Hello Graeme, The ship would have been well on course following and its great circle route. The great circle distance is the shortest distance between two points on the Earths surface assuming the Earth is a sphere, and from England to Australia this route runs in an arc close to the Brazilian coast across south of the Cape of Good Hope into the Southern Ocean to Australia. In early periods provisioning calls were made at South American ports.. Favourable weathers patterns and currents were also an advantage on this route. The First Fleet called at Rio de Janiero. Pushing a barrow, I remember learning this in primary school history in the 1950's. A good visual example of the great circle distance is the course followed by an aircraft fyling from New York to the UK. Regards Denis McCarthy Qld Australia