Our STORY
YIRRGANYDJI PEOPLE
Djirri Nyurramba...Nyurramba garrany gulu bulmba djana-ynggu mugu mundu guri djanan...Nyurramba gabungabun galin.
Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures pays respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
The traditional owners of the coastal country between Cairns and Port Douglas are the Yirrganydji Aboriginal people. The Yirrganydji are noted for their distinctive pointed-bow canoes used for fishing and trading. News, dances and trade goods including spears, shields and baskets were regularly exchanged with neighbouring groups. Native foods from the sea and coastal forests provided them with a rich and healthy diet.
A major trading pathway followed the same route as the current highway. Artefacts, wells and other signs of occupation have been found at several places near the sea, including stone axes and grinding stones at the mouth of Hartley’s Creek. It is highly likely the traditional owners hunted and foraged on the site of Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures.
After Cairns and Port Douglas were established in 1877, the Yirrganydji found their hunting and fishing grounds were increasingly restricted by loggers and farmers. By the 1880s most of the Yirrganydji people had been forced by starvation to move to the towns where they were given food in exchange for work. They lived in fringe camps and reserves around Cairns.
The exploration continues with a serene boat cruise on Hartley's Lagoon, offering a chance to spot crocodiles and other native animals in their natural wetland habitat.
As visitors discover the park, they'll encounter a variety of Australian wildlife, including koalas, wombats, emus, and kangaroos, alongside the rare southern cassowary.
The park's facilities ensure a comfortable visit, with free parking, wheelchair accessibility, and a picturesque dining experience at Lilies Restaurant, overlooking the lagoon.
Visitors can also explore themed areas like the Tropical Bird Aviary, Birds of Prey Aviary, Gallery of Living Art reptile display, Gondwana Gateway and the newly constructed Hartley’s Croc Centre.
Whether it's the thrill of seeing a crocodile up close or the joy of learning about Australia's unique fauna, visitors are guaranteed a memorable day filled with adventure and discovery. Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures is now the largest wildlife attraction in Northern Australia and continues to be a ‘must do’ for locals, Australian visitors and overseas travellers.
Many people were taken to nearby Yarrabah and Mona Mona Aboriginal Settlements during the 1900s-1930s but some managed to remain in the area, employed as housekeepers and farm labourers, and maintained their connections to the Cairns to Port Douglas coastline.
Today, many of the Yirrganydji still live in the land of their ancestors. They continue to care for and speak about their traditional homeland.
Yirrganydji Land and Sea Rangers are actively engaged in the conservation and management of the environment in the Wangetti area and are working with Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures to provide environmental and cultural education to the wider community.
Early explorers
Captain James Cook sailed past Hartley’s Creek in 1770 after he named Trinity Bay, the future site of Cairns.
By 1850, a regular shipping service began between Queensland and Europe via the Torres Straits. Fishermen from southern ports seeking beche-de- mer and tortoise shell visited the Cairns area at the same time.
In 1873, George Dalrymple was sent to investigate the northern coast and to establish a port for the Palmer River gold rush. He named the Macalister Range behind Hartley’s Creek. Dalrymple and his native police were one of the first exploring parties to encounter and clash with the Yirrganydji.
After the establishment of Cairns, legendary bushman Christie Palmerston was asked to conduct a detailed survey of possible railway routes through the coastal ranges between Port Douglas and Innisfail. On 3rd June 1882, he named the “nice stream of water” he found Hartley’s Creek after the Sub-Collector of Customs, Robert Hartley. He thought that the mountain range behind Hartley’s Creek was “the lowest gap in the range” and could offer “a splendid road all the way” to the tin mines at Herberton. The privately owned and unopened Quaid Road now follows this route over the Macalister Range to the Atherton Tablelands.
Tin and tungsten-bearing quartz were discovered at Hartley’s Creek in 1907, and a minor rush took place. There have been several periods of intensive prospecting since then, but the amount of tin produced has always been very small.
During the depression years of the 1930s groups of farmers tried their luck without much success. Small-scale tin mining continued at Hartley’s Creek until the early 1980s. Miners and their families made an important contribution to the township’s distinctive history and special identity.
Loggers and graziers also visited the coast during the early years of last century. Members of the well-known Veivers family hauled timber out of the coastal ranges with bullock teams and ran herds of horses in the Hartley’s Creek area. With the help of Aboriginal men, they cut a track from Kuranda to Hartley’s Creek.
Halfway House
On Sunday 17 December 1933, the Cook Highway connecting Cairns and Mossman was officially opened at Hartley’s Creek.
One of the workers, Herb (Pop) Evans and his wife Mabel opened a wayside teahouse which was “a delight to travellers between Cairns and Mossman”. They called it The Halfway House, and it eventually became the Hartley’s Creek Zoo, the Hartley’s Creek Crocodile Farm and, finally, after the Freeman family relocated, rebranded and relaunched their new experience, it became Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures.
The road became popular with visitors undertaking day trips from Cairns. It was also a magnet for parties and social events. Pop and Mabel struggled on through the Great Depression and World War 2. Tourism increased after the war, but the work was becoming too difficult.
The kiosk was sold in 1954 to the Blaneys, who were the first of four owners over the next six years.
Hartley’s Creek Zoo was sold in 1961 to Gary Zillfleisch and family of Mossman. They had a long association with the business. Gary learned all he could about crocs from old hunters and travelled all over Cape York catching them. He found crocodiles hard to locate after years of shooting and become committed to their conservation. He decided to turn Hartley’s Creek into a ‘crocodile stud’ and raise them.
Hartley’s was the first place in Australia to breed crocs in captivity. Work on crocodile conservation and management attracted worldwide interest.
Television companies and film makers produced documentaries at Hartley’s which helped arouse public interest and sympathy. Calls for government intervention became too loud for politicians to ignore and in 1974 crocodiles were protected.
By now the zoo had established a venerable pedigree as one of north Queensland’s leading attractions. In 1986 it attracted the interest of and was acquired by the Freeman family, who were already involved in wildlife tourism with Wild World at Palm Cove.
Renovated in 1987, the zoo remained at its original site until 2002 when the newly built Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures opened 500m south of Hartley’s Creek. Its design was partly based on extensive surveys of visitor expectations and preferences undertaken at the old zoo. The original site is now a private residence.
Charlie the crocodile
Back in 1935, a notice in The Cairns Post advertising a live croc caught Herb Evans’ eye. It would be an added attraction for their tearoom’s visitors.
The five-foot-long croc cost three pounds and was delivered - strapped between two pieces of wood - by Jensen’s Motor Service. The Evans family called him “The Old Croc.” Herb showed him off while visitors waited for their tea and scones. Many years later when Pop visited him, the croc seemed to recognise his voice.
Later, the crocodile was named Charlie after a friend, Charlie Davis, a bus driver who stopped at the halfway house every day with parties of visitors. There are different stories about his origin. The Evans’ granddaughter believed that the croc was caught at the Barron River, but others said it was from the Cairns Inlet or Yorkey’s Knob.
During World War 2, some American officers tried to buy Charlie the crocodile from Pop. He refused. His reason – “Charlie was his livelihood!”
Charlie’s fame grew steadily and the celebrities of the day came flocking. Sydney radio icon Terry Dear dangled a packet of washing powder on some fishing line for a gimmick (we suspect he may have had a commercial arrangement with its makers). Charlie thought it was food and promptly ate it!
Prince Charles met his namesake in 1966, and 1991 the Cairns City Council presented Charlie with an award for his ‘service to the community’.
Apart from one instance of bone infection in 1992, Charlie maintained robust health before finally succumbing to cancer in 2000. He had been at Hartley’s since 1935 and was in captivity longer than any other crocodile in the world.