Acará, Brazil

Capital City

Letting reality hit first: For a Far North Queensland coastal town of fewer than 3,000 people, the cost of living here runs steep due to remote supply chains and limited services. Most residents are heavily reliant on tourism dollars from cruise ships and road-trippers drawn by Captain Cook history.

Cooktown sits at the mouth of the Endeavour River, where James Cook beached his damaged ship in 1770 for repairs. The town was officially founded in 1873 as a supply port to service the Palmer River goldfields, quickly growing to around 7,000 people during the peak gold rush years of the 1880s. A large Chinese community established itself, running market gardens and shops.

Today's Cooktown economy revolves around servicing nearby Aboriginal communities like Hope Vale and Wujal Wujal, with the Port of Cooktown mainly handling tourist vessels. While the paved Mulligan Highway now provides all-weather road access, basics remain expensive. The population hovers around 2,746, with 14.5% identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. True rural isolation means jobs are limited mostly to tourism and essential services.