Halloween on Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island Ghost Tours
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Regarded as a living hell for the convicts that were sent there, today Norfolk Island is the opposite. This small, green island, surrounded by deep ferocious seas is a paradise compared to what it once was.
The first convict settlement was established soon after the arrival of the first fleet to Australia in 1788: Through the 19th century the two more attempts to make Norfolk into an island prison ended in abandonment. The stories which came from those unfortunate enough to serve and be held on Norfolk were horrific.
The commandants were sadistic and cruel, and used their powers over life and death to try to crush the souls of the men and women sent there. Brutal floggings with whips, deprivation of food and water, punishing work regimes and regular executions by hanging created a type of convict that mainland Australia rarely saw.
For the convicts created here depravity and hopelessness was the norm.
These circumstances have been fertile grounds for folklore, ghost and crime stories. Norfolk has scores of haunted houses, buildings and ruins. Locals have long enjoyed sharing yarns and tales of the myths and legends of their island.
One of the most enduring ghost stories is that of the "Bloody Bridge" which we will be visiting on our Norfolk Island Ghost Tour in October. This stone bridge built by convicts was the scene of a horrific murder in which prisoners killed their overseer and disposed of his body by stuffing it into the stonework of the newly built bridge. There are several different versions told of the crime, but the bridge itself is an imposing and eerie place to visit and will be a highlight of the 3 day tour.
We will also visit the ruins and Kingston the island's Gothic graveyard and also take in world class museums and displays. It really will be a trip of a lifetime Norfolk Island's convict history and hauntings is equal to Port Arthur.
The Norfolk Island Ghost Tour will be conducted by Jack Sim, Director of Ghost Tours. Who has been gathering stories from the islanders and local historians.
ONLY 4 PLACES LEFT!
Whole Tour Includes:
Flights to and from Norfolk Island (Brisbane Airport)
Accommodation at The Castaway Hotel (Twin Share)
Island Tours
Ghost Tours
Museum Pass
Small Car Hire (Vehicle insurance included. Fuel at your own cost)
Buffet Breakfast each morning (except Saturday 31st October)
Lunch Monday 2nd November (Other days lunch not included)
Dinner for three nights
Free time
Tour Does Not Include:
Travel Insurance (speak to Go See Touring Staff when booking for more information, and a quote. Travel Insurance is highly recommended, as there are limited services on the Island)
Fuel for hire car (fuel at your own cost)
Some lunches
Spending Money
CLICK HERE
for more information
(Pricing, Daily Itinerary, etc)
Posted in:Brisbane Ghost StoriesGeneralJack Sim |
A NEW GHOST TOUR IN TOWN
Charters Towers Ghost Tours has been the talk of the town, with some great news articles being written up about the inaugural tour on the 24.05.2015. The first tour was taken by local history tour guide Erica Finlay and owner and creator of Ghost Tours pty Ltd Jack Sim .
Painting of the Crime - CHARTERS TOWERS SMALLJack Sim has always been fascinated by ghost towns ever since he read the book "Ghost towns of Australia" by George Farwell. Farwell's book explored abandoned townships, ports and mining settlements around the country.
"For some reason, the concept of places that are now a shade of their former selves really appealed to me as a child. I'd often think of the hard working men and women that built these towns out in the bush in some of the most the most remote, desolate and isolated parts of Australia. One of the pictures in his book called the 'unlucky digger' was so macabre that it truly sparked a lifelong fascination with the history gold mining towns. I was six when I first saw this picture and as horrible as it was, I just wanted to know what had befallen this poor miner who was he? what was the history that led him to this end? Even as a child, it seemed to me that the story of our country was often a very tragic one and I thought it was very important that people got to know about the hard work, toil and risks that our pioneers took to build our nation. Ghost towns seemed to be full of the stories that I wanted to share them with others."Charters Towers and Ravenswood were referred to in Farwell's book. "These towns seemed really exceptional, so I always wanted to visit them. In December last year I finally was able to come up to North Queensland and visit Charters Towers and Ravenswood. I was thrilled to hear some of the best ghost stories I had ever heard. Local people shared with me their experiences with the spirits of the town. It's through these stories that we will tell the history of these towns to visitors."
Ghost Tours has been running in South East Queensland for the past 17 years and run tours of some of the most haunted places in the region, including notorious Boggo Road Gaol and grand Toowong Cemetery. However, we feel it's time to spread out to new historical places and hence starting in North Queensland. For the past few months, Jack Sim has been learning about the fascinating history of Charters Towers and collecting the local legends and ghost stories.Ghosts have been seen, heard & felt on tours the inaugural tour was no exception. As the group wandered the darkened streets of Charters Towers they visited the popular department store Target Country, reputedly to be haunted by its former owner, The Stock Exchange and the World Theatre . The World Theatre holds the blood stained table on which the Mosman street tragedy took place.
It was within the World Theatre that one of the customers saw a door open on its own accord. A ghostly figure has been seen wandering the halls of the World Theatre, some say that it is the ghost of the murderer Mr. Brown, who shot the Chairman of the company he worked for at the table
One of the local journalists from the Northern Minor Newspaper , Morgan Oss went along on the very first ghost tour last week . "It was a very informative, local history evening. I learnt things about Charters Towers that I didn't know. I was hoping to get some sort of experience on the tour & myself & 2 others who were with me had an experience at the top of the World Theatre. I left feeling very happy that there was some " ghostly " action that night. The tourists & visitors to our town who go on the tour will get a one of
it's kind Charters Towers experience."
Posted in:GeneralJack Sim |
The Viscious Mr Brown
114 years ago, in the North Queensland town of Charters Towers, a terrible tragedy, born out of gold fever shattered the hard working community.
At a board of directors meeting of the Charters Towers Pyrite Company. Mr Brown demanded to see the minutes of a previous meeting at which his weekly salary had been cut. The Chairman Mr Graham Haygarth refused, and within minutes was killed by Brown.While the story of this murder still haunts The Towers, few people know the back story which led to the incident which has become known as "the tragedy on Mosman Street".
The crime was the culmination Brown's decade long obsession with his own greatness. Brown convinced shareholders of the company to plough their profits from the operation into his new gold mining process which required expensive infrastructure and capitol. It was a folly which ultimately led to his undoing and the death of Graham Haygarth.
Listen in to ABC Brisbane tonight at 8pm with David Curnow and Jack Sim to discover the backgrounds of those involved in the death and their motivations.
http://www.abc.net.au/brisbane/programs/612_evenings/
Charters Towers Ghost Tour
https://www.facebook.com/Charterstowersghosttours
Visit the scene of the crime and the actual table at which Haygarth was murdered on the Charters Towers Ghost Tour.
Meet at the Charters Towers Visitor Information Centre, to undertake this Ghost Tour with a local historian. Walk the streets of the ghostly gold rush town of Charters Towers, hear real ghost stories from local Towers people and visit real haunted sites including the Royal Hotel, the Mining Museum and the World Theatre.This 90 minute walking tour is suitable for all ages, but parental guidance is recommended.
Posted in:True Crime StoriesGeneral |
Jack Sim Book Signing at Dymocks Carindale
On Tuesday 23rd December 2014, Jack Sim will be greeting fans and signing his books at Dymocks Carindale for Christmas.
Come and chat with Jack Sim and Jack will personally autograph any of your copies from the Murder Trails Series, Ghost Trails Series, Classic Crime or Boggo Road Gaol series from 5:30pm until late for the late night shopping this Christmas!
Jack will be also be available to answer your questions about any of the notorious cases from his books, as well as other famous Brisbane Crime Mysteries.
So come on down to Dymocks Carindale on the late night shopping and see Jack for his Christmas book signing!
Venue: Dymocks CarindaleStarting: 5:30 PM
Tuesday 23rd December 2014
Ending: 11:00 PM
Phone Enquiries: 33447264
Posted in:Brisbane Ghost StoriesBoggo Road TalesToowong Ghost StoriesTrue Crime StoriesMurder Trails SeriesJack SimBrisbane Crime Tours |
THE LAST BUSHRANGER IN QUEENSLAND : James Kenniff (1940)
On the outskirts of Charters Towers sits what the locals call "the old cemetery", the Lynd Highway Cemetery was established in 1895. This bleak, barren and dead flat cemetery is bordered by a well maintained cast iron perimeter fence and charming front gate. It is the resting place for a number of interesting local characters including Jupiter Mossman who, as the local lore has it, was one of the party that discovered gold in Charters Towers; Doctor Leonard Redmond who discovered Australian Dengue Fever; Frederick Pfeiffer, owner of the rich Day Dawn PC Mine and James Kenniff who was the last bushranger in Queensland.
James and his older brother Patrick were expert horsemen who made a living by horse stealing a very serious crime.They were wanted in connection to the theft of a horse. A police constable, Aboriginal tracker and station master pursued the brothers for several days through hard, mountainous country in Western Queensland. Surprising Patrick and his brother James they managed to overpower and arrest them both. As the tracker was sent to get handcuffs from the constable's packhorse, gunshots rang out and the tracker ran for his life.
A later search found the constable's horse wandering through the scrub and the burnt remains of the constable and station master. The brothers were tracked down again and following a shootout, both were captured and tried for murder.Throughout the trial Patrick maintained his innocence and was denied the right to appeal to the Privy Council in London, by the judge Samuel Griffith. Though there was public shock and outcry, the Queensland Government seemed to be determined to see him hang.
Patrick was sent to the Gallows of Boggo Road Gaol, protesting his innocence to the very last. His final chilling words were saved for one man, the Chief Justice, now Sir Samuel Griffith: "I am as innocent as the judge who sentenced me."James's life was spared, but he was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. Being released in 1914, he refused visitors and lived out his life alone. Some say he was the one who pulled the trigger. He took the secret to his grave in Charters Towers.
Hear about this amazing story on Australia's longest running true crime show "True Crimes" presented by Jack Sim on 4BC Nights with Walter Williams. Thursday evenings 9.35pm on Radio 4BC.Visit the grave of Patrick Kenniff on a South Brisbane Cemetery Ghost Tour
Posted in:Boggo Road TalesTrue Crime StoriesGeneral |