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The Haunted Bushranger Hotel - Ghosts and Apparitions plus a very violent history.

 



The name of the town is thought to have come from the Gundungurra/Ngunnawal people indigenous to that region. ‘Collector’ is said to have been derived from the word ‘colegdar’, the Gundungurra word for the area (aussietowns.com.au).

Collector was first occupied by Europeans in 1829 when Terence Aubrey Murray and his family were granted the farming and grazing lands alongside Lake George, NSW. The property went on to be called Winderradeen (Australian Dictionary of Biography). Murray later acquired other lands including Yarralumla sheep station, which would evolve over time to become the home of the Governor General. 
He later became a politician and was appointed to the Legislative Council of NSW Parliament (Australian Dictionary of Biography).
The post office in Collector first opened in 1848, and the first hotel opened in 1841.
The only hotel remaining today, originally titled the Commercial Hotel (now the Bushranger Hotel, see below), opened in 1861.

The Bushranger Hotel has a reputation for being haunted, and there are several ghost stories associated with the hotel. Here are some of them:

1.   The ghost of a former publican: One of the most commonly reported ghosts at The Bushranger Hotel is that of a former publican who is said to haunt the upstairs area of the hotel. According to legend, the publican died in his sleep in one of the upstairs bedrooms, and his ghost has been seen wandering the hallway and entering various rooms.

2.   The ghostly woman in white: Another ghostly figure that is said to haunt The Bushranger Hotel is that of a woman in a white dress. According to local legend, the woman was a former guest at the hotel who died under mysterious circumstances, and her ghost has been seen walking through the hotel's corridors and disappearing into thin air.

3.   The ghost of a child: Some guests have reported hearing the sound of a child laughing and playing in the hotel's hallways, even though there are no children staying at the hotel. Some believe that the ghost of a child who died in the hotel many years ago is responsible for these eerie sounds.

4.   The ghostly pianist: According to some reports, the hotel's piano has been known to play by itself, even though no one is sitting at the keys. Some guests have also reported hearing the sound of someone playing the piano in the middle of the night, even though the hotel is empty.

5.   The haunted cellar: The hotel's cellar is said to be a hotspot for paranormal activity. Some guests have reported feeling cold spots and strange breezes in the cellar, and others have reported seeing apparitions and hearing ghostly whispers.



Overall, The Bushranger Hotel has a long history and is considered by many to be one of the most haunted hotels in Australia. While some of these ghost stories may be exaggerated or simply urban legends, many visitors to the hotel report experiencing strange and unexplained phenomena that they attribute to supernatural activity.

I think it might be worth a visit.

Collector is a four hour drive from Newcastle where I am located.

I don't know whether the photo below will sell you on the bistro?

What do you think?



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