Old Williamstown City, Victoria

Throughout the years we had heard positive reports about the Old Williamstown City Ghost Tour, so we thought it was about time we headed on over to see if the tour lived up to the stories.

The first thing we noticed was that the tour was open to eight years and over, so already we knew it would be more of an historical theatrical story telling tour, than a ghost tour. Now, don't get me wrong, they can still be valuable and interesting, as long as the guide knows their history. The tour began at the information centre and within minutes you knew that the guide's knowledge of the area and the history was thorough, researched and credible.

As we meandered through laneways and past heritage listed buildings, we would stop to take pictures and hear stories of the sailors, the ladies of the night, and the man who gambled away his wife and children, and then out of guilt and desperation, plummeted to his death outside the Royal Hotel. We walked the streets until we reached the Titanic Theatre Restaurant. The buildings are beautiful and the history amazing, but up until this point, there had not been any notable ghost activities and no-one in my group had really sensed anything that warranted further investigation.

We then stopped outside a half built wheat mill, which had also been the site of a mass burial. This building had jail like bars that led to a dark underground storage pit. It was empty and eerie, but as we did not go inside and just viewed it from the road, interesting was all that it was.

Being a street tour, we also encountered locals who would walk or drive past beeping or yelling "Boo" or "Ghosts". We were obviously their entertainment for the evening.

From here we moved over to the Timeball Tower. This is the building where most of the reports we had heard were about. When the heavy door opened for the first time, there were definite hits on the KII meter and as we entered the underground bunker style ground floor, you could feel the thick energy. Inside lay a small three metre square bluestone room with an attic style ladder leading up to the floors above. This was the first 'ghost investigation' part of the tour. The lights were turned off and the guide asked if anything was present to make a noise. Some guests said they heard footsteps, others claimed to see an orb on the floor above, but for me, nothing. I did put the KII on the stairs and this did have one or two hits, but the room was small and had significant electrical equipment in it, so I am skeptical.

From the tower we walked along the Main Street and through a few more alleys and around to the morgue. The morgue was one room of about seven by three metres. It was bluestone with lime wash walls. Here we stood in the dark and listened to the history of the morgue. The guide produced dousing rods which did not produce any definitive responses and we used the KIIs and the laser grid. A few guests said they felt something tug on them or they felt a cold hand or breeze, but with over twenty guests, quite a bit of noise and with only a few minutes in each of the locations, it is very difficult to confirm experiences.

On the way back to the car, after an interesting, but not overly active evening, we stopped at the first lane way we had visited. We decided to do a short investigation of the space and did have definitive KII hits and some experiences of cold hands, arms, dizziness and tingling sensations. We only stayed about ten minutes, but it was the most active part of the evening, albeit, on our own and after the tour.

Would I return, not on an official tour, but it was a fun night and a great way to spend a Saturday evening.