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.