Boy, oh boy, did I have super high hopes for the Land Down Under!! How could it be anything less than fabulous if my sweetie (Russell Crowe, if you're just now joining us!) lives here, especially since he COULD be living in New Zealand. All of the adults on this trip agree that we'd visit New Zealand again in a heartbeat! The jury is still out on feelings towards Australia, but let me say that it's leaning the opposite way at this point.
Let's start at the beginning. We arrived at the airport in the evening. We were met by our new travel manager, Carrin. She made it clear from the get go that she was all business. I'm not sure if she meant to project that as a first impression, and even now, a couple of days into it, I'm still not sure. She got us to load our bags into the "coach" (bus) and take our seats. She told us that we were trying to make a dinner reservation at the harbor and were in a bit of a time crunch. She was a change from our previous travel manager, but I think that we were all willing to give her a try, so to speak. This was the first time we were introduced to her "single file" rule. That did not go over well with the kids. One kid was over heard saying, "I paid too much money for this trip to be told that I have to walk in single file!"
We were rushed into a restaurant, practically running theiught the harbor (but we only lost 2 kids in the process!! fortunately, we found them quickly)...well, it was not the type of place we had become accustomed to. It was like a less fancy version of a sit down hamburger joint. We had our own section of the restaurant and were served kind of rapid fire. We were told repeatedly that we needed to hurry up. I think it may not have been a good way to start out, especially since we were tired from travel, etc, etc.
From there we went (single file, again) on a walk that was more like another run through the city to the place where we were to meet John, our ghost tour guide. What a character!! I hope someone has pictures of him to share because he was a kick in the pants. He was definitely fully into his role as spooky dude. He got to know us very briefly(as time would allow) and invited us on a journey through the seemingly haunted parts of Sydney. We started out in a little alleyway where he introduced us to an undertaker named Gannon. (Actually, I can't be sure that that is how to spell his name. I just can't wrap my ears around the way things are pronounced!! I hear McCrory and I see a sign later that says "Macquerie". It makes it hard for me to go back and verify what my faulty memory remembers so that I tell you accurate information!!) Mr. Gannon was one of the convicts shipped to Australia from England. He was a carpenter by trade, but stole a horse. He was sentenced to whatever it is that they get sentenced to for horse stealing back in those days, and was shipped off to the newest penal colony. When he arrived, he finished his sentence and was given the job to construct caskets for the recently departed. He was so surrounded by death in the city that his name came up in many of the stories, for obvious reasons, I suppose. The "role" of Mr. Gannon was played by one of the students on the tour.
Mr. Gannon had the job of burying a certain gentleman who had kind of a sordid reputation for the times. He sent his wife and children back England after just a few months of trying to make a go of it in Australia. He decided to open a hair salon. There were rumors flying about this Poor guy. Let's just leave it at that. He was fond of the drink, and after one night of wild drinking, he went home to his hotel room, opened the windows and his pants (!!!), revealing his...um...whole personality for all to see. He shouted some obscenities at the people in the street below and pulled a pair of shears from his drawer. You can imagine the shock of our group when it was revealed that this lovely gentleman proceeded to chop off his manhood, and at which point he fell to his death in the street below. Apparently the ambulance was called, and eventually Mr. Gannon arrived onto the scene. It is said that there are some nights when you can hear the wails of the hairdresser and see a figure bent over, searching that very street...looking for his missing part. (Duh!!! Who DOES that?!)
Another story that we were told was that of Alice Reynolds. She was an 11 year old girl who just died suddenly. Our guide, John, reminded us that at this time the young and the elderly were particularly vulnerable to sudden deaths and sicknesses. It is not on record how Alice met her demise. We do know (per these stories) that what appears to be a little girl's spirit has been seen repeatedly in the area. There have been several groups who reported sensing a child before the guide could even get the story out. One older gentleman reported that Alice was standing behind the story teller. Another woman said that Alice had joined the group on the tour. John told us that more than one guest on the tour reported the same story of her following, and ALL have independently said that she drops out of the tour at a certain spot.
Yes, I was creeped out. Yes, I was jumpy. And, yes, I was holding Emma's hand by this time.
We walked through a part of Sydney that was the "home" of a pig farm where "strange things" had been seen. We also heard the story of a tavern owner who killed his wife in the basement. Of course said wife was still roaming.
Lastly, we went to the current observatory which was once the hanging grounds. THAT'S a recipe for a ghostly disaster if you ask me (no one did... just sayin'). "Hey, I know!!! Lets build a place where people have to come at night to see starts and stuff...lights out, old cemetery and hanging trees. No problem!!" What?! No. No. No. No. No. At the observatr'y (as they say here), we heard stories of people being buried alive during the plague. We heard stories of ghostly apparitions and of different guests "sensing SOMEthing" in the same spots, repeatedly and without prior knowledge. Creepy! John sent our boys Will and Nick on journeys of discovery. They were brave...far braver than I could EVER hope to be. Their jobs were to walk around the perimeter of the observatory, paying attention to any "strange" things along the way, and meeting us back at our meeting spot. John sent them off and told us what the responses of others were. (At that time he asked for personal experiences and Emma ratted me and my bedroom ghosts out.). Both boys came back alive, thank goodness!! How would I explain that to their parents?! Will came back having sensed "something" in a certain spot...coincidentally, the same spot where other guests had reported the same sensations. As John asked us often, I ask you, "Coincidence?!"
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