The First Fleet: Portsmouth to Sydney Cove

The fleet gathered in the spring of 1787: on 16 March ships began to assemble at the Mother Bank, Isle of Wight. Sailors of the Fishburn refused to leave until a pay dispute was settled. The fleet finally left Portsmouth on 13 May 1787. Portsmouth Harbour remains the home of the Royal Navy, with HMNB Portsmouth on its shores.

Location precision: The ships assembled at the Mother Bank off the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth; the pin marks Portsmouth Harbour as a whole.

The fleet reached Rio de Janeiro on 5 August 1787 and stayed for a month. The women convicts' clothing had become infested with lice and was burnt, and the women were issued new clothes made from rice sacks. The fleet left on 4 September. The mouth of Guanabara Bay is flanked by Parrot's Peak on one side and the Sugar Loaf on the other.

Location precision: The fleet's anchorage in the city is not pinned down; the pin marks Guanabara Bay.

The fleet reached Table Bay in southern Africa on 13 October 1787. Here it took on livestock for the new colony, among them two bulls, seven cows, one stallion, three mares, 44 sheep, 32 pigs and four goats. The Dutch colony of Cape Town was the last outpost of European settlement the fleet's people would see for years. The bay is still dominated by the flat-topped Table Mountain, from which it takes its name.

Location precision: The exact anchorage is not pinned down; the pin marks the bay.

The Supply reached Botany Bay on 18 January 1788, and the three fastest transports of the advance group arrived the next day. The place did not match expectations: the bay was open and unprotected, the water too shallow for ships to anchor close to shore, fresh water was scarce and the soil poor. When convicts tried to clear trees, their tools broke and the trunks had to be blasted out with gunpowder. Then two French ships, the Astrolabe and the Boussole, were seen just outside the bay. James Cook had first landed here in 1770; today Kamay Botany Bay National Park covers the headlands.

Location precision: The fleet anchored somewhere in the large bay; the pin marks the bay as a whole.

Visitor guidance: Kamay Botany Bay National Park lies on the northern and southern headlands of the bay.

Phillip found that Port Jackson, about 12 kilometres to the north, was a far better site, with sheltered anchorages, fresh water and fertile soil; he called it "the finest harbour in the world". The chosen anchorage had deep water close to shore, was sheltered, and had a small stream flowing into it. Phillip named it Sydney Cove after Lord Sydney, the British Home Secretary. On 26 January 1788 the fleet landed here and the Union Jack was raised. The Eora name for the place was recorded as Warrane, among other spellings.

Visitor guidance: Sydney Cove is on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, in central Sydney.