FIRST VOYAGE
In 1766 the Royal Society asked Cook to travel to the Pacific Ocean and watch the transit of the planet Venus across the Sun. Although his observations of Venus were not as accurate as he hoped, he continued his voyage and became the first person to sail all the way around New Zealand and made maps of the entire coastline. Following that he then sailed to the south-eastern coast of Australia and on 19 April 1770 the expedition became the first Europeans to see the eastern coastline. They also became the first Europeans to meet Aborigines.