The Q station has long been associated with hauntings. Indeed, their ghost tours are infamous for weird and whacky experiences, suffice it to say, some vow they will never return.
For someone who does believe in ghosts and have had several weird encounters myself, I was keen to uncover the truth, my eight-year-old son was also super excited to find out whether their scary stories actually hold some weight.
With that in mind, I gathered the husband and two kiddies and off we packed for a ghostly night tour and overnight stay at this quarantine station, which housed the sick and their families for over 156 years and where some 581 people died.
And before I delve into what we uncovered that night, I’ll digress to a short history lesson for background sake.
The first quarantine was in 1828 and started out as humble tents on the shore until 1837 when 444 came in with 56 dead people and 17 later died in quarantine, they realised there was a greater need for housed accommodation.
Since then, thousands of stories of hauntings have been reported over the centuries with some believing that the ghosts are stuck in a time warp of being alive and dead and have been unable to move on.
“I was touched on the back of my leg in the morgue. Sounds innocent enough… but there was no one standing close to me and I was standing with my back to the far corner of the room,” one person wrote on the site’s Facebook page.
And our night started with some weird encounters indeed. Ross our guide started the tour professing to the fact that he had never been so shocked with the things he had seen and witnessed during his tenure at the station.
Handing us K2 meters to measure ghostly energy at the site, my son Pablo eagerly clutched his with baited anticipation. “If you see the lights go from green to red then that means that there is poltergeist energy in the air,” said Ross with an eery quiver.
The first site we went to Pablo’s little K2 meter went off very quickly. Ross watched eagerly and asked the room if there were any spirits that wanted to connect with us. The light flashed red, and the room looked a little perturbed. Strangely enough, I personally didn’t feel too creeped out.
Usually, I feel a presence or a cold chill, but I felt surprisingly sceptic about the encounter. That was until we headed to the former hospital where the ghost of the matron was said to frequently haunt the property and have even made some visitors vomit from fear of her presence.
Inside it was dark, dank and suitably creepy. One of the tables appeared to be covered in deep scratches. I asked Ross why that was the case.
“Many of the patients were held down on the table when receiving painful treatments, so those could be from them,” Ross detailed.
Suddenly Pablo’s K2 meter went off and Ross went into questioning mode again.
“Hello, were you one of those patients? Is that’s what happened to you?” Ross asked the spirit.
Pablo’s K2 lights flashed again. They appeared to be keen to connect with him in particular. Suddenly I had visions of The Sixth Sense and that weird creepy boy who said “I see dead people…”
Everyone was feeling suitably uneasy and wanted to leave the premises shortly afterwards and Ross took us onto what is considered one of the most haunted of places, the Gravediggers Cottages where apparently two evil doctors tortured some of the residents.
Inside the place had a weird muggy energy. It was very hot, and I actually started to feel a little sick and dizzy.
Pablo’s K2 metre started to go off again and Ross got into questioning mode. “Is that you Sam? Do you want us to leave?”
Apparently, Sam was one of the doctors and like the matron, likes to shoo out unwanted visitors.
Strangely enough the meter stayed put suggested Sam wanted us to stay, or that it was another spirit. Whatever the case, Pablo wanted to leave and so did I, so we quickly left the premises with hairs up on the back of our necks.
Next up were the showers, again one of the other most haunted spots where people have heard voices and have even felt a cold breath on the back of their necks.
Also dark, dank and undecidedly creepy, this is where I felt the cold shivery energy that I usually experience when I feel there’s a presence. I wasn’t sure if it was because Ross had suitably scared me with his tales of ghostly encounters and I was now believing the hype, or whether it was really a haunted site.
Whatever the case, both Pablo and I were left suitably scared. My more sceptical daughter and husband weren’t sure, but as we meandered back to our cottage, I saw their eyes quickly dart across the darkest embers of the night.
Thankfully, our comfy and well-situated cottage was not haunted. Tastefully finished in early 20th Century décor and with stunning views across Middle Harbour to Balmoral Beach, a magical place to watch the sun set and enjoy some spirits of a different kind, preferably mixed with tonic water…
The Ghostly Getaway accommodation package $299 per couple and includes:
One night accommodation in a Deluxe Room for two adults
Ghostly Encounters tour for two adults
Complimentary bottle of wine on arrival
Complimentary breakfast for two people
Complimentary WiFi
Late checkout of 12pm
