The Spookiest Places In NSW To Spend Your Halloween
Halloween is almost here which means two things – either dragging yourself to a themed party or avoiding it at all costs. If you’re like us, you’re probably looking for something a little out of the box to do to ring in the end of October, so our mates at Destination NSW have collected a super spooky list of things to do across Sydney to scare yourself right this Halloween. Take a gander below, but only if you dare.
#1 Spend the night at an old quarantine site
They say Sydney’s Q Station is one of Australia’s most haunted sites, seeing as it was once the first port of call for thousands of people migrating to Australia. Over 500 people were reported to have died in the quarantine facility between 1833 and 1984 of deadly diseases like the Bubonic Plague, Spanish Influenza, Smallpox and Typhus. Q station’s resident medium says there are around 50 spirits wandering around the hospital, dining halls and the super spooky morgue. You can go on paranormal and ghost tours and even host a ghosty sleepover in one of the Quarantine Station’s most haunted areas. Fun, right?
#2 Visit the most haunted house in Australia
Everybody loves creepy houses right? The Monte Cristo Homestead in Junee, NSW has a storied history of murder, torture and insanity – the story goes that when the colonial mansion took on a new caretaker in the ’60s, he was murdered by a young teen who claimed to have been influenced by the movie Psycho. A few years later the owners saw bright beaming lights streaming from the building, even though no one had connected the power yet. There’s also been mysterious piano music played when no one was home – it’s like a horror movie in real life. Bring your Paranormal Activity obsessed friend and you guys will have a jolly ol’ time.
#3 Wander around in some dark, empty caves
The Jenolan Caves, while remarkably beautiful, are also an excellent place to scare yourself – at night the caves turn extra dark as you wander with a lantern in hand and no set route. Jenolan is known to the native Gundungurra people as Binoomea which means ‘the dark place’, and you’ll hear strange stores of unexplained phenomena occurring in the caves – and possibly some inexplicable noises coming from them too. This will certainly send a few shivers down your spine.
#4 Ominous ghost tours at The Rocks
Sydney’s The Rocks also has a sordid past of macabre stories including the raucous settlement of convicts, soldiers, sailors and street gangs in the 1800s. Ghost Tours at the Rocks lets you wander the cobblestone streets and back alleys with your host telling tall tales of murder, hangings, suicide and, of course, ghosts. There’s also a killer team building exercise centred around the ghost tours where you and your colleagues can complete grizzly challenges and be rewarded with prizes and pints afterwards at the pub.
#5 Chillingly real prison cells at the old Maitland Gaol
We couldn’t end this list without including an IRL prison. Found in East Maitland, NSW, the abandoned Maitland Gaol sits relatively untouched from the days that it functioned as one of Australia’s longest running prisons. Closing its doors in 1998, Maitland Gaol now functions as a tourist site with brave visitors peering into the lives of past prisoners, many of whom conducted elaborate schemes to escape their captive, including a 5.5 metre tunnel that was built under the C Wing in 1980. The man who told the warden about the tunnel was then found dead in his cell with his throat cut. Yikes.
Your Halloween journey awaits you, if you dare… Check out Qantas flights to Sydney here.
