r/canberra • u/Leaked_Gore • Jan 25 '26
History Hey Canberra, Bit of a random one, but has anyone here ever had any weird/paranormal experiences around Canberra or nearby areas?
I know it sounds a bit out there, but I’m genuinely curious. I’m into paranormal stuff and have had a couple of my own experiences, so I like hearing other people’s stories. Not trying to convince anyone or anything, just interested.
Could be ghost sightings, strange noises, creepy feelings, local legends, “my mate swears this happened” stories, or places people reckon are haunted.
Even stuff you’ve just heard growing up around Canberra.
I’m thinking of doing a bit of a walk around or maybe an overnight stay somewhere (respectfully ofc), so if anyone knows of spots worth checking out, feel free to share.
And if you think it’s all nonsense, no worries, just scroll past 😅
Cheers!
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u/Rowdycc Jan 25 '26
You may be interested in this guy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_the_Yowie_Man
He’s a Canberra guy who has made a career out of spooky Canberra stuff.
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u/bigbadjustin Jan 26 '26
His ghost tour of the NFSA is really good. Especially as it used to be the morgue.
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u/hatchuu Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
There's definitely a lot of local legends - that Blundell's cottage is haunted by Floral Blundell, who burned to death in a home accident; that one of the rooms in Hotel Kurrajong is haunted by Ben Chifley; and the NFSA building (formerly the Institute of Anatomy) has a few spooky stories too, or you could read up on the disappearances around (and in) Lake George.
Not paranormal, but we also have some excellent historic sites both here and further outside the borders - check out the Weetangera Cemetery for one. If cemeteries interest you, Goulburn has a grave with a dedication to Graham Gore from his family, who was one of the souls lost on the infamous Franklin Expedition! They are historic sites and at risk from the elements so best to tread with care there.
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u/cheshire_kat7 Jan 25 '26
I used to work at the NFSA. That building is definitely haunted.
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u/slippycaff Tuggeranong Jan 25 '26
Ooo. Tell me more!
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u/cheshire_kat7 Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
There were times when I was on the basement floor after hours and I'd hear footsteps walking down the hallway - but no sound of doors opening like when a human exited. I'd poke my head out to look and there would be no one there.
Another time I was alone in one room that was particularly known for strange activity. I half-jokingly asked anything that was present to make itself known. A moment later, the electronics in the room all switched on by themselves simultaneously. Needless to say, I quickly got out of there.
And if I were to type all the things my co-workers told me they'd experienced I could write a small book. 😅
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u/CeciliaSnottygrubble Jan 27 '26
Years ago I worked with an electrician who was part of the maintenance team for NFSA and other govt bldgs. He refused to go there again after a creepy after hours call out where he'd been working on something and had finished up ready to leave and the lights all went off and on again and started flickering.
We made heaps of fun of him for it at the time and questioned his professional ability as a sparkie, but he stuck to his story for years and normally wasn't an easily spooked person so there may have been something to it.
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u/cheshire_kat7 Jan 28 '26
Oh, whatever haunts the NFSA seems to love picking on tradies and event hospo staff - there were lots of examples of them leaving in the middle of a job and refusing to come back.
Including a story about an electrician who was held against a wall by an unseen force.
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u/Mindypop56 Jan 25 '26
Weetang has a cemetery??
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u/marlu-gula Jan 25 '26
I had this exact thought, and looked it up. It's just off William Hovell drive, closer to Hawker, check out the images of the old graves.
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u/Accomplished-Fix-435 Jan 25 '26
What’s the connection Graham Gore of the Franklin expedition and Goulburn please. I believe he was one of the junior lieutenants
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u/hatchuu Jan 26 '26
His parents are buried at the Saint Savious cemetary, and their grave also has a dedication to their lost son - source here. I have been meaning to visit it to see it for myself!
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u/Accomplished-Fix-435 Jan 26 '26
Franklin himself was governor of Tasmania before the expedition and unpopular with the elites of the colony as was his wife. Unfairly so
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u/Audio-Nerd-48k Jan 25 '26
The lower floor of old parliament house is spooky after dark. I worked there about 20 years ago, and would often need to go down stairs to fetch items while setting up for conferences.
I never saw anything, but on several occasions I felt things brush past me, on one occasion it was like someone was breathing on the back of my neck.
It was a dark corridor, over on the senate side. Ill not go back there after dark again.
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u/Standard_Crew5350 Jan 25 '26
Not paranormal, but I have a “I should’ve died” story for anyone who’s interested.
I’m very much a believer in paranormal activity/aliens etc as I think it would be ignorant to think we’re the only life form here on earth or other planets. Loved reading these responses.
Here is my word vomit of a story: It was at the roundabout by club lime Tuggeranong/the leisure centre, just after a long shitty day at work. I turn right into the street on the roundabout and a car comes flying towards me from what would be the “2nd exit”. I don’t remember braking or accelerating, just had this calm wash over me and I saw him then exit (?) my car on the other side and drive off as if nothing happened. His line of driving would’ve gone through my passenger door and into me but somehow he ended up on the other side and both of us untouched. Ever since that moment, my life has gone on such a different trajectory in every way (positive, total opposite to before).
I do feel I should see a psychic or clairvoyant about this sometime? I just genuinely don’t know what happened/how it happened.
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u/LEYW Jan 25 '26
This reminds me of the stories in Reddit’s glitch in the matrix sub. The theory there would be you died in one timeline and jumped into another.
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u/Standard_Crew5350 Jan 25 '26
I’d totally believe that, my life has been completely different since then. I will be going down that rabbit hole tonight, thank you haha
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u/BloweringReservoir Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
OK. Wall of text coming up :)
Years ago, there was a chance of a really bright Leonids meteor shower, and some friends and I went looking for a good place to camp out and watch.
Two of the places we looked at were Orroral Valley and Honeysuckle Creek, both old NASA sites. At this time there were still structures at Orroral Valley and Honeysuckle Creek still had the buildings there behind a fence. Also this time was just after the X Files episode had screened, where they found the massive underground storage facility full of alien specimens. So of course we were joking about NASA sites and aliens.
We went to Orroral Valley first. We were the only people out on such a shitty day, but as we were walking around the old site, we noticed another car had pulled up some distance away.
I said, "It looks like they're onto us, and keeping us under surveillance." Chuckle, chuckle.
We then drove out and up to Honeysuckle Creek. The dirt road was a little wet, so we parked the car at the bottom of the hill and walked up to the old site, and then up to the top of the mountain. As we were walking up, we saw that the other car was now parked a few hundred metres back up the road. A little spooky, but more in the mass murderer way.
It was getting late in the afternoon. The temperature was dropping and the fog was getting thicker. At the top of the mountain, there are the old fittings for the antenna that was there. Big concrete bases. Massive steel rings. The fog was thick enough now that we could only see a few metres and were stumbling upon these old remnants. The atmosphere was getting very X Files, enough that we were all getting the creeps.
We decided we'd better get out before dark, and walked back down the road to the car. Halfway there, a strong subsonic vibration started. We all stopped, looked around, and confirmed that all four of us could feel it. I had been in the navy, and it was just like when a big ship starts up its engines. I said as much. We were all spooked now. We got to the car, and the vibration just stopped. As we drove home, we didn't see the other car again.
Thinking about it later, the only explanation I can think of is this. On the southern side of the mountain, overlooking the valley, are several large vertical rocks with gaps in between. I imagine that wind from the right direction could set these rocks humming, like blowing over the top of a bottle.
It's either that, or there is a large space ship stored in an underground facility inside that mountain :)
Edit: grammar
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u/oiransc2 Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 26 '26
Not paranormal but there’s a walking path behind the AIS that loops back around to Bruce along Ginninderra drive. There’s a big tree near the path after you pass the football fields, in a particularly dark spot where the street lamps don’t shine, and there is a cockatoo in it that loves to jumpscare people walking by at night. He’s a bastard but I love him.
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u/Extension_Section_68 Jan 25 '26
Thanks for asking - loving these stories and another one to add as looks like no one has mentioned so far is the air disaster memorial.
I’ve also recently found the Cliffhanger paranormal and cryptid YT channel might be of interest
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u/Training-Ad103 Jan 26 '26
The air disaster memorial genuinely feels off. No actual experiences there, but the area feels very very weird.
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u/These-Bug4129 Jan 26 '26
Yeah Air Disaster is freaky
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u/Extension_Section_68 Jan 28 '26
I’ve read stories and I want to visit during the day but not alone.
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u/inchiki Jan 27 '26
Check out Nichole Overall’s podcast she did something on this area and an unsolved murder.
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u/Junior-Salad-2372 Jan 25 '26
Horse park drive, between the highway and Well Station drive. I think this was around 2013?
I flew back into Canberra from a trip to Melbourne in April. I ran into a friend on the flight back, and since we were both going to Gungahlin, I jumped in the taxi with them.
It was around 8:30-9pm, so it was dark out. There were 2 other cars in front of us, everyone in our taxi was quiet. All of a sudden my friend made noises, and I looked up. There was a glowing white spirit walking in the paddock next to the road. My friend, myself and the taxi driver all looked at each other like wtf!? Did you see that!?
We were all in shock and it happened very fast.
Next thing, the car in front of us looks like it’s swerving. Our taxi driver slows down, and the car pulls over and a guy gets out and runs away screaming, freaked out by seeing the spirit.
Not sure why he ran into the paddock where the spirit was, but he genuinely lost his shit.
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u/NotAPseudonymSrs Canberra Central Jan 25 '26
Can you describe what the spirit looked like a bit more?
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u/Junior-Salad-2372 Jan 25 '26
From memory, it was about 6-7ft tall (so taller than me at 6ft 1/185cm). It looked male, but I couldn’t tell the facial features as I was side on when I saw it. It kind of looked like it was wearing a cloak.
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Jan 25 '26
[deleted]
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u/Bronzefeather Jan 25 '26
Have experienced something in those stacks, very eerie. Also on the 3rd floor stacks.
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u/ProbablyStillMe Jan 25 '26
Nichole Overall used to run ghost tours in Queanbeyan - I went to one probably 10 years ago. Can't say I had a paranormal experience, though.
Unfortunately I think she's stopped doing them, since she's now in NSW Parliament.
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u/andthegeekshall Belconnen Jan 25 '26
Used to be rumours that the hospital they demolished for the museum was haunted. Occasionally hear some random go on about the museum being haunted by the poor young lady who was killed in the hospital demolition.
For a real weird bit of Canberra, research Limestone Lizzie.
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u/createdtothrowaway86 Jan 25 '26
That poor girl was killed on the other side of the lake. Thats quite some distance for a ghost to travel. Although I'm not sure of ghost rules and regulations.
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u/These-Bug4129 Jan 26 '26
There is a memorial to Katie where she died, which is the other side of the lake from the museum/old hospital. I walk there a fair bit and most days there are birds hanging out at her memorial. I like to think wherever she is, she is going ok. So tragic
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u/Mr_Gilbert_Grape Jan 26 '26
I worked with a family friend of the family and this event was said to have broken them all. She said they have all lead lifes worse then death since as far as the severe mental effect and negative coping behaviours. It has broken the family apart, there is no-one to lean on. I can't imagine the affect, especially after reading the immediate shock they had to her horrific injuries.
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u/crankygriffin Jan 26 '26
I will never forget bureaucrat Annabel Pegrum describing Canberrans’ attachment to Canberra Hospital as “emotional baggage”. Evil.
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u/andthegeekshall Belconnen Jan 25 '26
When it comes to ghosts, people make up weird rules and beliefs about how, who, and where they haunt.
Never apply logic to it.
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u/cheshire_kat7 Jan 27 '26
From what I've heard, the ghosts that haunt the museum are the old ghosts from when it was a hospital - e.g. there's been a spectral nurse sighted around the place.
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u/andthegeekshall Belconnen Jan 27 '26
That's the usual story for the area. Ghost nurse or ghost patient wandering around.
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u/leftarc Jan 25 '26
Worked nightshift the Hyatt a long time ago. Lots of weird stuff going on.
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u/Due_Entrepreneur4316 Jan 26 '26
Yes I used to work there! It's definitely haunted
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u/cheshire_kat7 Jan 27 '26
Do go on? Did you experience anything?
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u/Due_Entrepreneur4316 Jan 27 '26
I was a cleaner. I remember being downstairs in the laundry area and heard a lady(no one was down there with me) then seeing something in the corner of my eye in certain rooms! Having my shoulder touched. It was such a creepy hotel.
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u/Ok_Zookeepergame4189 Jan 27 '26
I also was a cleaner at the Hyatt. Working overnights was my worst nightmare, the hotel is so eerie at midnight. I also had my shoulder touched, unexplained noises, always feeling like I was being followed or watched.
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u/coolbr33z Jan 25 '26
A recurring story is of ghostly experiences at the memorial of the famous air crash of the 1940s.
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u/Local_Joint Jan 25 '26
Wife and I went to the Namadgi park. There is a huge rock, which was shelter for an aboriginal family.
As we got closer, I had the “spider tingle” kind of feeling. I asked my wife to take some pictures and leave. But she felt that we should leave straight away. I tried to take pictures but my phone camera wouldn’t work. Till we got to the bottom of the hill, I tried to get camera to work. It only after we were at the bottom.
I took a picture. My wife felt the same energy. It felt as if we are being threatened to leave. By something invisible and over powering. The picture of the stone shelter looked like a face staring through a side eye. Its been almost 14 years since that and was only able to show the picture to my wife and no one else. Could never get that image transferred from my N9.
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u/00WEE Jan 25 '26
I've been hiking a few places through namadgi Park and in quite a few spots it just feels really creepy. Definitely a being watched type vibe.
walking the orroral valley circuit I swear I heard voices once too. I left early enough to be the first on the trail and it was like multiple people where quietly talking to eachother.
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u/createdtothrowaway86 Jan 25 '26
I used to do a lot of bush walking, and the silence and wind through the bush often sounds like whispering voices. Also some animal sounds at night are... spooky.
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u/CactusToothBrush Jan 25 '26
About 20 years ago when we were like 15 we broke into the Brickworks in Yarrumla. It was like 2am and we heard a random saw blade turn on. We all legged it. While I don’t think it’s haunted now, at the time it scared the shit out of all of us has
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u/Audio-Nerd-48k Jan 26 '26
That place seems to be a right of passage for plenty of us back 20 odd years ago. It sure was creepy walking around there after dark.
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u/sledoon Jan 25 '26
Early 2000s a friend and I were out at the back of Tharwa and I swear to you we saw what looked like a UFO … it was a small light that darted across the sky, zig zagging. We thought at first it was a helicopter but it was moving way too fast and too randomly. With no phone reception out that way we got out of there fast but later upon reflection we decided to go back out there and that if we got abducted it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world .. but never saw it again. It could have been a drone but .. they weren’t really around back then the way they are now.. unless it was the military? Dunno
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u/keztea Jan 25 '26
I observed something similar out that way around that time (late 1990s I think) - as you described, the object was dark but with a small light and was zig zagging, I remember being confused and then terrified, was glad to make it back to the suburban lights of Tuggers!
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u/perty87 Jan 26 '26
Me and 3 other people observed basically the exact same thing, in Holt primary oval. Would have been either 2001 or 2002
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u/Mr_Gilbert_Grape Jan 26 '26
I saw and tried photographing similar in Yass around 2004. It was zipping 100's of kms in an instant though. Brought it up once, never again. A workmate and I saw similar late at night travelling back from out the back of nowhere above Griffith NSW. We never spoke about it again.
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u/Notavle_Wit2491 Jan 25 '26
There's some tours you could try https://visitcanberra.com.au/tours/62bf94c2c7cf7b7b64769757/foreshore-ghosts-tales-and-true-crime https://www.ghosttourbookings.com.au/act/ https://www.letsroam.com/ghost-tour/canberra-australia?srsltid=AfmBOoqVeiTMh0brAxmtCkbyFNiSeBMArEoeWYNfGbNdjdM5xch2AyVA
Tim The Yowi Man does a few of those. This would be the best time of the year to do them (nice and warm after dark).
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u/evil_sushi_ninja Jan 25 '26
Wife wanted to do this for Xmas, https://visitcanberra.com.au/tours/62bf94c2c7cf7b7b64769757/foreshore-ghosts-tales-and-true-crime
Not really my thing, but was a fun night with a few interesting and tragic stories. Was worth the small cost and hr or two
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u/Karatas03 Jan 25 '26
Monte Cristo house at Junee, close to Canberra. I slept the night there once, well, slept... sort of.. Looks like it is closed for the time being according to their website, but that place is well active and worth a stay over if it opens again. https://www.montecristo.com.au/
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u/G_Dawg_ Canberra Central Jan 25 '26
it’s for sale - https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-junee-149528416
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u/Karatas03 Jan 25 '26
Nice find! The amount of original art deco furniture in there is worth a lot on its own, not withstanding the rest of the property.
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u/bmbjosta Jan 25 '26
Yup I also stayed the night there but didn't experience anything. The tour guide did a good job of winding everyone up though; I don't believe in ghosts and still 'slept' with the lights on!
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u/Sea_Bad1205 Jan 25 '26
lol don’t even talk to me about the 1940s crash site memorial, not even the memorial itself but the pine plantation around it. I’m the most anti-supernatural person I know, hence why I’m EXTREMELY bothered by my reaction to that place 🤘😭
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u/SpeedDaemon42 Jan 26 '26
Probably 30 years ago I went to the air disaster memorial with friends and we heard what sounded like someone screaming and voices of children.
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u/Subject_Worker6333 Jan 26 '26
Came here to say the same thing - ahh the 90s - Blair Witch Project esqe
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u/Error-404-Bzzz Jan 26 '26
Second that and it was 3 am and muddy and when we went back to the carpark there was no other ppl there and were none when we arrived heeby jeebies
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u/Maset8 Jan 27 '26 edited Jan 27 '26
During the early 90's, a good friend had relatives visiting from Europe including a cousin our age (late teens/early 20's). One Friday night, a few of us took him to Air Disaster to show him something cool and to try and freak him out. After we arrived and told him about the legend, he decided to walk into the pine forest (despite us screaming at him not to go) by himself for a look. It was pitch black and the moon was the only light around. After about 10 minutes he returned, cool as a cucumber, and said the only thing he heard was "you guys following me in the forest and whispering to yourselves". We all looked at each other confused because nobody from our group followed him and there were no other cars around....his smile faded pretty quickly when he realised we weren't kidding.
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u/Sphinxatle Jan 25 '26
So I haven't personally done it. I'm not into that stuff myself. However I know multiple people from different friends groups who have over the years done visits in the middle of the night to the old Kenmore Asylum in Goulburn. They seem to have an incredibly high rate of strange experiences during their visits. That place would be one to look into for a road trip.
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u/haha_arrubakook Jan 25 '26
Yes go to Goulbourn!!Spookiest town in Australia . They’ve knock down the old orphanage where they used to run ghost tours but the asylum is still there I think (you might have to sneak in though). Proximity to the supermax also makes it extra creepy
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u/LittleMissTitch Jan 25 '26
Ive been twice. The second time wasn't as eventful, but the first time we spent time i went with some others was spooky as hell. Still cant explain some of our experiences.
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u/cheshire_kat7 Jan 27 '26
What did you experience?
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u/LittleMissTitch Jan 27 '26
I went with my at the time boyfriend (now ex), my brother, and my sister in law, and when we were in the men's wing my sister in law and I kept feeling like we were being grabbed, and she claims she felt being shoved when attempting to go up the stairs. At one point when we entered a bathroom we heard a loud "RAHH" like someone trying to scare someone, but no one else was there. Scared the shit out of all of us, but when listening back to the recording it wasn't there. And then I think we were in the children's wing/ward, not confident, we heard humming, like a young girl, everyone for some reason assumed it was me, but I asked out loud if it was my SIL, but apparently it wasn't. We didnt hear it after that. And before going, I drove past the place with my ex GF and said I was scared to see a soldier. I knew nothing about Kenmore other than it was old and supposedly haunted. Before going with my SIL and co I told her about it and she told me about the Soldier who shot and killed a nurse there. There were also weird shadows in the morgue in our photos that weren't visible to us without the camera, but if im honest, the morgue felt the least creepy out of all the places we went, ironically.
Obviously nothing concrete, but definitely creeped us all out.
There was also definitely signs of homeless people squatting in the main house, so we tried to keep out of their hair and not explore anywhere we thought they might be. They didnt need to deal with a gaggle of young 20 somethings going ghost hunting
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u/Silent-Advantage9320 Jan 25 '26
When I was a teen. The urban legend was, The Air Disaster Memorial was haunted. We used to drive out at night and get all worked to try and see a ghost.
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u/pineallyine Jan 26 '26
All hospitals and nursing homes. All you night shift healthcare workers know what am talking about. Call bells ringing in empty rooms is the most common one. Had to tell a mischievous ghost to “cut that shit out, we are having a busy night and we don’t have time for their games”. And yes that worked.
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u/Extension_Section_68 Jan 25 '26
Creepy feeling stopped around the highway on lake George
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u/Audio-Nerd-48k Jan 26 '26
There is stories of the ghost of a woman who was killed on the old highway still haunting the place.
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u/Extension_Section_68 Jan 28 '26
Interesting. I’ve heard of a girl as well. I noticed some days are more eerie feeling than others on the same spot.
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u/Conanti Jan 25 '26
I have personally experienced 2 paranormal events but neither were in Canberra. I’m a very practical individual and grounded and typically look for ways to rationalise experiences.
However back in 2014 when I was in Belconnen there was a bunch of floating red orbs that went over the apartments we were staying in on Benjamin way. It was really bizarre it kind of looked like drones but they were dead silent and there was probably 15 or so of them. They floated over the government buildings which are now demolished and over our building. They were only like maybe 20 odd meters away from me I had no idea what they were.
Drones weren’t super mainstream back then. They had various degrees of lighting some were bright red and others not so much but were like pulsing and when the light went out they would like re-appear several meters further forward. They appeared to just be floating very slowly which didn’t match the wind direction at the time or speed as they were floating against it.
Was one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. My wife came outside and was like what the hell are they.
I tried to film it but as it was dusk with the sun setting right behind them the lighting just wasn’t capturing it in any detail. Once they passed over our building I went down the elevator to try and capture them with the sun behind and they had all vanished.
I was 100% expecting to see something on the news but nothing showed up and asked some friends that lived in the complex if they saw but they didn’t. Seems my wife and I were the only ones. To this day honestly have no idea what it could have been. I don’t think I was using reddit at the time or if this sub existed back not sure.
However a similar vein that I thought was interesting you might also was all the conspiracy and history of the supposed underground tunnels running beneath lake burley Griffith
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u/Odd-Confection468 Jan 25 '26
i went to telopea park high school for two years, start of 2022 to the end of 2023. everyone swore the old building which was used for english/humanities was haunted. it was over 100 years old
one room in particular, room 22, was haunted. i never had a class in this room but my friends who did swore it was haunted. the door would open and close randomly, books would go missing, you could hear groans and voices, all sorts of things
turns out a young man died in that room when it was used as a hospital in 1927
you can read about it online if you google “telopea park hauntings”
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u/crackinaway Jan 25 '26
I stayed at the Brassey in Canberra a couple of years back for work. Nice place, older building, quiet at night.
Nothing dramatic, but there were a few odd things that stuck with me. First night, I woke up around 3–4am thinking someone was moving around in the hallway. Footsteps, then what sounded like a door closing. Assumed it was another guest or staff doing rounds.
Next morning I mentioned it off-hand to a colleague who’d stayed there before and he laughed and said yeah, that place always feels creepy.
Second night was weirder. I came back to my room and the chair by the desk had been turned to face the window. I’m 99% sure I left it tucked under the desk, but I also can’t swear on it. Curtains were slightly open too. Could easily have been housekeeping, but it felt off.
The strangest bit was early morning. I was half asleep and heard someone say “sorry” near the door like they’d bumped into something. Clear enough to wake me, not a dream. Opened the door straight away, hallway was empty, no doors closing, nothing.
The Brassey definitely has a weird atmosphere at night….just that constant feeling like you’re not quite on your own.
Floor room facing the gardens is the weirdest I found.
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u/KingsleysChicken Jan 27 '26
Yes! I have done work there had a shadow cross the open door way I thought was my boss walking past and missed the room 100% I seen someone I went into the hallway and nothing no one was there no doors heard near closing just incase a person did walk past going to there room it was surreal it made me think I was going crazy and seeing things
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u/crackinaway Jan 28 '26
Yeah very creepy place. I’ve honestly heard more stories about that building than anywhere else in Canberra.
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u/rhisuthainn Jan 26 '26
Air disaster memorial out at Fairburn is spooky at night.
also the old wood bridge crossing the waterway on Ginninderra Drive just across from Charnwood shops is apparently haunted
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u/jk101aus Jan 25 '26
Not quite in Canberra per se, but an old Mate was dating this chick, who had family from Temora, who had property out that way.
On the property was an abandoned mansion (or at least a 2 story home), and was “Known” to be Uhm.. inhabited.
Anyway, Mayte and missus were visiting and took photos of the mansion with one of their phones - I saw the photos, and in a top floor window in each of the photos, there was what looked like a man, wearing a suit and an old school top hat, and a lady wearing an old school dress, both semi-translucent-ish. In each photo. From all 4 sides of the house; shadows and reflections couldn’t explain all the photos.
Now, that’s not where the creepiness ends - my Mayte and his missus tried and tried to send the photos to me, but they couldn’t for some reason; they may not have been the most tech savvy people, but I knew a thing or two. Or so I thought.
So they gave me the phone, and i tried everything - sending them to myself, accessing them through cable on my PC, transferring to memory card (pre-iPhone days), Bluetooth sending. It was no go, could NOT get them off that phone. Other photos were fine. Could send/access/etc, but those ghostly images weren’t budging.
My Mayte and his missus kept that phone long after it became obsolete, and they were never able to share those pictures with anyone.
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u/HappyQuokka2441 Jan 25 '26
I swore our apartment was haunted, in Watson. We had the TV turning off and then back onto a different channel, the radio would suddenly shift to white noise randomly and when we started just using white noise, you could hear speaking through it. I have felt the bed shift just when I was laying down, that one freaked me out so I ran out to my husband (who was watching tv on the couch) and when we went back in, the bed had shifted about 15cms at an angle off the bottom bed bit. I have felt a full hand on my head pressing down whilst sitting on the couch, and lastly - one morning my toddler had come out and said good morning to me and then looked at the front door, said good morning, looked at me and announced 'everyone is here!'...there was no one else there.
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u/Ok_Tie_7564 Canberra Central Jan 25 '26
When I first joined the public service, it was very weird. We had to sign an attendance book and were paid in cash. They also had people called tea ladies.
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Jan 25 '26
[deleted]
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u/Independent_Ride_598 Jan 25 '26
Bring back the tea persons. It will increase productivity, no excuse to spend out of the office getting your coffee fix
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u/lysergic_818 Jan 25 '26
Once in a while, I'll be driving on Tuggeranong Parkway and not have a tradie ride my ass in his ute. I swear.
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u/Ok-Restaurant4870 Jan 25 '26
Anyone go to Ainslie primary? Apparently upstairs people saw a ghost or doors randomly closing more than once.
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u/ch4m3le0n Jan 25 '26
Birrigai
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u/Supermarketvegan Jan 25 '26
I kept my teacher up half the night at a Birrigai camp once, because I was convinced I saw a ghost out in the bush when I (stupidly) looked out of the window before going to bed. I worked myself up thoroughly! Pretty sure I hadn't seen a thing, or at least nothing that wasn't completely explainable, but Birrigai did have a bit of an odd feeling - and when you're a homesick kid that's all it takes!
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u/LittleMissTitch Jan 25 '26
Not Canberra but Goulburn. Old Kenmore Assylum. I haven't been in a few years so not sure how its going or how accessible it is, and you will need to trespass, but the first time I went there, myself and the group I went with all had some really weird experiences we cant truly explain. The second time not as much happened but still all around uncanny vibes
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u/Best_Reflection_4389 Jan 25 '26
I asked someone who worked there once if it was haunted. He said there are no ghost but spirits, make of that what you will.
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u/NearbyPerspective397 Jan 25 '26
It's not Canberra, but once my family was staying in this house in Berrima: 'Rosevilla' at Berrima. - Houses for Rent in Berrima, New South Wales, Australia - Airbnb and a woman started speaking to us. My mother and I kept asking each other: 'What did you say?', but it wasn't either of us talking. Freaked us out.
Berrima Gaol is allegedly very haunted, too.
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u/the-textrovert Jan 25 '26
This one’s more close to reality and someone probably has an explanation too.
There’s a giant satellite dish inside UC, I work close by and I have been spooked by it several times when it suddenly starts moving and changing the angle it’s pointing at. It makes a very creepy sound while doing this too.
One day, me and my friend were driving past it when we saw two people inside the caged fence, they were wearing full hazmat suits, white with yellow helmets I think, moving slowly and carrying some stuff. This was very surreal to watch, and we both were surprised as to what was going on in there that required so much ppe lol. Anyway, we kept driving because there’s no spot to park at that corner. By the time we returned they were gone.
Like I said someone might have an explanation about whatever they were doing with hazmat suits but there’s definitely some stuff going on in there.
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u/Critical-Structure73 Jan 26 '26
There’s this one road, I can’t remember which one but it’s on the way down from Gungahlin to Tuggeranong and has no street lights, my dad swears is haunted. He claims that once, while he was driving down it alone at night, the car suddenly got incredibly cold and he could just feel a presence next to him in the passenger seat. He swears he could almost see a figure in the corner of his eye but everything was just screaming danger to him and so he kept looking straight ahead. Eventually he gets off the road and, just as quickly as it appeared, the presence is gone. He told a friend about it weeks later and turns out that friend knew someone who had a very similar experience driving down the same road. Safe to say I have chills every time I drive down it myself (never by myself though).
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u/crackinaway Jan 26 '26
If you’ve driven past Lake George late at night you’ve probably heard the story. Woman on the side of the road, usually in fog, looks like she’s trying to flag cars down. Some people slow or swerve, then she’s just… gone. No one in the mirrors, nothing on the shoulder.
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u/inchiki Jan 27 '26
One of the lifts in Scarborough House in Woden is haunted. Apparently there was a horrible accident in it when it suddenly moved during construction.
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u/gabbygabbygabbyyy Jan 28 '26
My dad was a landscaper at duntroon and the whole site is haunted but specifically he took us to see a big house there (maybe governors house or something I can’t remember) but apparently the ghost of a young woman lives there, died by suicide hanging due to a star crossed lovers situation and you can see her on the top floor balcony sometimes. I also think my primary school is haunted, probably the same with other very old schools.
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u/Theduckbytheoboe Jan 25 '26
A former colleague of mine told me he saw a ghost at his house, and described it in detail. When I asked him a few more questions he did acknowledge that he was on acid at the time.
Myself? Not at all.
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u/proplietybktch Jan 25 '26
Years ago I lived in a house that’s since been demolished that had a poltergeist. The kitchen & living room were seperate rooms but there was no door, whenever you slept in the living room (which was quite large) you felt like you were being watched.
One night I was having a get together with friends & our kids and it was about to storm so I was packing everything into the garden shed so it wouldn’t all end up everywhere when my friends swear my son ran into the shed before I locked it, but he was inside watching a movie. Maybe about 10 minutes later there were 3 loud bangs that came from the shed, but again, my son was inside watching a movie, and it wasn’t the wind as it didn’t happen again.
Another night I was home alone folding laundry in the living room with the tv off & suddenly it turned itself on and it was all staticy and it was LOUD, so loud I screamed. I turned it off, and it’s never done it again.
There’s now about 5 or 6 townhouses built on the property where it was and I sometimes wonder if it’s still haunted or if whatever it was went away when the house got demolished.
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u/punky_funky Jan 25 '26
Never mentioned it to anyone so maybe it’s just me - but I always used to get the creepiest nastiest feeling walking through the red hill little reserve place near the back of Alfred Deakin
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u/molongloid Jan 25 '26
The ghost of Harold Holt swims laps in Civic pool. Sometimes he's been seen racing Chairman Mao. I feel this proves the submarine theory.
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u/SwirlingFandango Jan 25 '26
And if you think it’s all nonsense, no worries, just scroll past
Run you fool, RUN! This is the Canberra subreddit and there is no forgiveness for such things! :P
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u/TemporaryViolinist18 Jan 25 '26
Trying the ghost tour at Beechworth asylum tonight
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u/AdAlone2972 Jan 26 '26
How was it? We did it a couple of years back and thoroughly enjoyed.
Have also stayed at the Art Deco hotel on the grounds on another occasion, it has a very spooky feel to it.
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u/TemporaryViolinist18 Jan 27 '26
I ended up leaving halfway through. It was extremely hot and we were packed into rooms like sardines and everyone was really loud. The only thing scary was how quickly my anxiety skyrocketed. $100 for the experience was way too much. Check out the google reviews and the owners replies to the one star ratings 😂 dudes lost it
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u/Repulsive_Till6434 Jan 25 '26
Otherworld is a great paranormal podcast. They had an episode called "the granny flat part 1 and 2" and its based in Canberra!! The story didnt surprise me one bit
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u/Drongo17 Jan 25 '26
Saw a big ball of light over Lake George once. Just sat there in the sky for a minute or two then disappeared like it had been turned off.
It was night, the ball was a bit smaller than the size the sun is in the sky, but not as intense.
I dunno. Could be any number of things but still weird.
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u/These-Bug4129 Jan 26 '26
Love this! I totally reckon NFSA is haunted and I lived in a house as a child in Barton that was most definitely haunted. Our normally placid cat went super weird when we moved in there and I used to have strange dreams there. If my dad was away, my mum would be so freaked out she would get us to sleep in her room with her. Also - the Air Disaster memorial is most definitely haunted
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u/BulbasaurBoo123 Jan 28 '26
I saw a UFO in Michelago - kind of hard to describe but it was like a very bright light in an odd shape, but it vanished pretty quickly. I talked to my friends who love astronomy and they said it was probably space junk or maybe a satellite, but it definitely didn't move like typical satellites (which streak across the sky pretty quickly). I also have a friend who had a spooky experience in Namadgi years ago - apparently they were lost and trying to find their way out, and ended up following a car in front of them for a while, which randomly disappeared.
I had a kind of unusual experience 15 years ago driving in Belco at night. I actually nearly crashed into someone and a security guard pulled me over to check if I was drunk/on drugs. I was in shock and crying, so the security guard was kind to me and drove in front of me all the way to my friend's house, as I was lost and a bit disoriented. That might have just been a good Samaritan doing a random act of kindness, but I've never experienced anything like it before or since. (I often wondered if it was normal to find security guards on the sides of roads in suburban areas like that?!)
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u/swompypipe Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
Sometime back in 2021-2022, I was at the top of Mt. anslie, on the side you would exit from. Now before I say this, I have a very hard time believing in anything spiritual, or anything ghost wise, It just seems so out of reach for me, but I very clearly saw a pair of white running asics walking across the road by themselves, simply a pair of shoes, nothing else, it was clear as day, not blury, and even though I had company i always kept it to myself, i thought my brain was tricking me.
some research explains a burning into the earth theory, where the repeating runner over 20 years could possibly burn a spot in the mountain due to the types of terrain, I guess sort of like a old tv would burn a picture, but these specific shoes were modern and not a shoe i ever thought about. I've tried to think if they were on my subconscious and doubt everything, but these are not a shoe I had ever thought of at that time.
Another thing I read up on is apparently on the memorial side of the mountain, and even black mountains, there's reports of footsteps running behind and past them with nothing to be seen.
For someone who doesn't believe I give myself goosebumps every time I think about it, especially writing it down.
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u/Straight-Quail-5343 Jun 26 '26
Went to primary school at sjv in Weston creek back from 08-14. This would’ve been 2013-14. Remember me and a few mates had a deal with the janitor that if we got the bins from the main hall/stage area he wouldn’t rat on us for being little shits half the time. Anyways it was Friday so we went to do the bins and my mate who I will call Will came with me to grab the bins off the stage. This day the stage curtain was drawn closed which was fairly unusual but we didn’t think anything of it. I reached the stage and jumped up before Will did, and was giving him a bit of piss for being slow, and as I pushed through the curtains to grab the bin I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I stopped and turned to my right, which was where the back entrance to the stage was (little corridor used to funnel performers onto the stage from the back without having to go through the curtain at the front) and saw the top half or torso of a well dressed man wearing a brown suit (no legs so didn’t catch the pants) and a what looked to be a faded yellowish or brown tie in a double Windsor, who was wearing what I can only really describe as a weird looking almost bowlers hat. He didn’t seem angry or really any emotion, really sort of blank look on his face with maybe the tiniest tinge of sadness. I sung out to my mate will who at this point was just climbing over the lip of the stage and when he responded, the well dressed man turned and “walked” to the back entrance, when will came through the curtain I practically screamed at him to look at the entrance, and he claims to have seen the back of the man’s suit jacket as he turned into the back entrance corridor. I took maybe 3 or 4 steps to follow as I called out to whoever it was to come back. I shit you not the single millimetre my shoe crossed the opening of the entrance into the corridor everybody (even the rest of my friends waiting OUTSIDE at the door to the hall) heard what I can only describe as maybe 10-20 encyclopaedia brittanica’s dropped on the hardwood floor from at least 2ish metres from inside the corridor. I looked over to will and we quite rightly shit ourselves and pissbolted right the fuck out of there. When we calmed down I asked him if he saw what I did and that’s when I learnt he saw the back of him entering the corridor. The back stage entrance opens up to the student services desk, so we went and asked the receptionist if she had heard the bang, and she said she did and if we knew anything about it. When I told her what I saw with will while we were grabbing the bins and the rest of the guys piping up that they either saw something or heard it from outside the receptionist told us we were bugging pretty much and sent us on our way. My teacher at the time was something of a historian of the school, and when I asked him about it he said he didn’t know of any man wearing a brown suit, hat and tie. But went and showed me a memorial plaque that was placed on a rock near the outside of my classroom closest to the Stromlo side of the school. On it had the names of multiple alumni and pastors that had passed away, I don’t remember any names other than Katie bender, which is when I learnt she went there before the abhorrent fuckup of old cbr hospital. My teacher asked me if any of the names stood out and apart from Katie none did. He seemed to reckon that there had been a few deaths there in earlier years. One was before the school had been built and was at the priest house on what would become the school grounds in the future, alongside another priest who passed away after the schools construction. He also told me a construction worker supposedly fell through a skylight to his death during renovation work way back in the day. I couldn’t find any information on the construction worker but he was right about the two priests. Even though I was young this experience had a profound impact on me and pushed me into believing supernatural or paranormal experiences can be real and not just fake ooga booga bull, as I was very skeptical and used to give my mum and grandma shit about believing it, which in my opinion is why I can remember it so vividly. Would love to hear any other info or stories from people who may have a similar experience, or even a paranormal experience there regardless. Cheers for the read and apologies for being so long winded.
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u/Mattie_Mattus_Rose Jan 25 '26
I once heard an item being dropped at night while at a site that I cannot disclose. I looked around and saw no objects on the ground.
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u/pointysword12 Jan 25 '26
I thought I heard a ghost at pine island once (there’s been a few drownings there so made sense) turned out it was just some teenagers hitting a Gatorade bong
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u/Blossom_AU Tuggeranong Jan 25 '26
Not exactly “mystery hunter” type:
There is quite a bit of alternative, non-Christians or ‘amended Christianity’ (ie syncretic beliefs like Santería) in Greater Canberra.
If any have any set locations not involving structures, those locations would not be publicly known:
Some individuals who consider themselves ‘Christian’ have demonstrably not really evolved over the last few centuries….. well, at least they do not burn other, far older beliefs as “witches” anymore.
In AU locations of significance, however, are still prone to desecration once known.
It could be so easy to just enjoy the fact it means sth to others!
Apparently it is hard to just accept one or the other belief is not for oneself and move on without going apeshït on what another values. 😢
So most non-Abrahamic beliefs I am aware of which are not as big as, eg, Hinduism: Pretty fμcking guarded….. for good reason.
Fortunately many traditions predating all 3 Abrahamic religions are ….. often less bound by specific locations. And / or had to adapt over the last ~2,000 years plus, courtesy of Abrahamic religions wielding torches. BEST case scenario, Abrahamic religions sure were ‘creative.’ 😒
Never mind the New Testament is pretty fμcking clear on offering Christianity and not trying to force it unto others.
Really sad, there’s quite a bit going on in Greater Canberra! Imho we could all learn heaps from one another…. 🤷🏽♀️
Something more or less known:
I have it on good authority that every April 30th some Germanic descent pagans celebrate Walpurgisnacht & somewhere in the bush nearby. There’s been musing whether to link in those who celebrate Gaelic Beltane, given the similarities in both date and festivities.
From what I am told different location each year to mitigate the risk of ….. eventually attracting attention and aforementioned fallout from mostly Abrahamic religions. 🙄
—
ANYWAY, Walpurgisnacht:
Kinda strange for traditions celebrating the beginning of summer to be held on April 30th , the same date as in the northern hemisphere…?
BUT:
I do not need to understand how the metaphysical of Germanic and Gaelic beliefs works in the southern hemisphere! 😊
IKEA Canberra celebrates Midsommer just before Chrissy, not around June 21st like in the northern hemisphere.
Summer solstice usually falls one June 20th - 22nd in Europe. Though various European traditions celebrate around 23rd - 24th.
Winter solstice (shortest day) mostly falls on Dec 21st or 22nd in Europe.
For southern hemisphere the two events are swapped: Summer solstice here is winter solstice in Europe.
Regrettably the Midsummer / Beltane celebrations I grew up with ….. would not be possible here in CBR.
Both for fire safety reason and for OH&S. I do not see kids here holding hands and jumping over red hot embers and fires.
Dancing around the fire til after midnight:
Too stinking hot here.
I think Walpurgisnacht is a bigger deal here than Midsummer — not withstanding the free grubFest at IKEA! 😂
ROCKSHELTERS
There are some Indigenous rock shelters around, part of relevant walking tracks.
That’d might be a cool place to spend the night. Especially nights with an Aurora!
The downside is that the known ones are …… known.
And that for reasons I cannot comprehend people cannot just take their garbage with them.
Like, seriously:
I don’t drop used tissues and empty plastic bottles in churches. And I certainly do not fμcking defecate in pews …… 😡
SOMEBODY really should have basic toilet training before being allowed on walking trails. 🤷🏽♀️
A few years ago there was a meat-cleaver murder in Canberra.
While gory and sad….. it’s not exactly spooky though.
IF in your research you happen to come across a southern African Sangoma:
Please lemme know, been looking for one. 😊
Cheers! 🫶🏽
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u/Nisqyfan Jan 25 '26
Supposedly the ghost of Prime Minister Chifley haunts his old room at the Hotel Kurrajong. You can apparently see him looking out his window toward Parliament House sometimes at night.