Skip to main content

Chasing Ghosts - An expensive yet glorious past time!

As I sit here, having spent the last few days refining risk management assessments, meeting with Council members and Board members regarding a possible new site for public tours, I reflect on what it takes to do this and of the continued importance to do so as I see a lot of out historic sites fade away or be removed in the name of progress and the immense sadness that brings to my heart.

                           Joseph Lycett - Newcastle ( Cultural Collection Newcastle University)

I live in Newcastle NSW and am very passionate about the place.
I love its unique history, the way it developed from the second oldest settlement on the East Coast of Australia as, well a repository for political prisoners who stirred up a shit fight at Castle Hill in the first instance, and then for those convicts that continued to be pains in the backside for the government in Sydney.

We started with what would have been seen as the dregs of society to become a totally kick arse place to live!


                                                     View of Great Northern Hotel and Newcastle Hospital -
                                                                     Cultural Collections Ncle Uni

Nothing could stop the amazing progress of Newcastle in the 1800's - we had one thing everyone needed.
Black Diamonds.
Coal.

But that's another story -

Getting back to my point in this blog...

Anyone walking the path of creating tours and events for all of you paranormal investigators and ghost hunters knows, with hand on heart, that it is not an easy job.

You require 'knowing someone" or having street cred or massive persistence to get anywhere at all. You have to know your shit.This is not a game - we pay loads of insurance to make sure it isn't. We have your safety to look after.

Getting sites is an ongoing process that can break the toughest of us as we navigate local councils, sites owners, stakeholders , rules and regulations, site fees, insurances, accreditations and even our tour participants.

But what a shame it would be if we didn't!



One of the big questions is - why does it cost so much to do a tour?

Have you ever tried to hold an event and hire a site?
Do you really think someone is going to give you one for free?

Dont hold your breath honey!

This costs serious $$$$!

Now I am NOT begrudging paying for site hire (something I am negotiating right now  and so it is at the forefront of my mind) but you have to understand that our charges to YOU are based on what WE are being charged.

Tour costs contain site fees and staff payments or may have a % of the tour price going straight back to the site owners just so they can continue to exist. These are negotiated before any tour begins and if we cannot cover those costs - guess what it comes out of our pockets.

Each time you do a tour you contribute to historical sites that are aching for funding just to keep the doors open. Yes, you may be putting some money in the pockets of the ghost tour business, but if they are anything like my business most of that goes back into equipment, research, advertising and standard running costs.

Never the less, we continue to do it - we do it because we LOVE IT.
We would not be doing it because of the money - there is very little of that.
I'm lucky to have a band of volunteers that can help me out, as without them I would be up sh*t creek.
But the balance of trying to cover costs and keep tour prices reasonable is always an effort.
Believe me, tour companies are ARE NOT trying to rip you off.
This stuff costs us heaps, not to mention the stress of things we cannot control like sites pulling out, the weather and none paying customers.

BUT I would not have it any other way right now.
I am lucky to be able to put effort into a job I love and in the process give a little back to my local history.

You see I am gleefully and willingly and lovingly stuck in the past.


One of the very best ways to learn about the past is by going on a ghost tour of your city.
Don't wait until you have seen other places on your travels - don't neglect the very place where you live.
Don't leave it till the very last.
You will probably find things that amaze you right under you very nose.

All this has come up because I am so very close to adding a new site site to my itinerary.
Its going to be good - very good.
But I can't tell you what it is yet.
You will have to wait just a little longer.


For even though the decision is close - it can still all go pear shaped as it has countless times in the past.
I have gotten very excited, just to find out that prices have changed, committees have changed, priorities have changed or simply 'we don't see the value of telling the public that there are ghosts here".




Support your local ghost hunting tour and investigation providers - they are all doing a marvelous job. 
Take a moment to tell site owners and stake holders how you enjoyed the tour so that they know.
It may take a moment of your time but it means a lot to the tour guides and business you are supporting.

In the end we are TRYING TO SAVE HISTORY.
God knows we have so few historic sites left in Australia.
Why lose what we have.

Pay the fees with a smile and know that you are supporting small business in a myriad of ways.
And above all explore - learn - get spooked - be in wonder - as you get it.
YOU GET IT.
History is alive and living right along side of us.
Let's do our part to keep our connection to the past alive and well respected.

#deadlyseriousabouthistory
 #ILOVENEWCASTLE 
#theghostlady 
#Iloveghosthunting




Comments

  1. Very well written and so very true Renata! I love sharing our history through tours and investigations but many do not see the hours of negotiation, research, training, and of course all the businessy stuff of insurance, GST, etc.

    Best of luck with the new venture!! Hope you get the outcome you are wishing for!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Yes I do hope so.
      Same to you - its a privilege.

      Delete
  2. Well said Renata. And thank you for digging out these treasured sites and continually providing a quality experience for punters.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Diary of a Ghost Hunter - The Wallacia Hotel

  We were given the opportunity of staying overnight at the Wallachia Hotel in Western Sydney. The hotelwas officially opened on December 3rd 1937. During the Second World War the hotel was used as the Army headquarters for radiopyhysics. I had never been to the Wallacia Hotel before, but, my ghost hunting gal pal Anne, had been there about 5 years ago with a group of Paranormal Investigators that she was working with at the time. We arrived and we were greeted by Craig, the night manager, who welcomed us with open arms.  Craig recognised Anne from the last time she had visited.  Anne asked whether any spooky things had been happening over the last few years. Craig said that he always thought that there was something a little bit weird going on late at night. Over the last few months everything had changed as the Hotel had been very much affected by the COVID lock downs This was a huge hotel with quite an interesting history even though in the whole scheme of things the hotel was only

Lemon Tree Passage Ghost - Local legend is alive and well

Lemon Tree Passage  is a suburb of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, located at the end of the Tilligerry Peninsula and surrounded by the waters of beautiful Port Stephens .  Ever since I can remember there have been a few urban legends about a stretch of highway named Lemon Tree Passage Road. The story begins when a motor bike rider and his pillion passenger died after colliding with a four wheel drive killing both. This seems to be the source of the ghostly lights and apparition. These sort of events don't stay quiet in small townships. Stories spread fast often not ending up like they started. Every so often this urban legend makes a comeback with a number to people tempting fate and poking the ghost rider.             A memorial to Dale Dickens on the Lemon Tree Passage Road / Pic: Robert Mckell Source:The Daily Telegraph The  Lemon Tree Passage ghost  first made headlines in 2010 after drivers cau

The Ghosts of Prince Henry Hospital and Little Bay

I am a ghost hunter. I explore and research and love to find myself being excited by stories of ghosts and haunted sights. Each story has its place in our collective consciousness and deserves to be heard and felt. Prince Henry Hospital, although long closed, remains a place that is greatly loved by so many nurses and patients and is now run by volunteers who keep its history alive. I began my involvement here abut three years ago when I was asked by Oz Para Tech (www.ozparatech.com) to join them in a public demonstration of ghost hunting for one of their open days. Let me share some history first..   This is a brief history of the Coast Hospital in relation to it being a hospital devoted to infectious diseases.  It was established to deal with a growing epidemic of smallpox in Sydney on September 5, 1881, and the site of Little Bay was chosen because of it's isolation from Sydney's population, its sweeping coastal view