DIARY OF A GHOST HUNTER

  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

 I have just spent a weekend at the historic homestead - Lochinvar House, just outside of Lochinvar in the NSW Hunter Valley. This was, for me, a team bonding opportunity and a chance to get away from worries associated with Covid. It was also where members of my ghost hunting volunteers got to head onto this site before we invited in the public, to check out the stories of ghosts and alleged hauntings. Now, as usual, not all historic houses are haunted. And even more intriguing, it seems that not all historic houses are haunted for all the families that live therein. Many times I have heard this - one family may experience seeing and hearing strange things happening at all hours of the day and night. Yet, another family will move in and.....nothing! And so it is.. Why is it like this? I don't know. Do the ghosts pick us? Lochinvar House was built back in the late 1820's by Leslie Duguid who was granted a enormous amount of land in 1822. He was one of the first land owners in N

A blacksmith from Northumberland, England, 37 year old Joseph Lowes travelled with his wife Francis, aged 37, and sons Samuel aged 17 and Isaac aged 6 and 2 year old twin daughters Sarah and Margaret out to Australia in one of the ships that were firstly directed to the Quarantine grounds at North Head Manly. Despite Joseph's efforts, and the attentions of Dr Gibson and Matron Elizabeth Bant, upon arrival in Sydney on the 19th of August 1878 the ship was quarantined for numerous diseases. Among its 453 passengers  some were stricken with measles, scarlet fever, typhoid fever and ophthalmia and eye inflammation. Nine deaths at sea were followed by another four after landing,  and all the victims were aged 7 years or younger. Dying on the 25th of August, Isaac Lowes was buried alongside fellow immigrant Thomas Convoy, aged four years old, with both of their families remaining and quarantine until late September. The lonely grave of Isaac Lowes was once far from solitary, as a one amo

 Evening News (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1924 - 1941), Friday 4 August 1939                    Yarralumla - The Governor General's House Canberra Canberra "Ghost" Haunts Home Of Kents STORY OF DIAMOND THEFT TOLD IN OLD LETTER SYDNEY.  Yarralumla, House, which is to be the Canberra home of the Duke of Kent, has a ghost.  It has never been seen, but half a century ago there were tales of a shadowy spirit of a murdered aborigine—' which used to flit uneasily about the countryside on dark nights. In the dusty archives at Canberra an old letter purports to give the history of the ghost.  Unsigned and dated 1881, it was discovered when the Commonwealth Government took over the old house in 1920 for use as Government House.  It told an interesting but probably entirely romantic tale of the theft of a valuable diamond,  bushrangers, loyalty of a faithful blackfellow, and the burial of the gem beneath a giant deodar in the . gardens of Yarralumla.  "SWALLOWED" DIAMOND"

WHICH WAS IT? SUICIDE OR MURDER?? Here is what the newspapers said... DRIVEN TO SUICIDE BY ILL-HEALTH.   This is from the newspaper article taken from TROVE   A magisterial inquiry was held at the Quarantine Station yesterday respecting the death of an employee named William Hay, aged 56, who was found in a flat behind the stables on Wednesday, with a bullet wound in the head, and another in the abdomen.  He had a revolver clasped in his right hand. A fellow employee slated that the deceased had lately been suffering from bronchitis and asthma, neuralgia in the head, and internal pains.  When ill he had been heard to say that life was not worth living, and had often asked the effects of certain drugs.   He leaves a widow and two children.   The Coroner recorded a finding of suicide whilst suffering from ill-health.  And from: https://www.northheadsanctuaryfoundation.org.au/newsletters/  “SUICIDE AT NORTH HEAD" The City Coroner held an inquiry yesterday concerning the death of Wil

A stone’s throw from the waterfront mansions lining Sydney Harbour, Cockatoo Island — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — has a grim and varied history. It was a brutal colonial prison — like an Australian Alcatraz — between 1839 and 1869, where numerous prisoners died in custody and others died trying to flee. One famous story involves a guard being murdered by an inmate. The island became a colonial jail to take in the overflow of prisoners on Norfolk Island. After 1900 it became a crucial shipbuilding yard and naval dockyard, where conditions were better, but tough. Workers were killed in gruesome industrial accidents and at least one person mysteriously vanished. Tourists and even staff have reported various kinds of paranormal activity on the island, which draws ghost hunters from around the world. And while the grisly stories — and alleged ghosts — from the prison and dockyard eras are frightful stuff, they don’t seem to leave visitors as unsettled as those from a thi

Beechworth Lunatic Asylum, VICTORIA The abandoned grounds of Beechworth Lunatic Asylum - also known as Mayday Hills - is a hot spot for ghost hunters, with regular and consistent accounts of unexplained figures walking the halls. Visitors recount an 80-year-old man tugging at their clothes, children laughing in the distance and the murmurs of a young girl who desperately tries to speak but can't be understood. The asylum closed in 1995 after 128 years of operation. However, hundreds of patients were buried on-site in unmarked graves and it's believed their spirits remain. Opened in 1867, the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum was one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in the state. Legend has it that doctors would restrain patients with shackles, conduct electro-shock treatments en masse, and pull teeth when patients self-harmed. The Beechworth Lunatic Asylum was one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in the state, home to 1200 patients at its peak. Very few are said to have left al

At least 3 Youth Hostels in Australia seem to have stories of ghostly meanderings within the buildings they occupy. A number of years ago we did a short investigation at the Newcastle YHA and we really did not find anything conclusive, even staying in the spooky Room that is mentioned in the story below. But maybe we were just not there at the right time on the right day! Maybe we did not give enough time to connect properly or maybe the Matron really did not want to be seen. One day maybe we will get another chance!! THE SHANTY OF CAPTAIN ALLEN ANCHOR BEARD  Sydney Central YHA is home to a huge mural by Mulga of Captain Allen Anchor Beard, who had a fondness for seagulls because many moons ago a trusty seagull saved his life. Allen was thrown overboard during a particularly vigorous storm as he sailed the summit of Cape Horn. After surviving the shark infested waters for the whole night a seagull chanced across Allen on its breakfast fishing expedition. Be

I am a ghost hunter. I am someone who loves to lose myself in forgotten and over gown places just like Waterfall Sanatorium. I am afraid that for this site I am too late to venture beyond the fences that block the area. I can only imagine what I might be able to find there.  Just one-and-a-half hours drive south of Sydney, 2,000 souls lie lost and buried beneath overgrown bush land: former patients from a century-old sanatorium now long forgotten. Now the land is an abandoned graveyard, inaccessible by foot and barely visible through broken branches, thick undergrowth and the tree canopies that grow above. At the turn of the century, tuberculosis - otherwise known as consumption or the White Plague - ravaged the newly federated nation.  With no cure the highly infectious sufferers were instead contained in sanatoriums.  It was here where people were sent to die. The Waterfall Sanatorium was the state's only purpose-built facility for people suffering tub

Have you been to the most haunted house in Australia? I was there over 5 years ago when Reg the owner was still on this side of the veil.  Now, I am totally sure he makes himself known as one of the ghosts that haunts the historic site. Monte Christo can be found at Junee, NSW. The homestead is now being run to Reg's wife and his son, Lawrence. Lawrence conducts the ghost tours and tells stories about growing up in the homestead and the very many spooky stories associated with the homesteads long history. As with all houses of this ilk, the stories are not always sweet and covered with love and light. Some, are a little more mysterious and dark. I am hoping to go back after the COVID lockdown is over. And if you decide to go, I suggest stopping at the township's cemetery and stop and pay your respects to the original owners, the Crawley family and ask permission to visit. They may treat you nicely if you do!!! This story below, comes from an article by NATIONAL

The macabre world of Maitland  phrenologist Archibald Hamilton from the MAITLAND MERCURY by Kevin Short Yes ladies and gents, phrenology was a 'science' and studying the bumps on a person's head was thought to offering insight into the mental health of a person. Certainly,it was thought that murderers, rapists, thieves had strange bumps and different skull shapes than normal reasonable people who did not commit heinous  crimes. Worse still, all indigenous people were always at threat of losing their heads to phrenologists for examination. And as this story starts to tell you many of these 'scientists' would do just about anything to procure a skull to examine, even if it meant paying the gravedigger to collect one for them from a new burial. Strange? Weird? But true.  EVERY HEAD TELLS A STORY: Phrenologist Archibald Hamilton who as fortunate to escape the clutches of the law. The 'Old St Peter's or &