I just spent the weekend in Cooktown at the Discovery Festival and was reminded of the strength of our rural communities. The location originally made famous by Captain James Cook who repaired his vessel, the Endeavour, after running aground on the Great Barrier Reef on his voyage of discovery to Australia in 1770. The town celebrates this history every year over the Queens Birthday long weekend with a re-enactment of Cook's landing and a range of other events.

It is hard to have a bad time in Cooktown as it is a picture perfect little town on the mouth of the Endeavour River. The weather was perfect with warm sunny days making for a great respite after Parliament and the Canberra winter.

It is the people though that strike you when you visit Cooktown. Everyone is welcoming as they busily go about organising events for the thousands who swell the towns' population for the weekend of celebration.

The play at the opening on the Friday night is a local production through the street parade, ball and re-enactment on Sunday everything is well organised and run by volunteers. This work in a larger town would be contracted out to an events management company that just couldn't generate the level of community involvement that you see during the Discovery Festival in Cooktown. It is the community spirit and involvement though that makes the weekend such a success with the locals decked out in period costume creating a festive atmosphere all weekend.

I spent time growing up in little communities like this and lived in them when I made a living from agriculture. Everyone knows that to get things done you just have to pitch in and make it happen. You can be a long time resident or just arrived and you are made welcome, particularly if you are ready to contribute.

The final event on the busy program that I attended was the burial of the remains of a Chinese person as a memorial to all those Chinese who had died during the gold rush. It was a moving Buddhist ceremony and highlighted the multicultural nature of Cooktown that Mayor Peter Scott spoke about at the opening on Friday night. The event organised by the Cooktown Historical Society is a testament to the hard work of its volunteers. It was fitting then to have Bev and John Shay, the driving forces behind the society and the memorial, be recognised during the Queens Birthday honours with medals of the Order of Australia.

Although numbers were down a bit on last year, everyone had a great time - so if you are looking for a break away next Queens Birthday long weekend, you can't go past Cooktown.