Expedition Reports
Expedition Reports
- Details
Location: Kilkivan, Queensland
Date: Jan 2001
I had a call from an American Journalist that had been in the Country for a working holiday that wrote for a few papers in this Country and the U.S. He thought it would be interesting to head out for a nights expedition with us while he was in QLD with his wife Rachel and a fellow Journalist named Brian that had been in the country for only a few days. Rachel was a photographer and Brian was from New Jersey and writes on behalf of many papers. Although we try to tone it down with the media these days, this team sounded like fun to have along. We made a date and met close to the location. Our team consisted of only Steve and myself.
We set up a two man tent in a creek bed where we knew that action was hot and strung up fresh bloody bones around the site which really gave these guys the heebie geebies.
Within 20 metres of the tent we found two carcasses, one of a calf and the other of a Kangaroo. In both cases the bones had no canine marks on them at all and the other odd thing about the find was the fact that the bones of both animals had been crushed in certain places.
We told them stories of bush deaths in this country that we felt the Government agencies may have had a hand in covering up, and rattled off many encounters and sightings as they busily wrote away on their note books. They had never been in the Australian bush before, but knew that planting bones around a camp site in their country is taboo due to bears and other overgrown rodents.
As the time grew towards dusk, we began the BBQ to get some enticing aromas floating about the air. All this seemed quite fascinating to these guys and I hoped it would not be all in vein. We set a straight game plan that had to be adhered to which would give us the best chance of action in this active area. Two of the Journo's (Brain and Rachael), would act as bait while the other would see what we do in the role of surveillance.
We issued radios to everyone and the order was not to leave camp at any stage or under any circumstances. Our group was not to go near the camp at any stage, and we'd see how they held up.
After dinner (and after Steve tied a Sausage to the fly of their tent, and hang bait hanging from trees), myself, Steve and Shawn headed off and left the others as bait.
Steve headed down a dirt track that leaded some 500metres from the base camp, while myself and Shawn went for higher ground. Just before we split, an odd thing happened. We all observed a mysterious white light darting around in the trees. It was not from a torch, it was just some kind of dull white light that "danced". The other thing is that it followed myself and Shawn through the bush to our location and after a fly by, we never saw it again. Just one of these odd occurrences that sometimes happen that you have no answer for. Who knows what it was?
Shawn was still busily writing every movement down as we sat silently in the bush. then an urgent message came through from Steve, "Guys, I'm heading back to camp. There's something down here and I'm not hanging around here by myself". At the time I was a little frustrated about Steve turning tail, however at that time Steve wasn't telling the whole story about what was happening. Then a call came from Brain at the base camp along the lines of "Can you guys all come back now?"
Steve radioed again saying that he had arrived back at base, so I asked Shawn if he was OK to sit by himself for five minutes while I swapped places with Steve. Although he was clearly apprehensive about being left on his own out there, he reluctantly agreed.
Myself and Steve met up halfway and he then shed some light on the situation. "I'm not staying my by myself down there, there's two of the bastards, one on each side of the creek. While I was sitting in the scrub about 500M down stream, I had one of them over the other side give off 3 massive grunt/barks, then right behind me only about 25 metres away, one respond with a huge scream. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I just couldn't move an inch. I'm sure they must have known I was there. I was bloody surrounded and at the time I had no idea what they were going to do. I must have crept up there while they were already there, I heard some noise in the bush, the these blasting vocals."
By the time Steve made it back to the camp, our guests were also scared as they too had heard the calls and with the capacity of the vocals so loud, they thought it came from beside the camp. They said that they were very relieved to see Steve arrive back there, however that was short lived when he had the call to meet back with Shawn.
I headed back to where Steve was, and he headed back to the higher ground with Shawn. I lay there for quite a while listening to nothing out of the ordinary when I heard what Steve was referring to. Definite "walking" on the other side of the creek followed by a small rock slide as something entered the creek. Then there was a "rock on rock" sound as something walked along the creek towards the camp.
Another urgent call came from the camp not long after, reporting "something" circling around them in the bush. "Its big, whatever it is", said Brian. They requested our presence back at camp, but request denied! Stay put was the order.
By this time they were becoming really spooked as another radio feed came through from the camp asking if any of us were walking around in the bush between them and where we had parked the cars, it was not us.
By this time, things were looking good. Steve and Brian were making there way back to my location and we all sat on higher ground from the creek bed camp and listened to our two friends below panic. Despite frequent calls for us to come back to camp, we held our ground and let them experience what they were there for. By 3am, they had clearly had enough and their call basically said, "If you guys don't come back here right now, we're outta here!" We headed back much to their relief, and we managed a couple of hours sleep before daybreak without any dramas.
At this point I must say that these guys were great to work with and their sense of humour was out of this World. We enjoyed their company and know that everyone had a good and exciting time.
Dean.
Their report was somewhat subdued when they wrote for the Christian Science Journal, and knowing their profession and humour I can understand the angle in which they wrote this:
On the trail of Yowie: Bigfoot Down Under
By Shawn Donnan
Special to The Christian Science Monitor
NEAR GYMPIE, AUSTRALIA
I didn't really expect us to see a yowie - Australia's own version of Bigfoot.
But as the night dragged on, all ears straining to identify every sound in the night and rustle in the bushes, I did begin feeling a twinge of guilt: Somewhere out there among the eucalyptus and surrounding scrub, my wife was acting as bait.
A few hours before, as the sun was setting and we were lathering up in bug repellent, it had seemed like a reasonable idea.
We'd arrived at the "hot zone" with our yowie hunting host, Dean Harrison, and somehow it had been decided that my wife and a visiting friend would lure the creature in. They would pretend to be camping in a dry riverbed where footprints had allegedly been spotted - and keep sausages sizzling on a portable gas barbecue to fill the air with an enticing aroma.
There's one basic rule for hunting yowies, Harrison told us: "You never go to the yowie; you let the yowie come to you."
To add to the allure, Harrison hung bloody beef shin bones in the trees around the campsite. The gist of Harrison's instructions: If you hear anything big approaching the campsite, radio us and we'll rush in and capture it on film. We'd all been given portable radios, and it sounded like a reasonable plan. And, hey, there's no such thing as a yowie anyway. Right?
I'm as skeptical as the next guy. But after several hours of listening to Harrison's yowie stories and the inevitable snaps and crackles you hear in moonlit woods, I began to doubt the wisdom of our plan.
After all, Harrison had told us, yowies were lurking in Australia's woods in unknown numbers and were responsible for the grisly deaths of hikers up and down Australia's east coast. Only a few hundred yards from our campsite, he insisted, a yowie had attacked an RV and chased a group of dirt-bike riders. He was clearly edgy.
"I'll tell you one thing: If there is one of these bad guys up here, neither one of us is going to make it out," Harrison, chief yowie hunter and spokesman for the Australian Homonid Research group, told me as dark began to fall and we hiked away from the campsite and into a nearby pine forest to stake out another spot where Harrison said he had spotted evidence of yowies before.
Just as most Americans scoff at Bigfoot, most Australians laugh off yowies as a kooky myth or hoax. And zoologists are quick to point out that there's no verifiable evidence of such a creature. But, real or phantom, the yowie says a lot about the nature of Australia and its capacity to both engender and embrace the weird.
An island almost the size of the continental United States, Australia has a population of less than 20 million and large portions of the country remain not only unpopulated, but uncharted. That means that, 212 years after the arrival of British settlers, Australian scientists are still discovering significant pieces of the country's already curious ecological puzzle.
It was only in 1994, for instance, that, two hours' drive from Sydney, a park ranger stumbled upon a stand of towering pines thought to be the arboreal equivalent of living dinosaurs.
That natural backdrop leads to endless speculation about the possibility of survivors among species like the Tasmanian tiger, believed to be extinct. But it also leads to conjecture about things that go bump in the night - like yowies.
"Science proves time and time again that they get things wrong. As soon as they declare a species extinct it turns up a few months later," Harrison says. "They thought the Komodo dragon (a giant lizard found in Indonesia) was a myth made up by the natives until a white man saw one.
" Harrison, a sales manager who claims he took up yowie hunting after being chased through the woods by an 8-foot- tall specimen one night in 1997, says there is still little known about the creatures.
What is known, he says, is that the yowie is related to the North American Bigfoot and the Himalayan yeti and probably came to Australia via a land bridge from Asia thousands of years ago.
Like its cousins elsewhere, Harrison claims, the yowie resembles a cross between a human and an ape. Covered in thick black or gray fur, it walks on two feet and has arms that dangle to its knees. "The distinct difference between the Bigfoot and the yowie is that we've got two species here," Harrison says. The first, he claims, is a smaller, less aggressive version known as the jingera in Aboriginal lore, while the second can grow to 8 feet or more and is far more ferocious than its cousins elsewhere.
Harrison says he has made casts of footprints and heard what he believes to be yowies crashing through the woods. He claims that he has come close enough to a yowie to know that they are odoriferous. And he says he has identified one yowie with an ear for Neil Diamond.
But, for all his chronicles of tracking the mysterious yowie, Harrison has yet to capture one on video or snap the crucial photo that could prove once and for all that yowies are more than a myth.
Most Australians think yowies are simply characters from tall tales, good for a few laughs. "I'm happy to say there probably isn't a yowie," says Bob Nixon, chief investigator for the Australian Skeptics, a group dedicated to debunking tales of the paranormal.
"The yowie is something that speaks to our sense of humor," Mr. Nixon says. "Everybody else has got one, so we might as well have one."
The myth is so ingrained in Australian culture that confectioner Cadbury markets chocolate yowies filled with toys that have caused a collectors' boom rivaling Pokemon in Australia. Go to www.yowie.com and you'll find plastic collectibles, not Web-surfing yowies.
"Compared with a chocolate product that hopefully everyone in Australia can find in a store near them, the yowie (the flesh- and-bones version) has been pretty elusive," says Tim Stanford, the marketing director for Cadbury Australia.
Mr. Stanford says the name yowie was chosen for the product because it tested off the charts in popularity with Australians. He believes part of the draw is that, as a relatively young nation, Australia has few of the age-old myths older countries do. Some might dispute that, however, given that the myth-rich Aboriginal culture is thought to be among the oldest surviving on earth. But Stanford argues that for most Australians, "there is a huge attraction to what myths Australia has and, perhaps because of the lack of them, those that it does have it's incredibly proud of.
"Like anything with an "X Files" quality to it, the hunt for the yowie has generated its share of conspiracy theories. Harrison claims to be in regular contact with sources in the police and military that he says confirm he's not chasing shadows - and that an active government coverup is under way.
"Off the record they talk to us and say 'yes, it is what you think it is.' On the record they say: 'We've been informed by higher authority not to talk to you and not to cause public hysteria.'
" Yowie hunting also comes with its own politics and rivalries. One of Harrison's chief rivals is a self-styled, publicity-hungry "cryptozoologist" who has legally changed his name to "Tim the Yowie Man" and drew media mentions last year when he claimed to have wandered onto the set of Survivor II and published on the Internet directions to the set's secret location.
Yet, during our night in the woods, the yowie's whereabouts remained as elusive as ever. It was quiet for most of the night, although both Harrison and another yowie hunter occasionally claimed to hear telltale noises. But around 4 a.m., an alarmed call came in over the radio from my wife, Rachel.
"Are any of you walking near the cars?" she asked. "No," the answer went back. "We both heard footsteps between us and the cars," Rachel went on.
A few minutes later, my friend Brian was on the air: "We think it's in the riverbed. It seems to be circling the camp."
Harrison whispered into his radio: "Is it definitely bipedal?"
It took a minute and then Brian was back: "It's hard to tell. But it's definitely not small. It's definitely not a rat. It's definitely bigger than that."
"OK, hold your positions," Harrison answered. Soon afterward the hunt was called off - Brian's description had been too vague for Harrison to get excited and rush in, camera rolling. The next morning Harrison searched the area around the campsite and found nothing. But both Rachel and Brian were spooked, and when we got back to camp they were peering out of the tent waiting eagerly for our return.
© Copyright AYR
Australian Yowie Research - Data Base
www.yowiehunters.com
- Details
Location: Kilkivan, Queensland
Date: March, 2001
Another night out to a location that has proven to be a good one for us in the past. Many sightings of the Yowie have occurred in this location for many years, including our own. It was a one nighter with Steve, Trevor, myself and Rob, where we chose a track where we action a month or so before. We set up a tent and some very basic equipment, however on this trip we left the expensive gear at home and travelled light. This night had no action at all besides the odd noise that could have been put down to almost anything. We woke the next morning after around 2 hours sleep feeling flat and disappointed.
We packed up camp and decided that before we left we would check out another track on the other side of the mountain that we had found an odd track leading to on the previous day. This place is really in the middle of nowhere and not many people know about it or how to get there - very remote.
We took my car and a 4wd to the point where my car could make it no further, then continued in the Fourbie. This wasn’t an easy drive even for the 4wd, as Steve would have to get out at each creek crossing and remove rocks and logs to give us access. On about the 4 th crossing Steve was removing yet another large rock when we all heard a thumping big crash in the bush to the right of the vehicle. Steve then looked down towards his feet and said, “Hey boys, you’d better check this out”.
Along the sandy creek bed was a maze of footprints measuring only 9” long, about the size of a child’s. We had rain the day before and huge rain the days prior to that, so these prints were as fresh as they get. We searched for other prints such as a human adult, however there were definitely none. So here was a child in the middle of the Australian bush miles from anywhere by him/herself ? Very unlikely. The track in which we drove in on had not been used for a very long time, so what are the alternatives?
A bare foot child wanders aimlessly miles through the bush by themselves heading only in one direction within hours of us being there which would also mean that he/she may have spent the night in the bush alone? Doubt it What about a child that was dropped by helicopter out there, but forgot his shoes? Nah.
I know, I know, the dad was Tarzan and swung in from the vines and thats why we couldn’t find his prints? Yes thats it….. wait a second, there were no vines.
Personally from being there at the time I feel that the only feasible explanation is that it maybe another Yowie. After all they have been sighted there many times in the past and by credible witnesses. Another thing is that although they did look rather humanish in most ways, the arch was all wrong. The arch was far more “arched” than a humans which is a common trait with the Yowie.
In any case, there we were and there they were. There also many tracks through the bush, although they may have been from other Australian native animals.
It was an interesting trip after all, and a target for our cameras in the future.
© Copyright AYR
Australian Yowie Research - Data Base
www.yowiehunters.com
- Details
Location: Kilkivan, Queensland
Date: May, 2001
Two Weeks after Operation Rotation, I returned to the location in anticipation of finding more prints in a lonely stretch of sandy Creek Bed where we had previously discovered many prints. I headed out alone this day to spend some time to myself with the added bonus of being able to work at my own pace without distractions. Upon arrival I located the stream and geared up to head South along the Creek away from the Car. I had a time schedule that day and had to make fast time tracking the watery corridors.
The only protection I brought was a single flare, which sat in my back pocket, and with my Video Camera and bag of Plaster I set off. To avoid confusion when looking for prints, I rock hopped as much as I could in view of not fowling the sandy areas with my own prints. This makes the task far more convenient when returning to cast them. The objective was to travel as far as I could in the least amount of time, judge which prints would be best for casting and then return to that location to complete the task at the end of the walk.
It’s also a good idea to “flag” the area where the best prints are found using anything from rocks to sticks and leaves, as to make the return search a little easier.
Along my travels I discovered many new stream beds that were unknown to us and I was hesitant to explore them alone and without my G.P.S.
Prior to leaving I phoned Mike to inform him of my trip and made a time to contact him that afternoon to confirm I was safe. Before heading out to any of these areas, it is imperative to record your movements with someone you can trust.
With what could lurk beyond each corner in mind, I made a point of treading as quietly as possible. I made some interesting finds in the trek in the form of footprints that were far larger than I had previously seen at this location. It was very encouraging and quite disturbing all in one. At the sight of these new prints that seemed only 24hrs old, I knew that I would have to be extremely wary.
Towards the top end later part of the walk I rounded a corner only to be hit with a very distinctive odor that I knew all too well. This was a fresh odor that was still wafting from something that was either still there or was there only moments before.
The smell consisted of urine, defecation and ‘wet horse’ all in the one odor. It was very strong and disgusting. Being so heavily obligated deep in the forest, it was at that moment that I decided it was time for me to begin my return trip.
On the way back I knew which prints I wanted to cast and I began casting the moment I crossed my ‘Flags’. With time running out I missed some of the casts and did my best with the time remaining.
By the time I had returned back to the Car, I had to then race back to these locations to collect them. The reason why I cast the prints in this particular order was the simple fact that I didn’t want to run out of plaster in the early stages incase I found something better further on.
I collected all but one of the casts and headed back to the stream near the car to collect the best and last. This one was my trophy for the day. When I returned to the cast to collect it, I found the same rotten smell as before was drifting down the creek bed. The last time I had experienced this was at the other end of the stream, an almost 30minute run away. The odor certainly wasn’t apparent when casting the prints, yet was very overwhelming when collecting it. It was at that time when I noticed that the bush was beginning to become dark as the day drew to a close and the forest began to move.
With much haste I retrieved the print, while looking all about for the owner of the foot that left such a large impression. The odd feelings began as I crashed my way back to the safety of my car as fast as I could.
Three weeks after that find, I headed out to the same location to have yet another interesting find. Only 20m away from where I had cast the large footprint, I found something quite peculiar. This impression in the sand looked very much like a huge hand print. There was a flat area of what could be a palm leading to what seemed like long finders. It looked at the time like a huge ape/primate hand. It was roughly 3 times the size of my hand.
In other areas of the stream, “Juniors” prints were clear and Human looking. The owner of these smaller prints is a regular to this location, almost daily. The lesson for this trip was not to forget to bring enough plaster. Unfortunately I had not checked the bag before leaving and this mistake resulted in one poor cast and missing out on the others. The good thing about this location is the fact that there is no shortage of Castable prints for the next trip. There were no noises or anything else out of the ordinary this time besides more prints.
© Copyright AYR
Australian Yowie Research - Data Base
www.yowiehunters.com
- Details
Location: Kuluin, Queensland
Date: 18th of October, 2008
The purpose of this trip was to examine the area where the boys in the report claim to have seen a yowie type creature, and make an evaluation of the likelihood of their story. The evaluation would be made by entering the environmental park, and through a canvass of the park on foot, identify the presence of any Yowie signatures, usually present in areas where a yowie has been reported as seen.
Upon arrival at the Environmental Park, I observed the Kuluin State Primary School, school oval to run immediately alongside it. At this time, a cricket game was in progress on the school oval, with a crowd of spectators. To begin, this was exactly accurate with the setting the boys described in the report.
The environmental Park itself appeared to be a large section of Australian bush of only about 100 metres wide, by about 400 metres in length. It consisted of mature trees about 30 feet in height, and possessed an untainted quality, much like a typical rainforest. This was in stark contrast to the small shopping centre across the road, the primary school, and numerous unit blocks and residences, surrounding the park.
As I entered the park, I was immediately delighted by it’s richness. Given the secluded terrain, yet closeness to suburbia, my thumbs shot way up to it being a possible place a Yowie may be tempted to visit. Another plus to the report!
Continuing along, I located a number of indicators which were photographed as I found them. In my walk over to where the bush meets the school oval, I noticed how dark the bush was due to the height of the trees and being lower than the oval, as compared to the oval. I also found a cricket ball in the bush, substantiating the boys claim, they were looking for a ball in the bush during their encounter. Thumbs up to the report again!
Following, are photos I took inside the park. The photos begin with general views of the type of bush, then to located Yowie indicators, and then finally finishing with the finding of footprints of significance to this case. After the photos, a summary of the evidence will be presented, and the strength of the report based on physical observations and evidence evaluated.
Of particular interest is a creek which carves it’s way through the centre of this ‘Environmental Park.’, providing a steady water supply to a number of it’s inhabitants. As can be seen, the ‘scrub’ of this ‘park’ is surprisingly dense. Goannas and scrub turkeys were a dime a dozen as I made my way through.
Remarkably, standing in the middle of this ‘Environmental Park’, it’s easy to forget you are in the middle of suburban Maroochydore, and not deep in the bowls of a remote rainforest.
A distinguishing feature which has marked many a Yowie hotspot, is the odd tree strikingly broken about waist height to a human adult, and bent over to create a right angle.
A number of fallen tree limbs were located resting one on top of another, in a crude tee pee formation. Due to the way the limbs meet each other, and interlock, it appears these limbs were deliberately moved to their resting positions.
Two slender trees in the middle of the frame are bent and on the same angle, almost parallel. The tree on the left in the frame is noticeably broken towards the base to achieve the angle. This tree particularly, appears to have been broken deliberately to achieve the angle, for reasons unknown.
Three trees in the park, again, each in the same angle from the ground, with the closest tree in the photo, broken towards the base.
Due to the presence of other documented Yowie environmental traits, the creek bed was next to be examined closely. It did not disappoint!
Upstream in the creek, a number of clearly defined footprint impressions were located in the creek bed. Due to recent rain, and the fine water soaked mud, where the prints were located, it appears the prints are relatively fresh. Having been an art student and studied human anatomy, the prints all exhibited a sharper angle from the big toe to the little toe, as would be expected from regular human footprints. Thus, the position of the little toe was further down the side of the feet. (A full toe length further down) Note: This irregularity cannot be explained away by different angles of the feet entering the mud, as it presented in each footprint in two different surfaces, and three different angles of surface.
The area of the creek bed where the prints were predominantly located, is in close proximity to an old rope swing. Increasing the likelihood of the prints being children, the prints were cast in plaster nevertheless. It presented a good opportunity to refine some rusty casting techniques, and preserve some odd looking footprints.
If it was not for the curious anomaly present in each footprint, I would have automatically ruled them all as children’s prints, due to the relatively close proximity of this part of the Creek bed to suburban households, and the presence of the rope swing. In hindsight, I’m glad I took the casts.
In comparing the casts I took, with one of the casts I took the week previously, with Pixie Byrnes, the same toe position anomaly presents. Also of note, I was at the location of the footprints for about three hours, and not one person – adult or child, ventured near or into the park – being a Saturday morning.
The footprints are of about a size seven or eight in male adult shoe size, consistent with the boys description of the creature they saw, being about a human adult size, rather than a seven or eight foot tall, giant. Of note, the boys did not state they saw the creature stand upright, which may have helped them conclusively determine it’s height.
IN SUMMARY:
The location being a thick bush setting with flowing fresh water creek down the middle, teeming with various wildlife, and being in close proximity to human activity (a primary school no less!) is perfectly in line with many of the locations Yowies have been known to surface.
Five Yowie indicators were identified inside this stretch of bush. These include, a right angle broken tree, tree limbs stacked to a crude tee pee, trees pushed over to form parallel angles from the ground, a limb gently resting at a 45 degree angle on a tree, and finally the presence of unusual bare footprints on the creek bed.
Of highest interest is the footprint find. The footprints suggest a striking similarity in the toe anomaly presented, to identified prints obtained by other Yowie researchers at other Yowie locations.
The argument for the boys report being reliable is extremely strong based on these findings.
© Copyright AYR
Australian Yowie Research - Data Base
www.yowiehunters.com
- Details
Location: Pilliga, New South Wales
Date: Oct, 1999
After a 15 hour drive via Taree to Coonabarabran, myself, Trevor, Gary Opit and Geoff Nelson finally arrived to base camp at 3pm. The other guys had been there since almost 6am and had set up the tents. During the day a couple of locals had dropped by to see us including some local Roo hunters. The "Australian Newspaper" reporter Luke McIIveen had been sent there from Sydney with strict orders to spend every moment of the night with us despite our requests for NO media, with the exception of a quick interview for Prime news and a couple of radio interviews.
Some photographer from the "Australian" was running around ordering our guys to perform for his camera during the day which took a lot of attention away from the job at hand.
As night came closer, the dull "Australian Newspaper" people turned up again, this time asking for a "quick" shoot in the bush before we headed out. We thought if we granted them this request, and providing it was quick, they would leave us alone - not so.
Three hours of shooting with a couple of guys that made sleeping pills seem like a wake up drug, we finally got ourselves away.
We set up at camp, then headed out in two teams to two different areas, while Geoff stayed back at camp to look after things. Myself, Trevor and Gary drove out to an area deep in the bush and set up a tape of a baby crying to try and spur some action.
It wasn't until we actually saw how vast the bush land was, that we realized this trip would be nothing short of a needle in a hay stack. The reports that we were counting on fall short of our expectations, and all we could do was run with the older ones that we had.
The baby crying tape worked really well and sounded authentic, however there was simply no Yowie where we were (!), so we drove on. We found a great water source connecting to a creek which we tracked for a couple of hours.
Gary was great at explaining the different animal tracks, but the ones we were looking for weren't there. It was now about 3am, and we had lost radio contact with the other group, so we decided to head back to camp to see if they had arrived back. We got to camp close to 4.30am, Geoff was asleep and Zee had arrived during the night, but the others were still out.
Trevor and Gary went to bed, while myself and Zee headed out again. We parked down dark roads and walked the bush, but nothing.
Day 2.
Only 1 hour sleep and thoughts of disappointment began my day. The two local Roo hunters turned up with two Roos for bait, which I thought was totally unnecessary. Phil had some video footage from the night before, but proved to be nothing. Luke McIIveen (reporter) turned up again, and I wondered to myself what he would have told his Editor seeing he didn't come out with us last night. He took notes as if he were there, and explained that he had spent the night at the local bar drinking beer while he was supposed to be with us (He grinned and called it research). As the middle of the afternoon approached, we set up another camp deep in the bush.
The reporter came out with us to this location briefly, the whole time acting extremely uninterested, almost as uninteresting as his lack of personality. He managed to stay away from the local bar for about two hours, and again left us just on dark telling me that he would just make things up to his Editor.
Steve strung the bait up, then after Ash and Trevor pondered the maps, we all went our separate ways.
Hours went by and we met up again at camp just after midnight. Everyone had the same stories - nothing! During the day we had no footprints and NO physical evidence.
So off we went again, this time I took Nat with me and we sat on the edge of a dam and talked for a couple of hours. We saw plenty of wild life in the dam, but noticed no typical noises or sounds associated with these creatures except something moving the whole time in the bushes on the other side of the dirt road behind us, just a Roo we thought.
We talked more and discussed the fact that if there WAS something here in this area of bush, then this would be the most likely area to be, however after hours of being there we again labelled this are as a waste of time.
Seeing we were out of radio contact, we decided to head back to camp and see if anyone else had more luck than us. Nat got into the car and I loaded my gear in. As I was getting in the driver’s side I suddenly heard a noise resembling a man talking to himself deep in the bush near where we were hearing the noises the whole time. I stopped and listened a little more, thinking to myself it must be the tones of a cow many miles away carrying through the dead of the night. With Nat still in the car, I walked towards the road then stopped and listened some more. "Well I'll be.................." I thought o myself! "It IS some guy out here, only he's not talking, he's RAMBLING!" It was 4am in the morning and there was some guy out there "rambling gibberish". At this stage I had no equipment on me and even left the torch in the car. I walked closer and closer struggling to see in the bushes when I it happened. "RRRRRRRAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!! GGGGGRRRRRRRRRAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!! RRRRRRRAAAAHHH! HHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! etc, etc........................
It wasn't screaming it as you may imagine, it was more like it was across the road telling me off. It had a Human like vocal capacity, except absolutely NO diction or Human dialect. I turned tail back to the car as fast as I could to get the camera. I ran and ran, the whole time feeling a great excitement more than fear, although I was looking over my shoulder to see if I was being chased. I got in the car and slammed the door! Nat immediately saw my jubilance and became quite excited too. We drove to were it was, turned off the engine and sat and listened. CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH, the noise was still emanating from the bush. I turned on the night vision, but didn't have the distance.
I had two options, either hit it with the spot light and get some fleeting footage or take my chances and hope it would attack the car with all the lights off, I took the second option. We knew it was bipedal from the footsteps, and the vocal sounded very human.
We sat there for a long time, but no more action. We then heard it walk through the bush behind the car, so I rolled back to where we thought it may have gone. Still the foliage noises where there, then after a while some more rambling. We thought this was getting a little boring, and I couldn't go in there myself not knowing whether it was a mad man or Yowie, so we decided to get the team.
We raced all the way back to camp for back up. Trevor and Zee jumped straight in, then another guy who insisted we didn't leave without him took almost 30 MINUTES to get himself together. Frustrated, we raced back but it was all too late, it was just on daylight and it had gone.
The interesting thing was that there were NO footprints.
Next day.
Back at camp in the morning ol' Luke Mcllveen turned up again to get the news on the night to cover his a$$, again he was only half listening, I think he was too busy thinking about his girl friend who he told me had left him and had a hang over from the night before. He then said that he wanted to go back to Sydney. All in all he spend NO time with us, but felt he could write on the whole trip.
That night we had no more action and the rest of the guys were getting very tired of the whole trip. Nobody had really seen anything except a few shadows, so the next day we packed up and went home. We learnt a valuable lesson about this whole thing, never go to unknown areas without concrete leads. Its our opinion that we have better locations close to home.
Whatever it was that yelled at me that night, I can't be certain, but I can say that we DO have of other reports similar to this in the past. It WAS either Human or Yowie, but my guess is Human due to the vocal capacity. One thing is for sure, it was not your everyday Human. The bait that was hung up came away unharmed.
Oh yeah, and Luke Mcllveens story in the paper? Well you guessed it, it was about Geoff drinking warm beer and lies about things that didn't happen! He even had to make up quotes from us that we didn't say (How sad and pathetic!). He behaved badly and represented a very bad image for the "Australian Newspaper", which we have now barred from anymore exclusives in the future. Stay in the bars and pubs Luke and sort out your personal life, writing is NOT your forte', leave it to the people who know what they're doing.
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Australian Yowie Research - Data Base
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