# 5 of the Scariest Places in Australia > We visit five spots in Australia steeped in legends of ghosts and the paranormal. Find out where to go for a proper spine-tingling scare. - URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/5-samkh-strashnkh-mest-avstralyy/ - Language: en - Published: 2024-12-20 - Categories: Culture, Historic Sites, Museums, Tours, Australia, Events --- Everyone loves a good ghost story, especially when it happens to be true. Since the dawn of time, humankind has enjoyed few pastimes more than scaring one another half to death, so it comes as no surprise to find entire tourism industries built on exactly that. Come along as we slip through the walls and drift down the eerie corridors of five of Australia's scariest places. ## 1. The Quarantine Station "Nobody has gone mad today," our guide whispers as we gather on the wharf of the Quarantine Station by lantern light. From the 1830s until 1984, this spot on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour is where migrant travellers were put ashore from ships carrying some kind of epidemic. Here they stayed until they were deemed "safe" to enter Australia. But some never left... They say the spirits of those who died here still linger in what many call one of the most haunted places in Australia. In the shower block, between long rows of cubicles that have gone unused for decades, I feel a rush of air sweep past me in the pitch dark and hear the distant sound of running water. But it is when we reach the morgue that I truly lose my nerve. We are told a ghost with a particular interest in the ladies lurks inside, and we are warned to watch out for the feeling of something licking around our ankles. I bolt. "There are no ghosts in the living quarters," the guide promises as the tour comes to an end. That is a relief. We are staying in the first-class apartments, built for passengers considered far too refined for ordinary accommodation. But since our bathroom sits down a short passage along an open veranda, I am fairly sure I will not be visiting the smallest room tonight. Not a fan of scary stories? Because North Head was used by both the Quarantine Station and the School of Artillery, the area stayed isolated, and that isolation has let a rich variety of plant and animal life flourish here. It is well worth trekking through the undergrowth and finishing up on a small but perfectly formed beach, where you can watch the Manly ferry glide past while you dip your toes in the shallows. ## 2. Fremantle Prison ![](/storage/image/prev/september-article-image-5-1-2024.jpg) Fremantle Prison closed as a working correctional facility surprisingly recently, in 1991. It is hard to believe as you walk across the cobbled yards of the building and take in the iron bars on every window. Built by convicts between 1852 and 1859, it is now the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Western Australia. You can explore the prison by eerie lantern light, but although the grounds are full of ghost stories, the evening tours here keep their focus on the history. "The idea is to give people a sense of what it was like for the prisoners," says interpretation manager Luke Donegan. "We tell them the stories of real people, so tragic, sad and horrifying that visitors often leave stunned." There is no promise of seeing ghosts or paranormal activity as you wander the main cell block and the solitary confinement cells, but a visit to the flogging post, the gallows and the morgue, paired with the stories of those who died there, will send a shiver down even the sturdiest of souls. "Our tours can scare people witless without any need to tell them ghost stories," Donegan promises. Not a fan of scary stories? Head deep beneath the prison instead for an underground adventure. Put on a hard hat, overalls and a head torch to explore the maze of tunnels dug by the hard labour of convicts. ## 3. Port Arthur "The Reverend George" has been seen more than a dozen times over 150 years across the grounds of Port Arthur, the historic convict settlement in Tasmania. "He is seen regularly in the parsonage, where he died back in the 1870s," says tour coordinator Jake Bradshaw. "We have photographs of him." Then there are the convicts. "One who turns up regularly is John Gould, a particularly nasty character who has been spotted grinning maliciously at people for years," Bradshaw says. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. There are more than 2,000 reports of unexplained phenomena here, all gathered into 20 thick folders full of "ghost sightings and strange emotional reactions to the buildings." "This is easily the most haunted place in Australia," our guide claims, which is why the nightly ghost tours here are so popular. "Nothing is made up, there are no tricks, these are stories about real people." While some put the high level of paranormal activity down to the suffering that took place here during its time as a prison, others believe the site itself is special, with an energy all its own, Bradshaw explains. "People come here expecting to find a grim prison, but instead they find a stunning corner of Tasmania." Not a fan of scary stories? Ghosts aside, this is a World Heritage Site, a beautifully preserved slice of Australia's convict past, with plenty of daytime tours to delight history lovers. "This is a place where you can truly feel how modern Australia began," says Bradshaw. ## 4. Williamstown ![](/storage/image/prev/september-article-image-5-2-2024.jpg) Once a rowdy haunt of drunken sailors and boisterous ladies, Melbourne's first port still radiates a seafaring spirit, only now it is a more ghostly one. Williamstown was founded in 1837 and remains one of the most charming coastal districts of Victoria's capital, drawing city dwellers and tourists alike to soak up its historic atmosphere. Its former residents seem rather attached to it too, and they say ghosts still roam its dark brick lanes, gathering around abandoned morgues and cemeteries. Lantern Ghost Tours offers spooky walks through the atmospheric district every Friday and Saturday. Not a fan of scary stories? Williamstown is now a thriving hub of restaurants and bars thanks to its prime waterfront location. There is no shortage of great spots to eat or grab a drink. Alternatively, you can head out to sea like a sailor of old aboard one of the ferries. ## 5. Adelaide Gaol ![](/storage/image/prev/september-article-image-5-3-2024.jpg) Just a few weeks ago, we are told, a sceptical young lady came face to face with the ghost of Governor William Baker Ashton on the grounds of Adelaide Gaol, his former domain. A rather large man, he died in his quarters, and once stiffened by rigor mortis, he had to be lowered out through a window using a rope and pulley. "That undignified exit is probably the reason he is still here," says preservation society president Penny Wilkinson. Before that he had not been seen for years, which is fairly typical behaviour for the local ghosts, who apparently come and go across the grounds at random. Wilkinson herself was a sceptic when she started working at the gaol, but her experiences there, along with those of the countless others she has met, have made her far more open to the supernatural.