Point Cook Homestead, Victoria, Australia

Last night a group of us did a tour at Point Cook Homestead in Victoria. I had done this exact tour a few years ago and the experience was great. Actually, it was this tour that got me excited about investigating ghosts and the paranormal.

We started the tour with a brief introduction in the machinery shed. Nothing interesting happened when we were in there, but about an hour later, we were in another part of the property and a friend was looking across the gardens to the shed (he was about 100 metres away). I asked him what he was looking at, and he replied, two people walking around in there. I responded, we are the only people on the tour, no one else is here. He went on to say they walked into the kitchen part of the shed (it had been converted into a café at one stage) and he was waiting for them to come out. They didn't. While we were there watching the shed for about a minute, the outside light (near where we had parked our cars and the shed) went on, off, on, off about six times. This was then followed by the light inside the shed going on, off, on, off about four times. Interesting!

Next we moved onto the stables, nothing happened here, except a friend mentioned she could hear horses galloping. I didn't hear it.

From here we moved down to the cellar. Just before we entered two people said they had seen (briefly) someone in the window of the homestead and another person said that they saw a cat sitting on the window sill. (I will talk about these more later on, because they are totally relevant).

Down in the cellar. Last time, I had felt a cobweb like feeling in my hair and a light tugging on my jacket and a little giggle from the right hand corner of the cellar.

When we went in there, we turned the lantern off and we waited there in total darkness. After a minute or so, my friend mentioned, who was standing in the right hand corner, that she had felt like she walked into cobwebs and then felt a light tug on her scarf and sleeve. This was identical to me! She then went on to say that she heard a little girl giggling. As soon as she said this, two others said they had heard the little laughs as well. Freaky huh?

Then we moved down to the beach to hear stories of death and shipwrecks. Rumour has it that people have seen shadows along the beach and heard voices, again, I did not see or hear anything.
From here I took photos from the beach of each of the buildings. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. But when I got home and uploaded the pictures, the one of the stables has a orange glow coming from inside. Two photos before, nothing, then orange lights for three photos and then nothing again. I did not see this when I was looking at it. Just a tad freaky that one!

We then moved into the house and wow! This part of the tour was the most active and where nearly everyone experienced something.

In the "smokers" room, we took many pictures of orbs and this is where my tingling was the greatest. At one point, my friend and I were standing side by side in the doorway taking pictures and then we both looked at each other and said "Did you feel that?" It was the most intense tingling from head to know, as if something had gone through both of us. It was the strongest sensation I have ever had on any tour.

All of the rooms in the homestead were active. The dousing rods were moving and answering questions on demand and we were feeling like we were being touched, our hands squeezed and slight pushes in the back. It was almost like they were so happy for us to be there, but intrigued all the same.
In one particular room, a friend, who was holding the rods, was so overcome with emotion, she was in tears. Another friend felt like she was being pushed out of the room and again many photos of orbs were captured. This was also the room, which from the outside, was where the two people had seen a shadow. Interesting!
The next room was a very pleasant feeling room. As soon as we entered, a friend asked, is this the room I can see from the game room? I saw a cat on the window sill in here and this room smells of cat. The investigator went on to say there have been many experiences relating to cats in this room, even the sounds of purring have been heard. Now, that was freaky, especially as some people swore they heard a meow. Not me though, but then again, I was on the other side of the room taking pictures down the hallway.
Overall, I thought the activity was very high. I'm looking forward to doing a longer investigation there with some thermal cameras and EMF devices. Also a great tour for skeptics who want to experience something that may challenge their beliefs.

Pentridge Gaol, Melbourne, Australia

This was the second time I have been through Pentridge Gaol since it has been closed to the public. Both experiences were totally different and I am not sure whether I would do a deeper investigation of this gaol. After spending close to 7 hours in the gaol, I am yet to experience anything that would entice me to return.

The first time, the group took many photos that showed many questionable shadows, but we did not hear, see or feel anything out of the ordinary, or apparent ordinary. There was one instance, which has yet to be confirmed as an intruder, a ghost sighting, a doppelganger sighting or a spirit.

Let me take you through the experience and you can make your own judgement.

Whilst on the second floor near the gallows, I was looking down over the balcony towards the exercise yard through the centre of the gaol. I noticed a shadow moving in the alcove. I continued to watch when a man walked out from the alcove and into my view. I stared, and he stared back. He then retreated into the alcove. I continued watching and a few moments later he appeared again. Looked left towards the front of the cell block, looked right and up at me and then took a photo. Yes, he appeared to have a mobile phone. He then looked at me again and retreated. He did walk out again a third time and retreated once again. While he was in sight, I did manage to take at least three photos.

At this point, whilst continuing to look down at the alcove, one of my investigator friends was trying to get my attention. I immediately thought they were asking if I had seen this man. So I asked "did you see him too?" "See who?" As you can imagine, the conversation went back and forth until I realized I was the only one who had seen him. Take note, that I still have been watching the alcove waiting for him to reappear. I showed my friends the pictures and we did a head count. Everyone who had entered the gaol was with us on the second floor. Where did this man come from, how did he get in, where did he go? I saw him go out into the exercise yard alcove and not come back inside. He must be somewhere? We are talking a maximum security prison here, there is no escaping that exercise yard.

So with that in mind, we knew that he must be somewhere in the exercise yard, hiding and waiting.
Fearless as I am (I would say more like high adrenalin levels), myself and three of the guys I was with, went out to the yards. We searched all three yards in depth. Nothing. Noone. We searched every cell in the three story block. Nothing.

There is only one way in and one way out and that is through the open centre walkway. He would have needed to walk down that walkway, in view of everyone, up a flight of metal stairs and let himself out the security enabled triple doors. No one saw him, no one heard him and no one found him. Where did this guy go? Where did he come from? There was nothing on the CCTV. Nothing anywhere. So very weird!

So much so, that we called the police who also searched the complex, yards and cells. Nothing!

So naturally with that lingering in my mind, we returned on Thursday night, but, you guessed it, not a lot happened. We tried to engage with the Brownlight Strangler in Cell 52 and with Chopper Reid in Cell 16. Even this mysterious man in the exercise yard (just in case)....but nothing. The only point of interest happened to Jane (one of the investigators) on the third floor. She developed a major headache and pain in her head and shoulders. I took some photos during this time and when analyzing them the next day, there is shadow, orb type presence around her upper chest. Her headaches alleviated when we moved off the third floor.

So although many people have claimed high levels of paranormal activity at Pentridge, for me, they have all been hearsay. I haven't myself experienced or seen anything out of the ordinary.....unless you want to include the mystery exercise yard man which has yet to be confirmed or denied.

Until next time....maybe.

Duneira Homestead, Mt Macedon, Victoria, Australia

Let me set the scene. It is Friday the 13th. It is Winter, the day has been clear with no clouds, so as night settles in, it is cold, very cold. The property sits at the top of Mount Macedon, surrounded by acres of gardens. The breeze has picked up and the one hundred year old trees are swaying in the wind. I am getting glimpses of the moon through the leaves and the moonlight is casting eerie shadows in the gardens. The homestead "Duneira" is beautiful, with large rooms, high ornate ceilings and the most divine furnishings.

This property is renowned for high paranormal activity and with the perfect night set, I was very excited to say the least.

Unfortunately, on this night, my senses only picked up two sensations. We were not allowed to take photos, so I have no evidence of anything that may have been that I did not see.

The first encounter was in the main bedroom where I sensed a young boy playing. The servants have photos of footprints on made beds and although I did sense his presence, it was only weak.

The other sensation was in the hallway outside the servants quarters, where I felt negative and an overwhelming emotion of a very sad and disconnected young woman. It was as if she was there in body, but not in heart or emotion. She was sad, lonely, hurt and just living a life, a life she hated.

I would definitely like to explore that experience more. To delve deeper into why I felt that and what may have been.

As for the homestead itself. The main living room was amazing. In the dining room, the dousing rods were fixated on the head of the table and no matter where we moved in the room, they swung to face that chair. Again without pictures or the time to try and contact the spirit, I can not say whether there was something there or not. This is something we will need to go back to explore further.

The library was fantastic but there was a feeling of heaviness and sadness there. The kitchen was uneventful as was the office. Besides the one sensation in the main bedroom, I felt nothing in the other four bedrooms or in any of the hallways of the main residence. 

I will go back at some point to investigate more, but this is not high on my priority list.

Geelong Gaol, Victoria, Australia

Now this is one interesting place. with everything you imagine a paranormal investigation to be. There are not many places that I would say that I could explore over and over again, but to be honest, Geelong Gaol would go close.
I have explored this gaol on four separate occasions, and all four have been totally different and unique. Instead of talking about all four separately, I will consolidate the experiences into one reflection, but take note, that this did not all happen on the one evening.
Firstly the gaol itself is amazing, the cell block we investigated is a cross block with four corridors flowing from a central hub.
We started in the dental surgery, role playing a prisoner requiring some work done on his teeth. The EMF detectors were triggering a presence and some of the people I was with sensed a spirit. The person we had put in the dental chair, mentioned that she felt like someone was leaning over her and she stated that she believed the chair moved slightly. We took night video of the experience, but nothing showed on the cameras.
We then moved to explore one of the stairwells. There have been many reports of sightings of a young girl, and sounds of children's voices playing and laughing. We placed a teddy bear on the stairs and set up a laser grid to detect any shadows or movement. On one occasion there was a definite break in the laser grid and whilst I was sitting on the floor in front of the stairs staring at them and the light grid, I definitely sensed a young child. I have found on many of my investigations that I tend to pick up the presence of young children, especially those aged under seven. She was happy, curious and gentle. It was a nice pleasant feeling, not one that I would expect in a gaol. I sensed that she was either an orphan or the child of a prisoner. Research showed that the goal had been used as an orphanage at one point and that is what I sensed.
The prisoner cells are like most gaol cells. Small, dark and cold. In some of them I had feelings of sadness, depression and hurt, in others I felt nothing. I didn't hear any sounds or feel anything touching me whilst in any of the cells.
The chapel was another room explored. This was interesting. Although I didn't notice any feelings out of the ordinary, I would be interested to spend more time in that space, waiting, listening and observing.
The kitchen was probably the highlight for me. It was in this space that I felt the most energy as did others who were investigating with me. I was in a constant state of high tingling sensations (which is what I usually feel when there is a high energy level). EMF detectors were being triggered and I felt like every time questions were asked, I could "feel" the answer. I felt like whatever was in the kitchen was trying to communicate directly with me. When we asked the alleged spirits questions, we requested the answers to come back through the spirit box, but the interesting and unexplainable thing was, I was told the same response moments before it came through the spirit box. I have never had that happen to me so strongly before and it happened repeatedly. This experience in the kitchen probably lasted 30 minutes alone. The energy I felt was that of a male, a strong male and quite a dominant male. Although I have never been one to speculate age, looks or mannerisms, this time, the sensation was strong enough for me to describe it in greater depth. I felt a man in his 30's or 40's, strong, threatening and not the best with women. There were instances where my emotions were scared (I myself wasn't scared, but I felt an emotion of being scared - if that makes sense), I felt threatened by him and the more I stood my ground and told him to go away and leave me alone, the stronger the sensation became. It was very interesting. Although I didn't actually feel physically threatened in any way, I felt that emotion. Whatever was in this kitchen drained our camera batteries, our spirit box, our video camera battery and the torch battery. Very weird, very creepy but very interesting.
Definitely one of my favourite places and I plan to return in the next few months.

Altona Homestead, Victoria, Australia

This homestead is not one that I had on my list of investigations to do, but it came across my path, so my mother and I ventured down on a cold Saturday night to see what the rumours of activity were all about.
The homestead is set in the heart of Altona, in the park opposite the beach, surrounded by a library, community centre, shops and cafes. Standing in the park you can hear people laughing, music playing and the sound of waves on the beach.
But imagine this 120 years ago; set in bushland, isolated, dark and a governess standing in the bay window staring out to the blackness of the ocean, waiting anxiously for her husband to return from a voyage. It presents as eerie with all the attributes of a dark and mysterious past.
In the homestead the rooms feel heavy, dark and unpleasant. Almost uninviting. You can sense unhappiness and misery.
I was only there for about an hour, so as you can imagine, not a lot of time to do a full investigation, but definitely enough time to feel the tone and atmosphere of the homestead.
I may return for a more in depth study.