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apollonaut. Built by People Who've Been

An Apollonaut travel guide

Moments in a longer story.

Selected milestones in the history of Hartley’s Creek and Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures.

The Cook Highway at Hartley’s Creek in the 1960s, with hand-painted signs for the tropical zoo among coconut palms
On this page

A creek, a teahouse and a park

These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.

  1. 1770

    Captain Cook

    James Cook sails past Hartley’s Creek after naming Trinity Bay.

  2. 3 June 1882

    A name for the creek

    Christie Palmerston names Hartley’s Creek after Robert Hartley, Sub-Collector of Customs.

  3. 17 December 1933

    The coast road

    The Cook Highway is opened at Hartley’s Creek, and Herb and Mabel Evans open The Halfway House teahouse.

  4. 1935

    Charlie

    Herb Evans buys a crocodile advertised in The Cairns Post for three pounds; he is named Charlie.

  5. 1966

    A royal visitor

    Prince Charles meets Charlie.

  6. 1974

    Protection

    Crocodiles become protected.

  7. 1986

    New owners

    The Freeman family buys Hartley’s Creek Zoo.

  8. 2000

    The end of an era

    Charlie dies, 65 years after he came to Hartley’s Creek.

  9. July 2002

    Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures

    The new park opens 500 metres south of Hartley’s Creek.

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.

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