Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of Phillip Island, home of A Maze’N Things.
On this page
An island of visitors
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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Before 1798
Bunurong Country
The Yalloc Bulluk clan of the Bunurong people live on the island.
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5 January 1798
George Bass
Bass reaches the island by whaleboat from Sydney and names it after Governor Arthur Phillip.
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1920
Cowes from the air
An aerial photograph records the town, its beach and its jetty.
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1920s
The Penguin Parade
Visitors begin watching little penguins come ashore at Summerland Beach.
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1928
A Grand Prix
The first Australian Grand Prix is raced on the island’s roads.
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1956
A permanent circuit
The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit opens.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.