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Bus #393, #394, #L94. La Perouse , tucked into the northern shore of Botany Bay, contains Sydney's oldest Aboriginal settlement, the legacy of a mission. The suburb took its name from Laperouse , the eighteenth-century French explorer, who set up camp here for six weeks, briefly and cordially meeting Captain Arthur Phillip, who was making his historic decision to forgo swampy Botany Bay and move on to Port Jackson. After leaving Botany Bay, the Laperouse expedition was never seen again. A monument erected in 1825 and the excellent Laperouse Museum between them tell the whole fascinating story. The surrounding headlands and foreshore have been incorporated into the northern half of Botany Bay National Park ; the other half of the park, which you have to pay to enter, is across Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula . The park visitor centre (tel 9311 3379) sits on a grassy headland between the pretty beaches of Congwong Bay and Frenchmans Bay in the same building as the Laperouse Museum; you can pick up details of potential walks here - there's a fine one past Congwong Bay Beach to Henry Head and its lighthouse (5km return). Nearby, the Boatshed Cafe is an idyllic spot for a cappuccino sitting right over the water with pelicans floating below. La Perouse is at its most lively on Sunday (and public holidays) when, following a tradition established at the turn of the century, Aboriginal people come down to sell boomerangs and other crafts, and demonstrate boomerang throwing; snake-handling skills are on display from 1.30pm. Just offshore from La Perouse, and joined to it by a walkway is Bare Island , which featured in the 2000 film Mission Impossible 2 , starring Tom Cruise. Tours of the island's nineteenth-century fortifications are available at weekends and on public holidays (tours 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 2.30pm & 3.30pm; $7; no booking required, wait at the gate to the island).
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