Blog

Of course no recounting of Australian ghost stories would be complete without some reference to the Bunyip, a (some say) mythical creature which had its roots in Aboriginal lore. The Bunyip is said to inhabit waterholes, billabongs, swamps and river bends, and reportedly has a rather special taste for women.

Various sightings of the Bunyip have been recorded as having fur, feathers, fishy scales and or a shiny brown coat. It has a long tail or an elongated neck (depending on which end you thought you saw). Half man, half animal, it is tall with a round head, big eyes, long ears and utters a blood curdling cry when approached.

Although the natives held the bunyip in great dread, they did manage to kill one by the banks of the lower Murrumbidgee. When a local settler, Atholl T Fletcher, heard about it, he visited the site and discovered a strange skull. No other bones were about, just a skull. All the natives that were shown the skull all agreed that it came from a bunyip. The skull was then sent to Melbourne for examination by a Dr James Grant who apon seeing the skull could not readily identify it.Thus his conclusion was that it had to be from a bunyip.

Is this the skull of a bunyip? Found in the later part of the 19th century, by a Mr. William Hovell who in his travels along the Murrumbidgee had heard of the local natives refer to a mysterious and terrifying aquatic animal.

The animal went by the name of katenpai, kinepratia or tanatbah all of which are different ways of saying bunyip. It all depended on which tribe the story came from. Whatever the skull was from makes no difference, the fact that it could be a bunyip is all that matters. For can you really beat a good ghost or spooky story around a camp fire, especially on the bank of a river or creek in the back of beyond with only the stars and the native fauna and flora for company.

That sound in the distance is it a bird crying out into the night or some marsupial just letting everything around knows that it is his territory. Or could it be some long lost creature rising to the surface looking for its next meal.