Sources:
https://www.teletracnavman.com.au/resources/blog/the-6-spookiest-roads-in-australia
https://www.mamamia.com.au/haunted-road-wakehurst-parkway/amp/
https://www.mamamia.com.au/victoria-pass-ghost-blue-mountains/amp/
https://readingbystarlightblog.wordpress.com/2020/10/31/the-black-ghost-of-mount-victoria-pass/
https://www.sixt.com.au/magazine/road-trips/terrifying-road-trips-australias-haunted-roads/
Script:
Before we start, I want to apologise for the irregular upload cycle during this month. The reason this is happening is because my contract changed at work and a coworker also recently retired, so I’ve been rostered on a fair bit at the moment, and now my timetable is kinda all over the place until my new contract begins at the end of the month and everything gets settled. Hopefully in November I’ll be back to a regular uploading schedule. So please sit tight, ‘cause this is only temporary, and thanks for your patience and support.
Now that’s out of the way, let’s begin.
Highways are some of the busiest roads in the world. But when they become dormant, the lack of bustle and hustle of traffic can turn them into the creepiest places at night.
If you’re a driver travelling down a moonlit highway, how do you know that you and your passengers are truly alone? What are the stories etched into the road beneath you?
This yarn is about the some of the various haunted highways in the nation.
What is it with highways being creepy and weird? Like this is all over the world! But this yarn is somewhat fitting considering that it’s October, the month of spooky. Anyway, buckle in because we’re going on a road trip.
The first road we’ll be driving on is the Newell Highway, in New South Wales. This stretch of road is a little over a thousand kilometres and just about goes from the top to bottom of the state. We’ll be travelling to a specific place called the Pilliga, where we may or may not encounter the Princess. But before I introduce her, there is something you should know. Well, aside from the Princess, there is another resident of the Pilliga, and ladies, he’s tall and single. And also extremely hairy. Yes, there have been reports of a yowie living in the Pilliga scrub. But I’ll save that story for another yarn. In general though, the Pilliga Scrub is apparently a hotspot for paranormal activity and is overall a creepy place, especially at night. Aboriginal people in the area tend to avoid this place because they believe that the is land is full of evil spirits. Well, except one.
Now, who was the Pilliga Princess?
The Pilliga Princess was a homeless, middle-aged Aboriginal woman that had been seen walking up and down the Highway between the towns of Narrabri and Coonabarabran. She wore a red hat, had a wild mop of white hair, and carted around a shopping trolley full of her belongings. She was also described to be eccentric by locals. Her name was Clare Wibson, and she’d often hitch rides with truckies that traveled on the stretch of road. But one night in 1993, Clare was was tragically struck and killed by a truck that didn’t see her in time. According to the driver, seconds before he hit Clare, he saw that she was right in front of the truck, arms outstretched with a manic expression on her face. But unfortunately, by that time, it was too late to slam on the brakes. Devastated by the loss, the community and several truck drivers that knew Clare devoted a memorial plaque to her. She is buried in the Coonabarabran Lawn Cemetery.
But despite this, the Pilliga Princess still walks on. Over the years since her death, truckies have reported seeing the Princess walking her on her usual stretch of the highway in the night, pushing her trolley as she had all those years ago. Drivers are understandably spooked out driving through the scrub, hoping that their trip will play out normally, and that no member of Pilliga royalty will be present. Or maybe something more sinister.
Our next road to travel on is the Wakehurst Parkway. Again, we remain in New South Wales; this stretch of road connects Narrabeen and Seaforth. Wakehurst Parkway has a reputation of one of the nation’s most haunted roads. Travellers have encountered ghosts as they drove on; victims of tragedies that remain on the road that took their lives. A person only known as ‘PJ’ retold to the Daily Telegraph a time that they heard a disembodied voice the time they were travelling on this specific road. Quote:
“About 15 years ago a group of us, in two cars, were driving down the Parkway about midnight. We veered off into one of the side roads, like a small carpark. We got out of our cars for some fresh air. There were about six of us. No word of a lie, we heard a girl from the bushes start screaming: “Help me, help me”. I will never forget the look on my mates’ faces. They went white. We went back into our cars and got out of there as quickly as possible. It was so dark and so quiet at the time then, to all of a sudden, hear that. It was terrifying.” Unquote.
On the parkway, there is a ghost that is only known as Kelly. She is an apparition of a young woman that has been described to wear a white dress and can be seen walking alongside the road. But, when you look back, she’s gone. Terrifyingly enough, drivers have even seen her through the rear view mirror in the back seat of their cars before vanishing. Her eyes have been described to be intense and distinct. Sometimes she appears right in front of you and you have no choice but to swerve to avoid her. But when motorists stop to see if the pedestrian is okay, they see nobody.
Another ghost that has been encountered has been described to be a nun. I’ll admit, ever since the conjuring films, nuns have their creepy factor amped up. But yeah, you may see this ghostly nun as you drive along. However, when I was cross-referencing sources, some say that Kelly and the nun are the same person, while others say that they are two separate people. If you’re from the area and you know more about the lore of the road, please feel free to reach out and tell me if they’re one and the same or not.
However, she may be a nurse from old quarantine station. Way way back, nurses wore longer headdresses that kind of resembled a nun’s habit.
Apparently, people have also seen ghostly lights on or near the parkway. For instance, a lady spoke to the Daily Telegraph about an incident that happened decades ago, quote:
“I was 18 years old and my fiance and I had decided to have a picnic with friends. As we drove into Deep Creek Reserve I remember feeling a little uneasy but my fiance had told me not to be ridiculous. We decided on a green patch of grass and started to unpack. It took only a few minutes to realise something was not right. We heard a noise, like a soft rustle and somehow we realised we were not alone. It was pitch-black and it seemed to have happened all of a sudden. I turned around, looked into the bush and there was like a single small bright light that kept flashing at us, then a line of flames about 3m long, which started burning along the ground out of nowhere. We froze and started screaming — it was like something evil was about to happen I just cannot describe it. We picked up as much as we could and ran. I am now 62 and haven’t forgotten. I have never driven down the Wakehurst Parkway at that time again and I never will.“ Unquote.
Overall, I believe that there’s some sort of negative juju surrounding the area.
Something I want to point out is that all over the world, there are stories of haunted roads that have a girl or woman dressed in white that either appears on or by the road, or even in your car. It’s just creepy.
Now the next road we’re travelling on is the Lemon Tree Passage, still situated in New South Wales that connects Port Stephens to the Tilligerry Peninsula. Again, like the previous roads I’ve talked about, this one is rooted in tragedy. The story goes that a young man was killed in a motorcycle accident on Lemon Tree Passage Road.
If you speed through the road—like hoon speed through the road—apparently, a ghostly light resembling a motorcycle headlight will appear and chase you erratically before suddenly vanishing. I dunno about you, but that kind of sounds like a min min light. What do you think? Moreover, some drivers usually try to overspeed down the road in order to summon this light. It is said that this ghost rider may be trying to warn the driver to slow down so that they don’t suffer the same tragic fate, though some think he may be coaxing them to a mangled death.
If you travel through this road, please keep to the speed limit because ghost or no ghost, it’s just a silly idea to overspeed. Because if it’s not a ghost rider that’ll chase you, it’ll be a copper.
Next up we return to Lithgow. We may or may not see a big black kitty cat on the way there, but as we travel along, let me tell you about the ghost of Mount Victoria Pass. Apparently, the people that have seen this spirit have described her to be a woman in an antique black dress and only ever appears at night.
The woman in black is believed to be Caroline Collits, a young girl who was murdered on the pass in the 19th century. She had been beaten to death by her brother in law. Since her death, the spectre appears to unsuspecting travellers, her spirit clearly not at rest. The celebrated Australian writer Henry Lawson had even written a poem about this ghost called The Ghost at the Second Bridge.
According to some witnesses, the woman in black is either headless, or she does have a head, but her eyes glowed and resembled that of a tiger’s. Back in the days of the horse and buggy, travellers noticed that their horses would act spooked and clearly did not want to travel through this part of the road.
Though, in more recent times, the road has been widened and upgraded, and there have been less sightings of the lady in black. Perhaps, she finally decided to move on.
Our next stop is Highway 1 in South Australia, specifically the stretch between Adelaide and Port Wakefield. Since the 1940s, there has been reports of a ghostly hitchhiker that lurks there.
There’s a story which involves a couple travelling on the highway, when they saw a man dressed in an Air Force uniform looking to hitch a ride on the side of the road. So they stop and decide to give him a ride. He hopped in and asked them to drop him off at a specific address in Adelaide. However, when they arrived at this address, they saw that their hitchhiker vanished from the back seat. The couple then decided to knock on the door of the house, and an older woman answered. They told her about the strange incident that just occurred and described their passenger and told her his name. The woman then revealed that their passenger was none other than her son; he had died in a plane crash during a training exercise in World War Two.
Another story recounts a time that a businessman was at a shell station, and he wanted to go use the restroom. He was walking behind a man in an Air Force uniform but when the businessman walked in after him, he saw that the vicinity was empty.
Lastly, we’ll head up to the Princes Highway in New South Wales, between Shellharbour and Minnamurra.
This stretch of road is monikered the Bloody Mile because around 13 murders have happened here, not to mention many fatal traffic accidents. Sounds very ominous, I know. Now the clincher is that apparently, unrested spirits dwell in this area. Travellers have apparently see these ghosts wandering aimlessly by the road. Or if they don’t see them, they hear their moans in the breeze, desperate not to be forgotten.
I know this segment is a short one, but there’s a lot to the area that’s beyond the bloody mile, as there are several haunted sites in the area, mired in murder. I want to make a separate episode for this.
Okay, so those are the more well-known, documented haunted roads. I’ve noticed that a lot of these roads are in New South Wales.
Anyway, I know I probably didn’t get them all. If you have a local haunted road in your area, feel free to let me know.
Again, I’m sorry that my uploading schedule has gone to the dogs as of late, but like I said earlier, hopefully things go back to normal next month. if you haven’t already, give the podcast a generous rating if you’re enjoying it so far. I’m also planning a special episode after this one, so look forward to that one.
Well then, it’s time for me to take my leave, I’ve got work tomorrow, and maybe you do too. Rate and review the podcast, because if you don’t, I’ll rock up at your door on Halloween and won’t leave until you give me zappos and sour straps. Recommend this to your friends, family, coworkers, and the car mechanic on your next scheduled service.
But as always, look after yourselves, lock your doors and windows, and ignore the tapping coming from behind your mirror. Sweet dreams and enjoy the rest of the week. Until next time, adios!
Comments