Cursed and Evil Places of Australia

One theme that I have often touched on in various articles is the question of whether an actual place can be evil. Are there sometimes malevolent forces that permeate a place to the point that it can be considered evil and cursed? Many places in the world harbor such places, and here we are going to look at a selection of such ominous places in Australia.

One of the most well-known cursed or evil places in Australia is a location called Black Mountain. Rising from the wilderness of Queensland, Australia, it is an eerie sight that stands in stark contrast to the brush and eucalyptus trees around, and it is a colossal, blackened jumble of enormous boulders that looks less like a natural formation than something that was intentionally dumped here by giant hands. Long heavily associated with bizarre, unexplained phenomena and intertwined with dark folklore, the Black Mountain is a strange place long shunned and feared by the indigenous people, and the region is made no less ominous by sightings of strange creatures, unexplained lights, and the numerous people who have come here never to return.

Black Mountain is located in the Black Mountain National Park in Queensland, Australia, which is located around 25km (16 miles) south of Cooktown. The nature of the bizarre mound certainly makes its appearance conducive to scary stories and myths. From a distance, Black Mountain looks like a solid monolith of black looming over the primeval forest around it, but on closer inspection, one can see it is composed of gigantic, granite boulders, many of which measure up to 20 feet long, and soars up 900 feet over the surrounding landscape. These boulders were formed from solidifying magma around 250 million years ago, lack any trace of surface soil, and have a distinct black coloration caused by a thin coating of iron and manganese oxides, as well as a film of blue-green algae covering the exposed surfaces

This black coloration gives the boulders a sinister, forbidding appearance, as if they have been scorched by the fires of hell itself. The rocks are jumbled upon one another, forming labyrinths of mazes and passages penetrating within the mountain, which belch forward gusts of hot air accumulated from the daytime heat. This heat lends the rocks other odd properties. The boulders become hot in the sun, and when cold rain falls on them, they slowly fracture and disintegrate over time, occasionally in a violent, explosive manner, only adding to the ominous, intimidating atmosphere pervading the place. In addition, the hot air moving through underground passages and abysses creates eerie sounds that have variously been described as sounding like moaning, screaming, crying, wailing, and deep hissing. A rotten stench also reportedly seeps from somewhere far below the surface from time to time.

With such a creepy appearance and demeanor, perhaps it is no surprise that Black Mountain has a long history of dark legends and myths. The Kuku Nyungkal people of the region have long shunned the mountain, calling it Kalkajaka, meaning “the place of the spear” and sometimes translated simply as “The Mountain of Death.” Aboriginal tales tell of the mountain as a haunted place, home to various evil spirits and demons lurking within, which are said to hunger for human souls, one of which is the spirit of a wicked medicine man called the Eater of Flesh. Stories tell of any unfortunate who approaches the mountain being dragged to their deaths within its bowels by spectral hands, and shadowy ghosts are often allegedly seen here. Adding to this atmosphere of dread is the brutal massacre of Aboriginal people at the hands of early European settlers that supposedly took place in a nearby ravine, the ghosts of which are said to still dwell here, screaming for revenge. Although several other rocks and caves in the vicinity hold religious significance and are considered to be sacred by the Aborigines, to this day, they refuse to go near Kallkajaka.

Indeed, well into modern times, Black Mountain has been ground zero for a wide variety of high strangeness. It is said that animals are spooked by the mountain, and that it exudes some evil force that has been reported to disrupt the navigational equipment of airplanes flying nearby. Planes mostly avoid flying near the mountain due to these unexplained anomalies, as well as the strange air turbulence that is experienced within the vicinity. A 1991 aerial survey conducted by the Bureau of Mineral Resources to test for magnetic disturbances and radiation levels on the mountain turned up nothing unusual, yet the reports of these phenomena from pilots persist. It may not be so surprising that Black Mountain is also home to a good amount of UFO activity and reports of strange lights.

Black Mountain is also said to have cavernous underground chambers that are purported to hold everything from alien bases to lost civilizations, ancient tombs and priceless lost treasures. Some of the treasures said to reside within the depths of the many caves are lost stockpiles of gold, historic artifacts, and ancient texts. One of the stranger things said to lie under the mountain is a secret alien base from which UFOs emerge and which is inhabited by a race of reptilian alien humanoids that keep human slaves. Those who buy this far out idea further explain that the arrangement of the boulders is obviously artificial and that the entire mountain was built by the aliens themselves. Others speculate that the boulders were laid down by some ancient lost civilization millennia ago, and that this society thrived deep under the mountain in an enormous hollowed-out domain. Some think such a civilization is still there.

Other bizarre tales revolve around the strange beasts said to inhabit the mountain. Although the area is indeed home to many unique and endemic species, there are tales of creatures lurking here that are far weirder than one might imagine. Within the craggy maze of intertwined boulders are said to lurk enormous pythons that are not shy about attacking human beings. There is also an enigmatic, large, cat-like predator known as the Queensland tiger that is thought to prowl the area and has been blamed for cattle mauling and mutilations that have occurred in the surrounding area. Occasional reports of large, reptilian humanoids emerging from the underground tunnels and crevices have also surfaced from the mountain. Additionally, there are numerous stories of fleeting, shadowy shapes that stalk the mountain, but it is unclear whether these represent some type of real animal, a more supernatural phenomenon, or merely a trick of shadow and light upon the black boulders.

Perhaps the most well-known and indeed scariest phenomenon related to Black Mountain is the multitude of mysterious disappearances that have taken place here. There are numerous stories of horses and even whole herds of cattle vanishing here as if swallowed by the mountain itself, but even more menacing are the stories of the many people who have allegedly come here and disappeared without a trace.

While Aborigines have stories of their people vanishing at the mountain since long before Europeans arrived, the first modern account of an unexplained disappearance here dates to 1877, when a courier by the name of Grayner went out on horseback looking for a stray calf, only for the man, the horse, and the calf to never return. Widespread searches of the mountain turned up no trace of the animals or the courier, and it was assumed that they had fallen into one of the many jagged chasms between the boulders. A few years after this, a notorious criminal known as Sugarfoot Jack and a couple of his accomplices fled to Black Mountain following a shootout. They were never seen again, and despite the exhaustive police search that followed, there was no evidence at all to hint at where they had gone. They had simply vanished.

The disappearances only increased in number and weirdness over the years. One of the more well-known tales allegedly occurred 13 years after the disappearance of Sugarfoot Jack. A Constable Ryan, who was stationed in nearby Cooktown, tracked a fugitive to Black Mountain along with other trackers, only for the trail to abruptly end at the mouth of one of the caves as if the criminal had just stepped off the face of the earth. Ryan entered the cave to see if the fugitive might be hiding inside, but according to those present, he never came back out, and no one else was willing to risk going in after him. Neither the criminal nor Constable Ryan was ever seen again. In another case, a local man by the name of Harry Owens was out looking for stray cattle, and when he did not return, his partner, George Hawkins, informed the police and went out looking for him. When Hawkins did not return either, the police launched a search of the mountain for the two missing men. According to the account, two police officers ventured into one of the caves and only one of them emerged. When the lone officer came out from the darkness, he was reportedly completely unhinged and so terrified of whatever he had seen that he could not give a coherent report of what had happened. In the 1920s, two professional cave explorers who journeyed to the mountain to try and solve the enigma of these disappearances went missing themselves, as well as some trackers who went looking for them. More recently, in 1932, a backpacker named Harry Page went missing while hiking on Black Mountain and was later found dead from unknown causes. The list goes on.

In all cases except for the body of Page, no evidence was ever found to hint at what had happened to any of these people, and extensive police investigations have never been able to come to any conclusion on the causes of their disappearances. It is as if the mountain itself swallowed them, which is not far from the official theory concerning the vanishings. It is mostly believed that these people most likely fell into the numerous caves, crevices, and chasms of the mountain or became hopelessly lost when trying to venture into the impenetrably dark passages. Whether this is what happened remains unknown. There have also been very few people to brave the mountain’s caves and return to tell the tale. One experienced bushman who penetrated the mountain armed with a pistol and flashlight gave a harrowing account of his experience within:

“I stepped into the opening, like other Black Mountain caves it dipped steeply downwards, narrowing as it went. Suddenly I found myself facing a solid wall of rock, but to the right there was a passageway just large enough for me to enter in a stooping position. I moved along it carefully for several yards. The floor was fairly level, the walls of very smooth granite. The passage twisted and turned this way and that, always sloping deeper into the earth. Presently I began to feel uneasy. A huge bat beat its wings against me as it passed, however I forced myself on, to push further. Soon my nostrils were filled with a sickly musty stench. Then my torch went out. I was in total darkness. From somewhere, that seemed the bowels of the earth I could hear a faint moaning which was then followed by the flapping of wings of thousands of bats. I began to panic as I groped and floundered back the way I thought I had come. My arms and legs were bleeding from bumps with unseen rocks. My outstretched hands clawed at space, I expected solid walls and floors, but could not find it. At one stage where I had wandered into a side passage, I came to the brink of what was undoubtedly a precipice-judging by the echoes. The air was foul and I felt increasing dizziness. Terrifying thoughts were racing through my mind about giant rock-pythons I have seen around this mountain. As I crawled along, getting weaker and loosing hope of ever coming out alive, I saw a tiny streak of light. It gave me super strength to worm my way towards a small cave mouth half a mile from the one I had entered. Reaching the open air I gulped in lungfuls of it and fell down exhausted. I later found that I had been underground for five hours, most of the time on my hands and knees. A King's ransom would not induce me to enter those caves again.”

It is a rather frightening glimpse at what can happen to those who dare to venture into the odiferous, hissing caves of Black Mountain, and perhaps a hint at the last things those who vanished here ever saw.  It is certainly enough to dissuade most from trying to find out. Did those unfortunate souls merely get lost and die alone in the dark depths of the mountain caves? Or was there something more sinister at work? Perilous crevices, demons, vengeful ghosts, giant snakes, UFOs, aliens, reptilian slave masters, undiscovered predatory cats; the list of supposed culprits is vast. Few are willing to investigate further, and many of those who have tried have described feeling hopelessly confused, lost, and beset by a stifling feeling of intangible dread and panic when exploring here. The caves have been described as being complex and highly unpredictable, full of treacherous sudden drops, yawning chasms, shifting, dropping or even exploding rocks and boulders, unsteady footing, and jagged, sharp walls. The brutal heat pervading the confines of the passages, as well as an intermittent foul stench, the wailing and moaning emanating from the darkness, and the hundreds of fluttering bats everywhere only further enhance the sense of danger and disorientation inherent to this place. Many cave explorers have described exploring the caves of Black Mountain as being a singularly unpleasant experience that none wish to ever try again. Most tourists who visit Black Mountain National Park are content to view the foreboding mountain from a safe distance away.

Whether one believes any of the folklore or spooky stories surrounding Black Mountain, it is certainly a harsh, unfriendly place that instills a certain sense of unease and dread in those who see it. There is the sense that this menacing mound of boulders in the middle of the Australian wilderness is a place shunned by the rest of the natural world. An enigmatic place of natural wonder, mystery, and intangible fear, the Black Mountain of Queensland continues to stand tall over the terrain, perhaps just a pile of boulders, or perhaps watching, and maybe even inviting more souls to join its many unfathomable mysteries.

Another supposedly cursed place in Australia is an unassuming river. Meandering 708 km (440 mi) through the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes districts of New South Wales, Australia, is the Namoi River, which passes the towns of Gunnedah, Boggabri, Narrabri, Wee Waa and Walgett along its course. Although most of the river’s route is marked by picturesque scenery, this scenic façade hides a variety of little-known cases of strangeness with a definite malevolent flavor to them. It was here along the Namoi River, near the town of Wee Waa, that in 1908 two friends by the names of Harry Johnson and Stanley Williams set up camp for the night at a scenic spot which was known as one of the prettiest locations along the river and was quite popular among campers at the time. It was a camping excursion from which only one of the men would return alive, Stanley Williams. After a massive search for the missing man was launched, Harry Johnson’s decomposed body was pulled from the bottom of the river, where it had been anchored intentionally by a heavy iron bar typically used as a brake block bar for a wagon strapped to its back. Williams was quickly apprehended under suspicion of murdering his friend out there at the secluded spot, and the subsequent trial would bring to light just how gruesome the killing had been, with the murdered man’s skull apparently having been brutally bashed in with a hammer. One piece of testimony in the case from Dr. Willis, published in The Sydney Morning Herald of 11 January 1909, said:

“The body was exposed to the air for probably four or five days. The body I saw may have been dead only about a fortnight. Senior Sergeant Sheridan placed a hammer in my hands this morning. I fitted it to the hole in the skull of the murdered man, and found that it fitted exactly into the hole punched there in the fracture behind the ear.”

Williams staunchly denied any wrongdoing even in the face of these damning accusations and the fact that he had been the last person to be seen with Johnson, right there where the murdered man had been found. However, the proceedings were never able to concretely link Williams to premeditated murder, no clear motive could be ascertained for why he should want to kill his good friend, and the best that authorities could do was a charge of manslaughter, for which the perpetrator was sentenced to 10 years of penal servitude. With Williams convicted and punished, it would seem that this might be the end of the whole tragic affair, but this was where the weirdness would begin, and it would become apparent that whatever horrible thing had happened there by the river had perhaps left some sort of evil stain behind, if it hadn’t indeed been there all along to begin with.

During the investigation, one news correspondent for the Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times spent a good deal of time following up on potential leads to the mysterious case, and in his travels, met the acquaintance of a Thomas Underwood, who lived not far from the scene of the brutal killing. Mr. Underwood would go on to tell of various strange, menacing occurrences that had started to occur in the area in the aftermath of the murder. One of the odd accounts related by Underwood was the story of a man by the name of Arthur Perritt, who had gone to camp in the area, totally unaware of the vicious killing that had transpired there. When Perritt had arrived, his two wagonette horses had reportedly become extremely agitated, and this state of panic would get worse until it had finally boiled over and the horses, foaming at the mouth in total fear, broke free and fled into the night. A cursory examination of the area turned up no reason whatsoever for what could have spooked the animals so badly. The next day, the perplexed Perritt would find his two shaken horses a few miles away from the scene, wandering around aimlessly in the wilderness.

Despite this unsettling experience, Perritt would pass through the area again the following week and found that his horses refused to go anywhere near the place where they had camped the week before. It was then that Perritt had approached Underwood and requested permission to use his paddock to keep the horses for him while he was away. Perritt would further relate to Underwood how the area had filled him with a sense of dread as well, and Underwood would later say, “he (Perritt) did not relish the idea of again experiencing the uneasiness of mind which had attended him when last he camped there”. Perritt’s two sons had experienced some amount of strangeness when camping in the area as well, when their horses also suddenly panicked and broke from their tethers to desperately flee, including one old horse that had never been known to be prone to such things. Again, in these cases, the two sons had also been unaware of the gruesome murder that had taken place there at the time. Numerous cases of horses going insane with fear and fleeing the area were turned up, and this seemed to be a rather regular occurrence near the murder.

The correspondent, his curiosity piqued at such spooky tales, requested that Underwood take him to the area where Johnson had been murdered. When the two arrived, the correspondent noticed that the area was very quaint and picturesque, stating that it was “an ideal camping ground, beautifully situated and well grassed,” yet sinister reminders of the horrible crime remained. The tree under which Johnson and Williams’ tent had been situated still bore blood stains spattered over its trunk, and the strange observation was made that although the grass grew in plentitude all around the site, the ground where Johnson’s body had lain was completely bare. The correspondent also experienced for himself a sense of deep unease that descended over him even as he stood there examining the site, likening it to a feeling of impending death, and he very much felt that he wanted to leave as soon as possible.

This sense of foreboding and doom that was said to permeate the site like a black cloud was experienced by others as well. In one account, a couple came to the area on horseback to camp for the night. It is probably not surprising by now that the horses promptly hightailed it out of there, in this case, suddenly bolting wildly into the wilderness to never be seen again. That evening, the woman suddenly became extremely upset and began having potent panic attacks and hallucinations for no discernible reason, during which she began to madly rant that she was “struggling in a sea of human blood.” The woman became steadily more unhinged, writhing about on the ground and shouting like a lunatic until the distraught husband went to get help. He finally found himself at the house of a local named Mrs. McKenzie, who listened to the whole series of bizarre events before informing the man of the murder and other weirdness that had been going on at that same spot, of which the man had been unaware. Terrified by the story, he went back, collected his wife, and the two hastily left the area. Allegedly, the woman immediately started to calm down as they retreated from the vicinity, and by the following evening, she was back to her old self, having no real recollection of what had happened to her.

Other reports from campers in the same area described a variety of strange phenomena as well. Often reported were panic attacks or “paroxysms of terror,” sheets pulled off of bunks, tents disassembled by some unseen force, extremely powerful hallucinations both visual and auditory, and, of course, the profound fear the place invoked in animals. One such camper who experienced some of these bizarre phenomena stated, “I would refuse all the gold of the Empire rather than go through a similar experience again.” Interestingly, in every case, the witnesses had been unaware of the murder that had happened there, and were not told of it until after they had had their brush with the unknown. The correspondent who had investigated the area in the wake of the murder would go on to chronicle many of these reports in a piece in The Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times on 25 June 1910, entitled The Namoi River Tragedy: Weird Facts That Are Terrifying.

All of this is strange enough, but the Namoi River had been the site of its share of weirdness since even before this sensational murder and its ensuing seemingly ghostly phenomena. It had long been an alleged favored haunt for a terrifying unknown creature called the Bunyip, which is usually said to be some sort of monstrous, amphibious creature prone to great aggression. One notable account of the Bunyip at the Namoi River comes from the 1830s, when an outlaw turned bushman named George Clarke came here to live as a fugitive in the remote wilderness among the local Gamilaraay tribe. When a police posse came through looking for Clarke in 1932, a tribal elder explained to policeman Captain John Forbes that the river was inhabited by a dangerous creature known to them as the “Wawee.” This aquatic creature was described as being enormous, having finned feet, formidable teeth, and a tusk, and was said to let loose with a horrific wailing noise on occasion. Forbes would write in his diary later of the Wawee, saying, “All the Blacks express fear of it, and say that it will devour them if it can catch them in the water.”

There would be other mysteries and unexplained phenomena reported from the Namoi in the following years as well. In 1934, the river would be the location of a baffling, unsolved disappearance. An article in the Friday, 23 April 1934 issue of the Sydney Morning Herald explains the disappearance of a stock and station agent by the name of George Knott, from the village of Pilliga, New South Wales. The man had gone out for a drive along the Namoi River and simply vanished, being last seen at 10 AM. After a week of being missing, Knott’s car was discovered at the bottom of the river, yet the body was nowhere to be found, and bizarre clues left behind baffled police. In the rear compartment of the car were found bullet shells, which were all .22 calibre bullets of the "short type," yet no real significance was attached to them because Knott had been a keen hunter and sportsman who was known for going on frequent shooting expeditions. A hole was found in the hood of the car that at first seemed to be from a large caliber bullet and was seen as an important clue, but the size of the hole exactly corresponded to that of a stud on the hood, and so it was later determined that as the hood of the car had been folded back by the river current, it had banged against the stud and formed the hole. The exterior of the car showed no other signs of damage.

The interior of the vehicle did little to shed any light on the case either. Inside the car, there were no signs of struggle except for some broken fittings in the front of the compartment, but this was not seen as definitive evidence of foul play. There were also no signs of blood in the car, and while the river could have possibly washed it away, the article stated, “Wet blood might have been washed away when the car was driven into the river, but blood dries quickly, and even after a very short time would have left an indelible stain.” The only other clue left behind was that there was a missing set of tools. Police set up a camp along the Namoi River and systematically dragged the bottom for a mile, but the body could not be located. Interviews of dozens of locals living in homesteads in the area turned up nothing, as no one reported hearing or seeing anything suspicious or strange. The mysterious vanishing of George Knott has never been solved, and his body has never been found.

Besides stories of Bunyips, mysterious murders, ghostly activity, the cloud of dread hanging over the murder site, and unexplained vanishings, the Namoi River has other bizarre tales attached to it as well. An article from the Sydney Morning Herald dated March 23, 1973, talks about the mysterious, sudden appearance of large amounts of dead fish in the river near the cotton farming community of Wee Waa. In this case, the dead fish steadily appeared for over a week, and any birds that fed on them were reported as dying as well. Although health authorities looked into the matter, no discernible cause of death could be found, nor any reason why birds should die from eating the fish. It was finally speculated that the phenomenon was perhaps linked to overuse of insecticides in the wake of a caterpillar plague that was ravaging the area’s cotton crops at around the same time, but this was not conclusive. It is not clear if this sudden mass fish die-off has anything to do with all of the other strange phenomena at the river, but it certainly is odd.

Are any of these strange occurrences related, or is this just a series of dispersed cases of strangeness that just happened to have happened along the same river? Is the ghostly phenomenon reported from here related to the murder of Harry Johnson and his ghost, or is it indicative of some malevolent force imbued into the very land itself, making it a cursed or evil place that is causing these tragic events? It’s hard to say.

Moving along, out along the Bruce Highway, 60km south of Cairns, in northern Queensland, Australia, three streams rush down from atop Mt. Bartle Frere, meander through untouched rainforest wilderness, and converge among some large boulders near a nondescript town called Babinda. What has come to be known as the Babinda Boulders is well-known for the inviting, crystal clear waters of the streams and the idyllic, picturesque natural beauty to be found all around, which have served to attract droves of tourists to the spot every year. However, what many of the photographers, campers, and hikers at this peaceful spot, as well as the swimmers wading through calmer portions of the pool might not be aware of is that the site goes by another, far more ominous nickname of “The Devil’s Pool,” and has been feared by the Aborigines of the area for centuries, perhaps with good reason, as this is a place long steeped with death, foreboding, and a dark reputation.

The native people of the area have long shunned the deceptively quiet pool, and one Aboriginal legend is particularly tragic. According to the dark tale, there was once a young, beautiful woman from the Yidinji tribe named Oolana, and this maiden married a respected tribal elder named Waroonoo. When she met a handsome younger man from another tribe, she set forth into a torrid affair, running off away into the wilderness with her newfound lover. Unfortunately for her, Oolana’s husband was a powerful man within her tribe, and he sent out search parties to hunt the pair down to put an end to their adulterous tryst. When they were finally surrounded and separated at the Babinda Boulders, Oolana is then said to have thrown herself into the water and drowned rather than face a bleak life without her true love. According to the Aboriginal tales, she has never really left, and still prowls these waters, looking to lure young men to a watery grave.

This legend has become notable because over the years, a large number of young men have mysteriously met their deaths here, and since 1959, at least 17 people, and more still in old newspaper clippings, have drowned here under decidedly strange circumstances. In many cases, the victims are said to be forcefully pulled and held down as if by unseen hands. The site is said to be particularly aggressive towards men and those who disrespect the pool in any way. In one story, a young man visiting the area took a kick at one of the signs there, after which he slipped, fell into a deep pool, and drowned. Other mysterious deaths here are not as clear, such as that of 24-year-old Peter McGann, who in 1979 was climbing up a boulder, jumped a small gap, and slipped to go tumbling into the water below, after which he simply vanished without a trace. It would take teams of divers over 5 weeks to finally find his body lodged down in the murk at the bottom of the pool. One rescue worker who helped in the search, police diver Peter Tibbs, explained the scene thus:

“I've been called on four times to try and find bodies down there but one of the most interesting of the cases was a young fella called, Patrick McGann.We thought we knew he was in there, but we couldn't get to the body because the water is so cold, it's so deep and it flows so fast. And so eight or ten times we went down and we eventually cut the logs out of the place underwater and on the last day after we'd almost given up, we cut the last log that was in the chute and the body floated freely. And that was five weeks and five days from the time he'd gone missing, so it wasn't a pretty sight, but it was a great relief to get the body out and satisfy the family.”

There was also the case of a young couple that was swept away by a freak flash flood at the site as they were taking in the view, with the woman surviving but the man never heard from again. Perhaps the most recent and dramatic account of a mysterious death at the Devil’s Pool is that of 23-year-old Tasmanian naval seaman James Bennett, who had been out for a day exploring the area with some friends in 2010. The group had jumped over a safety railing to sit in a natural tub of churning water known locally as the “Washing Machine.” According to one of James’ friends, he had been swimming in a calm area nearby when he was suddenly and violently yanked backwards, as if by “an invisible hand,” which seemed to be dragging him back towards a section of churning white water at the back of the pool. James then allegedly reached up to grab a branch, which snapped, after which his head went under water, and he just struggled there suspended helplessly in the water for no apparent reason, with just the tips of his fingers protruding from the surface as he struggled to come up for air.

He would remain like this while his friends tried to reach out to him and offer their extended legs, before sinking into the depths to his fate. It would not be until 3 days later that the body of James Bennett would be found floating about in a calmer section of the stream, and a plaque would be erected in the aftermath, eerily reading “He came for a visit and stayed forever.” Most of the area is now closed off, although the inviting locale constantly draws visitors in.

Such tragic incidents are so plentiful that the area has had numerous railings and warning signs set up over the years to denote the places that are safe for swimming. Why so many have suddenly drowned in the mostly calm pools here depends largely on who you ask. Officials will tell you that it is all due to fast-running water, freak flash floods, or untamed currents stirred up by the natural lay of the stream and the boulders dotting it. This could, in turn, pull people under and pin them against the rocks or wedge them under sunken logs, drowning them in a fashion that could quite possibly be witnessed as some sort of mysterious, unseen force. The high oxygenation of the water here also does swimmers no favors, and all of this is said to make the conditions in the off-limits areas difficult for even the most experienced swimmers to navigate. Indeed, even the divers who have entered the pool to look for bodies have been met with harrowing water conditions at times, despite typically being solidly tethered to the land by rope. One local official said of the dangers of the pool:

“They call it the Washing Machine where he went in because it goes around and around. It’s all bubbles so there is no buoyancy. It’s dangerous water. It sucks you under. You always see people swimming in the dangerous holes. You don’t know when a flood could come down from up top.”

However, others point to the fact that not all of these deaths were the result of actually swimming, with some suddenly slipping and falling into the water for no reason, and almost all of them were male, 16 out of 17 of the official count, to be exact. This is said to be telling evidence that perhaps the Aboriginal legends about the pool are true, at least to some degree, and only adding to this mystique are the varied reports of a disembodied woman’s voice calling out into the night and even pictures that claim to be of ghostly eyes, faces, and other unexplained images lurking under the water here. A picture taken of the site by the father of one of the victims was described thus:

“When the father came down, the police took him out and showed him where he went down. And he took the photo of that. And he came back and they showed him where they had him tied up there. And when he went over to Innisfail the next morning to get them developed, that’s what they found. That photo, he’s even got the cigarette in his mouth.”

Here we have an old myth intertwined with modern ghost stories and strange deaths, making it hard to really pick apart what could be real and what is all pure lore. Whether one believes the straight legends of a dead village woman or not, it is hard not to wonder whether this might just be one of those places that seems to be infused with some sort of negative, malicious energy. Is this all the result of natural phenomena, a ghost, or something else? It remains unknown, but something to think about if you are ever looking to take a dip at this mysterious place.

Is there anything to the cases we have looked at here? Or are all of these accounts the result of exaggeration and imagination on the part of the witnesses and the news reports of the day? It is interesting to think about the idea that a place can perhaps be pervaded by forces beyond our understanding, or that tragic events might somehow implant themselves onto a location like a voice onto an audiotape. Whether this happens or not, places like these are certainly are strange, and make one wonder if an area or place can be possessed by mysterious forces, and indeed whether it can be evil.