Geneva, Switzerland as a result of high-level diplomatic negotiations. [3]
The water jet operates daily from 11 am to 2 pm. [3] In periods of high wind, the jet is automatically disabled as water landing on the nearby Commonwealth Avenue Bridge can be a hazard to traffic. The water jet must also be occasionally shut down when drought lowers the water level of the lake. [4]
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, and is the territory's primate city. It is located in southeastern Australian mainland as an enclave surrounded by the state of New South Wales (NSW). Exclaved from NSW after federation as the seat of government for the new nation, the territory hosts parliament house, High Court of Australia and the head offices of many Australian Government agencies.
The Murray River is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at 2,508 km (1,558 mi) extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest rivers of Australia. Together with that of the Murray, the catchments of these rivers form the Murray–Darling basin, which covers about one-seventh the area of Australia. It is widely considered Australia's most important irrigated region.
The Snowy Mountains Scheme, also known as the Snowy Hydro or the Snowy scheme, is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. Near the border of New South Wales and Victoria, the scheme consists of sixteen major dams; nine power stations; two pumping stations; and 225 kilometres (140 mi) of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts that were constructed between 1949 and 1974. The Scheme was completed under the supervision of Chief Engineer, Sir William Hudson. It is the largest engineering project undertaken in Australia.
The Jet d'Eau is a large fountain in Geneva, Switzerland and is one of the city's most famous landmarks, being featured on the city's official tourism web site and on the official logo for Geneva's hosting of group stage matches at UEFA Euro 2008. Situated where Lake Geneva exits as the Rhône, it is visible throughout the city and from the air, even when flying over Geneva at an altitude of ten kilometres (33,000 ft).
Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was created in 1963 by the damming of the Molonglo River, which formerly ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle. The lake is named after Walter Burley Griffin, the architect who won the competition to design the city of Canberra.
Warragamba Dam is a heritage-listed dam in the outer South Western Sydney suburb of Warragamba, Wollondilly Shire in New South Wales, Australia. It is a concrete gravity dam, which creates Lake Burragorang, the primary reservoir for water supply for the city of Sydney. The dam wall is located approximately 65 kilometres (40 mi) W of Sydney central business district, 4½ km SW of the town of Wallacia, and 1 km NW of the village of Warragamba.
Hindmarsh Island is an inland river island located in the lower Murray River near the town of Goolwa, South Australia.
The National Emergency Services Memorial is a memorial located on the northern shore of Lake Burley Griffin at the southern end of Anzac Parade in Canberra, the national capital of Australia. It was dedicated in July 2004.
The Australian–American Memorial is in Canberra, the national capital of Australia, and commemorates the help given by the United States during the Pacific War.
The Australian Merchant Navy Memorial is a memorial honouring the Australian Merchant Navy's involvement in World War I and World War II. It is located in Kings Park, on the northern shore of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, the national capital city of Australia. Its location at the shore of the lake represent's the Merchant Navy's relationship with water. It was unveiled on 7 October 1990 by Bill Hayden AC, Governor-General of Australia. A memorial service is held on the first Sunday on or after 21 October each year.
The Wivenhoe Dam is a rock and earth-fill embankment dam with a concrete spillway across the Brisbane River in South East Queensland, Australia. The dam takes it names from the local Wivenhoe Pocket rural community. The dam wall is located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) by road from the centre of Brisbane. The primary purpose of the dam is the supply of potable water for the Brisbane and Ipswich regions. South-east Queensland's largest dam also provides for flood mitigation control, hydroelectricity, and recreation. The impounded reservoir is called Lake Wivenhoe and the dam, the lake and a narrow strip of surrounding land forms a locality also called Lake Wivenhoe.
Googong Dam is a minor ungated earth and rock fill with clay core embankment dam with concrete chute spillway plus a nearby 13 metres (43 ft) high earthfill saddle embankment across the Queanbeyan River upstream of Queanbeyan in the Capital Country region of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's purpose includes water supply for Canberra and Queanbeyan. The impounded reservoir is called Googong Reservoir.
Jindabyne Dam is a major ungated rockfill embankment dam across the Snowy River in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's main purpose is to redirect water from the Snowy River to the Murray, for the generation of hydro-power and irrigation. It is one of the sixteen major dams that comprise the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a vast hydroelectricity and irrigation complex constructed in south-east Australia between 1949 and 1974 and now run by Snowy Hydro.
Scrivener Dam is a concrete gravity dam that impounds the Molonglo River in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The dam creates Lake Burley Griffin, which was established for recreational and ornamental purposes. Named in honour of surveyor Charles Scrivener, the dam was officially inaugurated on 20 September 1963 and the official filling of the lake commemorated on 17 October 1964 by the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies.
Reconciliation Place is an urban landscape design in the Parliamentary Triangle Canberra, Australia dedicated to reconciliation between Australia's Indigenous peoples and the mainly European settler population. Reconciliation Place was opened by Prime Minister John Howard in 2002.
Sullivans Creek, a partly perennial stream of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
The Cotter Dam is a concrete gravity and rockfill embankment dam across the Cotter River, located in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Both the dam and river are named after early settler in the area Garrett Cotter. The impounded Cotter Reservoir is a supply source of potable water for the city of Canberra and its environs.
The Australia Forum is a proposed convention centre complex for Canberra, Australia. The project was first put forward in 2011, and in 2017 its future became uncertain when the ACT Government withdrew funding for the preparation of a business case for it.
Oakey Hill is a hill near Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. It rises 80 metres (260 ft) above the adjacent south Canberra suburbs of Lyons, Curtin and Weston, and its 66 hectares is one of 33 areas which form Canberra Nature Reserve. The highest point of the hill, 684 metres above sea level, is marked by a survey station.
PS Enterprise is an 1878 Australian paddle steamer, currently owned by the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. It is still operational, and one of the oldest working paddle steamers in the world. It is listed on the Australian Register of Historic Vehicles.
Media related to Captain Cook Memorial, Canberra at Wikimedia Commons