Brisbane Has It's Share Of Paranormal Activity

Brisbane has been called many things in its time, but haunted is probably not a common classification. Yet one paranormal enthusiast believes our sleepy little town is a hotbed of ghostly activity.

Strange noises, chilling wails, unexplained lights captured on film and bumps in the night are apparently common occurrences at dozens of locations across South-East Queensland.

Historic buildings like Old Government House and City Hall send a shiver up the spine of Lianna Turner, who researches and documents paranormal oddities.

Old Government House
Queensland University of Technology
Gardens Point Campus

This impressive mansion, located inside the grounds of the Queensland University of Technology in the city, was built to accommodate the state's first Governor.

It was used right up until the construction of the current Government House in Bardon.

While exploring Old Government House, Ms Turner explained that the mansion was one of her "main haunts" (no pun intended) because of its active paranormal atmosphere.

Over several years she has amassed a vast collection of photoghraphs documenting her exploration of the house.

Many contain strange lights and "orbs" that Ms Turner believes represent ghostly beings and spirits.

The term "orb" is the popular name given to anomalies that appear in photographs or video, and are thought by some to be paranormal phenomenon.

Others believe orbs are little more than flash reflection from dust particles.

On the second floor of Old Government House, just to the right of the top of the staircase, is an anonymous-looking door with a glass feature panel. Inside is a steep, wooden staircase that leads to the attic.

A member of staff from QUT, who accompanied us on the tour, said that the door was frequently found to be locked from the inside.

Staff had to remove a panel of glass so the door could be unlocked.

On the day of our visit the door had again been locked from the inside. There is no secondary access to this room.

Just around the corner is a large room that was once the home's day nursery. As we rounded a dark and musky corridor, the door to the room blew open.

Inside, the three doors that led out onto the balcony were open and blowing wildly in the wind.

"These are supposed to be locked," our guide remarked. She bolted them closed before we moved on to the next room.

A few minutes later, I returned to the room to take some more photographs. Despite being locked a moment earlier, the three doors to the balcony were again open and blowing in the wind.

The echo of slamming doors throughout the house was common as we made our way from room to room although it must be said that it was a particularly windy day.

Yet Ms Turner said she could often feel a "presence" in what is thought to be the Governor's bedroom and the day nursery.

She believes the spirit of a young girl named Wendy inhabits the house. Historical records detailing the house's early residents are largely unavailable, so it may never be known if a little girl named Wendy once lived here.

City Hall
King George Sqaure
Brisbane

Several stories of deaths at City Hall circulate, spanning the eras before and after construction of the impressive structure.

During the building's construction workmen were said to have died while placing the foundations, which were on top of a former swamp.

It is also said that the area was once a significant Aboriginal site - either a meeting place or camp ground.

There was a story told of a little girl who fell to her death near the entrance to the elevator that takes current visitors to the top of the bell tower.

Another story claims an American soldier was stabbed to death during the war after a fight over an Australian girl turned ugly.

Staff are said to have reported the sounds of an argument from the Red Cross Tea Room.

A caretaker is also said to have taken his life in room 203 on the third floor sometime during the 1940s.

While visiting, Ms Turner asked staff in the concert hall if they had ever experienced anything out of the ordinary.

One man said that a colleague was working in the spot light box at the top of the hall one evening when he heard a knock at the door.

He went to greet the visitor, only to find no one there. He returned to his work when the knock came again a short time later.

He again found no one at the door. Suspecting a group of children were to blame, he waited by the closed door for the knock to come again.

When it did, he flung the door open and charged out, only to find an empty hallway.

Ms Turner took a number of photographs of the concert hall during out visit and later noticed an orb on the photograph.

She showed me another she had taken months earlier that showed a similar-sized orb floating in the air of the hall.

Nudgee Cemetery
Bora Ring
Nudgee

It's hardly surprising that a paranormal enthusiast would find a cemetery interesting, but Ms Turner describes Nudgee's resting place as "cold, dark and uninviting".

She has taken a number of photographs that show strange streaks of light and orbs in the dead of night.

The section of the cemetery where a priest and nuns are buried even holds a level of eeriness, especially at night, she said.

Just down the road at the back of a sports field is Nudgee's very own bora ring.

Bora is the name given both to an Aboriginal initiation ceremony and the land on which it was performed.

It is here that young boys were transformed into men, with ceremonies varying from culture to culture.

Bora rings are circles of hardened earth surrounded by raised embankments, and are generally found in pairs.

Ms Turner finds the ring to be relaxing and peaceful, and captured a strange white light at the bottom of a photograph.

Brisbane Paranormal Activity
Brisbane Paranormal Activity

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