On first impression, Norfolk Island appears to be a wildly picturesque, remote island but it is also one of the most haunted places in Australia. During the 1800's the island was home to some hardened, violent criminals kept under torturous conditions, and sometimes brutally murdered.
Surprisingly, about half of the present day population claim to have had an encounter with a ghost. This paranormal activity attracts ghost hunting visitors to the island every year. Knowledgeable local tour operators can guide you to historic sites in Kingston where you may get to experience this first hand.
A road especially known for its ghostly encounters is Quality Row where the No. 2/3 building known as 'The Duplex' has been identified as Australia's most haunted house. The Duplex, featured on television series 'The One' which searched for Australia's best psychic.There are many startling things that have happened to people while in The Duplex, by day or by night, over many generations. Some locals will never enter this building, and others recall past encounters with ghosts, and some odd and eerie experiences.
As the night closes in and the long shadows fall, why not pack your spirit of adventure and join Rachel's Lantern Lit Ghost Tour to explore the crooked nooks and crannies of the nether world.Hear the terrifying tales of mischief, murder, malice and mayhem, and if you should happen to sit a moment in quiet meditative contemplation, then close your eyes and open your mind. Perhaps you will sense those wandering spirits, hear the eerie echoes of lost souls bound to tell their never-ending story. You may feel the chill whip of wind, and the slight but perceptible rustle of an unbidden ephemeral presence sitting right there beside you. They are out there, in the dim half-light, somewhere beyond the here and now.Simply waiting. Ghostly happenings are so frequent that Rachel began to keep a journal from which comes an eerie insight into what happened one un-nerving Saturday night in November 2019.
"It's a funny night. Across the rest of the island it's blowing a fierce gale, but tonight Kingston is eerily calm.It's an unsettling kind of calm and we have quite a few 'sensitives' on the tour. The Duplex feels very strange.It's the feeling we should always listen to, and sometimes don't.One lady said she felt something brush her cheek twice. Others say that No. 2 is cold, emotionally cold.The door in No. 3 servant's quarters is open as we enter. All of a sudden it starts banging, really hard, and quite often. No-one is close by and none of the other Duplex doors are moving, just that one, and there's no wind. He's angry, violently angry. Feeling very uncomfortable here tonight.We're all leaving.So glad to get out of there."
The Twilight Tour led by Liz McCoy is not a 'ghost tour' that just tells stories of haunting. This is an immersive history and heritage tour taking you through some of Norfolk darkest times. As the sun goes down over the World Heritage listed Kingston and Arthur's Vale Historic Area, join Liz who has been working and touring in our UNESCO World Heritage listed Kingston and Arthur's Vale Historic Area on Norfolk Island for over twenty years. Learn spine chilling stories of the punishment and brutalities that occurred here during the convict times, get an insight into the lives endured by wives and families of the Military and Civil employees both in the Kingston Settlement and The Longridge Agricultural Station. Hear of the interactions with 'phantom friends' that many have experienced in these sites. Discover the reasons why these souls would have wanted to move on to their next life.
Pinetree Tours - Ghost Tour Dinner starts as you arrive at No.9 Quality Row where you are seated for dinner in 'the annex'. Historically the annex is the back of the house where the servants cooked and prepared meals for the family who were accommodated in the front rooms. As you enjoy your meal, you will be immersed in tales and stories to enthuse you about the many different occupants of this historical residence since its infancy.The ghost host will then lead you on a guided lantern tour of historical ruins. The host commented "Some people come on the Ghost Tour to have a bit of a laugh, some come to see ghosts, while others come to hear the stories and enjoy a sense of anticipation. Will they be scared? Will they be surprised?One thing we can always guarantee is that no two tours are the same.
We tell visitors to expect everything and anything.At the start of the tour, we tell them not to panic if their cameras suddenly start to play up.Looking around the groups, we can usually identify sceptics from their faces.It is usually the sceptics who come up to us at the end of the night to say 'You won't believe this but my camera stopped working' or 'Have a look at this photo that I took'."
Through the lens of time, Norfolk Island offers us a rare window into our troubled past and we quickly realize that the islanders' collective cultural belief in ghosts and apparitions is sincere.One also suspects they might enjoy a little bit of leg pulling!The somewhat sombre lore and legend of this little island is steeped in blood. Simply drop in to any local eating house or watering hole on a Friday night and the obliging locals can happily regale you with gruesome, wild, wide-eyed stories of places like Murderer's Mound, Gallows Gate, and Bloody Bridge... all alluding to Norfolk Island's dark, shadowy past.Every story begins in strangeness. They are not comfortable, they are steeped in tradition and superstition, and they map our past – the good, the bad, the ugly, the obscene, the unjust, the beauty, the pain, and the utter frailty of the human condition.
History and ghosts surprisingly go hand in hand, so we hope we haven't potentially scared you away! This pristine, beautiful island is definitely worth a visit - even if ghosts aren't your thing!