Tuesday, 22 December, 2020 - 16:52 When he arrived in the Bay of Islands in 1824, his parting words to the crew of the French ship Coquille which had transported him and his family from Sydney, were intended to inspire: "If only you could be here in 10 years’ time you would find, I hope, by the grace of God, that great changes have been made," he said. Ships doctor, Rene Lesson, recorded his response to Clarke’s ‘first step for man’ moment with a cynicism that suggested he might have been in his role a bit too long: "Clarke will have managed to gather up a few tattooed heads or will have been eaten by his catechumens. Those perhaps are the changes there will be."