Goldfields Getaway
31 May, 2022
Whispers of the past
As you travel throughout the goldfields, echoes of the past are never far away. Whether it’s the puddlers, diggings and mullock heaps you find scattered in the now abandoned bush; or dining in the grandeur of historical buildings, admiring the...
As you travel throughout the goldfields, echoes of the past are never far away. Whether it’s the puddlers, diggings and mullock heaps you find scattered in the now abandoned bush; or dining in the grandeur of historical buildings, admiring the craftsmanship and design of those long since dead. All are reminders of the fever that gripped those hunting for their fortune – a fever that often proved fatal.
For all the tales of prosperity there are hundreds of untold stories of devastation. Diggers unprepared for the harsh conditions found starved to death in their tents. Mothers burying babies and toddlers taken by disease. Jealousy, greed, lust and madness leading to murder. Mine collapses, fires, drought, snake bite, heat exhaustion and hypothermia.
With such a past, it is little wonder the Central Goldfields is ripe with stories of ghostly encounters.
Writer John Watt and his photographer wife, the late-Marie Watt, published a pictorial history of the goldfields shortly before Marie’s untimely death. They looked for inspiration to author Joyce Hammond, who, when writing about the goldrush town of Whroo stated: “[It] is a ghost town – not because nothing is there anymore, but because the ghosts have never left.”
When discussing ghostly encounters in the goldfields, few places capture the imagination like the Aradale Lunatic Asylum. First opened in 1865 to house ‘lunatics’ in the colonies, the asylum grew to be as large as a small town, with orchards, farm animals and a market garden. It operated until 1998 and throughout that time more than 13,000 are thought to have died there.
Nathan Buchanan has been operating Eerie Tours at Ballarat and Aradale since 2008. The former history teacher said he is drawn to dark history, and in the past has led tours through Bran Castle in Transylvania (thought to be the inspiration for Dracula’s castle) and Jack the Ripper Tours in London. On returning to Australia, Nathen thought there was no better place for dark history than the goldfields of Victoria.
“Aradale has a massive appeal,” Nathan said.
“People come because they are interested in ghosts, because they are interested in history, they might have had a relative who was a patient, they might come for the architecture or because they are studying psychology. It appeals to as wide an audience as possible by having a range of different products.”
With his own paranormal investigation team, Nathan said people can do a variety of tours depending on their interest.
Maryborough mother and son Amanda and Riley Simpson have visited Aradale Asylum multiple times, and both recall unexplained, eerie encounters.
“The first time I went I was quite sceptical,” Amanda said.
“I was in the dining room when I was touched on the leg. I looked around and there was no one there, it was terrifying. When I walked into one of the rooms – which I didn’t know at the time was where they did their surgeries – I felt really ill like the room was spinning and I had a foul taste in my mouth.”
Riley said he loves hearing the history of the asylum, which gives him an insight into how the treatment of mental illness has advanced over the years. As well as gaining an insight into the past, Riley has had his share of odd encounters.
“The first time I went I was with a mate and she isn’t the biggest believer but she had to walk out of a room because she lost her hearing and got really dizzy,” Riley said.
“There have been multiple incidences where I have walked into rooms and felt dizzy and sick. There are some buildings I don’t like going in because it just feels ‘off’.”
“The tours are definitely eerie, that’s for sure.”
The first sighting of a ghost in Maryborough was reported in 1871, when a man approached police and told them of a “Tall figure in white who glides about in an unorthodox way”. This was followed by multiple reports of a woman dressed in white at Princess Park and the Reservoir, who would disappear when people approached.
Today, you don’t have to search far to hear stories of spooky encounters. Whether it’s the family matriarch who still makes her presence felt at Just Mabel (a shop named in her honour) or strange happenings backstage at the Town Hall. There is the little girl who runs into traffic near the old gaol, only to disappear as horrified onlookers approach. Legend has it that a warden living at the gaol lost his daughter to a carriage accident on the very spot where the girl is sighted.
Creaking stairs, flickering lights or something more sinister, few of the goldrush-era buildings seem able to completely escape their past, perhaps none more so than the Maryborough Railway Station.
Soula Raven Vaitsis has run regular paranormal tours of the station and says many of the encounters can’t be explained away as ‘the wind or a creaky old building’. In one room in particular – dubbed Gladys’ room – people have reported feeling dizzy and sick if they enter with first knocking and seeking permission.
Steven Greenwood’s family have lived in Maryborough for generations. A wealth of knowledge on the town and surrounding areas, Steve works at the Central Goldfields Information Centre which is housed at the Maryborough Railway Station. Steve is not alone in experiencing odd encounters at the station.
“A number of staff will hear doors open and close in the backrooms when there is no one out there,” Steve said.
“Lights will turn on and off by themselves, and we often hear the footsteps of someone walking close behind, only to turn around and to find we are alone.”
Steven also talks about ‘The Joker’, a common entity on Soula’s tours who is said to be in the cellar, once used as a temporary morgue and now a store room.
“He is said to be a young boy and can be quite naughty. People will report feeling someone pulling on their clothes and we will often go down there and find things moved around.”
Steve also tells of a worker who crushed when dismantling a chimney at the station.
“Witnesses at the time heard his screams as the chimney collapsed around him,” Steve said.
“Sometimes at night, in the foyer of the station, the wind can sound just like the screams of a man as he falls to his death.”
