You might be thinking that a country built by convicts should have a dark tale or two in its history. Well, you wouldn’t be wrong. Which is perhaps why there’s no shortage of ghastly ghosttours to scare yourself silly on this Halloween…
NSW
The Rocks is Sydney’s oldest colonial district and has a dark history of disease, disaster, violence and murders. If you want more spirits than George Best’s liver, check out The Rocks Ghost Tours (www.ghosttours.com.au). During a tour recently the guide told us a horrific tale of a mutilated body, and another about two sisters, two houses and two hangings as we tiptoed timidly down narrow cobblestone lanes and alleys with lanterns in hand.
You can also do tours of Sydney’s spooky Quarantine Station (www.qstation.com.au), above Manly. The station’s buildings have played host to any arriving migrant, from the 1830s to the 1980s, who was suspected of carrying a contagious disease.
VIC
We’ve read some scary books in my time. I mean, we couldn’t eat for days after readingLearning To Fly – Victoria Beckham’s autobiography (neither could she by the look of her). The famous Haunted Bookshop in Melbourne’s McKillop Street specialises in books on the occult and paranormal. Owner Drew Sinton also conducts a spine-tingling two-hour historical walking tour across the creaking floorboards of the occult library to explore ghosts, death, witchcraft, angels and the supernatural. Clairvoyants often offer tarot readings within the store, so you’re guaranteed to get a shock of some sort.
TAS
The worst of the worst convicts were sent to Tasmania’s Port Arthur. In other words, the people the world didn’t want were sent to the very end of the world. It was a hellish spot; cold and isolated. Ghost tours of the former penitentiary are great. Though on a sunny day it’s a surprisingly pretty place, it’s very different after sunset. On a lantern-lit walk around the site, the guide’s vivid stories of spectral sightings and apparitions get the hairs on the back of your neck standing to attention. In 1996 Port Arthur was also the scene of the worst mass murder event in Australian history, when a Hobart man shot and killed 36 people and injured many more.
QLD
Mainland Australia’s longest running ghost tours are conducted by local “horror historian” Jack Sim in Brisbane. The weird walkabouts combine visits to some of the nation’s most haunted historic sites. Hear hair-raising stories of murder, mystery, witchcraft, love and death (what more do you want from a good night out?). There are a variety of tours but if you’ve never done a ghost tour before, Haunted Brisbane (www.ghost–tours.com.au) is good for beginners. Another promising option is Bloody Brisbane.
WA
Sadly for our editor, who recently visited, you won’t find any mean-looking dudes with tatts wanting to make you their bitch in Fremantle Prison (www.fremantleprison.com.au). Just the ghostly empty cells in which people lived out their sentences. Fremantle Prison Tours take you back in time on an eerie torchlight tour accompanied by stories of the supernatural. Thesetours are not for the faint hearted: you’ll experience the main cell block, solitary confinement, whipping post and the gallows, plus a few surprises along the way. Another option is to descend into the darkness below the prison and jump in a canoe to explore the claustrophobic maze of tunnels above which the jail sits.
Still Not Spooked?
Thought Broome is only famous for its stunning beach sunsets? Think again.
Locals will tell you that behind the colourful sky there’s a dark story of the ghosts of drowned pearlers creeping around the lighthouse on certain nights of the year, causing the light to falter.
Elsewhere, Stephen McIntyre, Australia’s most famous pianist, was playing the National Gallery in Melbourne one night. Suddenly he found himself struggling against an invisible force. Every time he pressed a key, two or three different notes played. The music sounded horrendous and out of key. Yet an ABC recording captured a flawless performance (so possibly he was just drunk).
Canberra’s Air Disaster Memorial commemorates a mysterious plane crash from many years ago. A couple who went there recently told TNT, they “could feel someone watching us”.
Then they heard someone screaming and thought someone was following them, so dashed for the campervan. “The van had difficulties, spluttered a fair bit… Then cut out. From out of the forest came this lady dressed as a nurse. She came up to us and was trying to give assistance, as if we were hurt. She was trying to get in the van any way possible. Suddenly the engine started again and we reversed out!” Yikes.
Fright Night
There’s no shortage of hell-raising options for a night out this Halloween. The spookfest itself falls on a Monday (October 31), meaning many bars will hold their main events the weekend before. All the usual backpacker haunts (hehe) will be doing gory deals galore (especially if you dressup, but here’s some slightly alternative options…
Alien (Sydney): Love a fright but worried about hordes of zombies on the street? Fear not, just head to Hoyts cinema in Glebe on Fri 28 Oct, for a reshowing of the classic chest-bursting flick.
Dracula’s (Melbourne): For a night out with a difference, Dracula’s Cabaret Restaurant (pictured) has launched its new show, Sin & Tonic, combining comedy, burlesque, vampires and dinner. Tickets from $60. www.draculas.com.au
Luna Park (Melbourne): Spook-tacular times as the popular theme park becomes Luna Dark on Sat 31 Oct. There’s half-price rides for everyone in costume from 7pm.
Luna Park (Sydney): Fancy dress circus spectacular with everything from sword swallowers to burlesque dancers via freestyle crews. Tix $60. Sat 29 Oct from 6pm-12.30am.www.magique.com.au
Oz Party Bus (Sydney): The Party Bus crew are putting on one of their legendary harbour cruises to mark the fangtastic occasion. The three-hour fancy dress event, on Fri 29 Oct, includes unlimited drink and food for $69. www.ozpartybus.com
Mind the gap
UFOs, the CIA and an Aussie PM
Like many things involving the CIA, the real truth may never be known about
what really happened to one of Australia’s most progressive prime ministers.
What is known however, is that in 1975 he was dismissed in shocking circumstances. In just three years, Gough Whitlam introduced Medicare, advanced Aboriginal rights, plus ended conscription, the death penalty and the White Australia Policy. But then, in a constitutionally dodgy move, he was sacked by Governor-General John Kerr. Okay, so there was some pretty messed up politics going on, but many Aussies believe the Yanks did a little more than just sit back and watch.
Spectating would have been pretty easy mind you, as one of the biggest CIA stations in the world is at Pine Gap, 20km outside Alice Springs. Whitlam had wanted the base closed. He was also the first Aussie leader to start chatting to the Chinese.
All in all he wasn’t too popular with the Americans. Lo and behold he was swiftly given the chop.
Pine Gap meanwhile, is still there and bigger than ever before. It may also be no coincidence, what with some suggesting Pine Gap is like Australia’s very own Area 51, that Wycliffe Well is just up the road, a Northern Territory town that happens to be Australia’s UFO-sighting capital.
Thirst for blood: killer Aussies
Backpacker Killer Ivan Milat:
In 1996, Milat was sentenced to life in prison after the remains of seven travellers, aged 19-22, were found in the Belanglo State Forest, between Sydney and Canberra. His crimes loosely inspired the 2005 horror film Wolf Creek. Last year Milat cut off his finger and tried to mail it to the supreme court.
Martin Bryant:
Officially Australia’s worst serial killer, Bryant is serving 35 life sentences (that’s 1,035 years without parole) after going on a massive shooting spree in Tasmania’s Port Arthur, in 1996. Throughout one April day, Bryant killed 35 people and injured 21 others, both tourists and locals.
Mark ‘Chopper’ Read:
Made globally famous after being played by Eric Bana in the 2000 film Chopper, Read spent over 20 years in prison, after being a notorious Melbourne standover man, earning his crust by robbing and torturing drug dealers. While in prison he made a friend cut his ears off, to help him get transferred to a mental ward.
