Megalong Valley

[Dean Harrison]

As I travel along side the Megalong Valley, as it would for many, my thoughts suddenly sway Yowie related.

Kim was good enough to send us this note today. Thought I would share it.....

[b"]My 1st yowie sighting was when 1 was 12 yrs old. My brother was hosting a party/campout in a place called Megalong Valley, NSW. The campgrounds by the river were a popular spot with us people from nearby Blackheath.

On this occasion, late at night, all the adults had gone to sleep around the campfire. I lay awake watching the fire. I heard crunching through the bushes on the bank behind me. I turned my head back to see what it was, expecting a roo. Instead I saw a huge creature covered in fur. Maybe 7ft plus.

I froze. I couldnt comprehend what I was seeing. The creature stood observing the sleeping bodies. Suddenly a motorbike could be heard approaching and the creature turned and ran back into the bush. I knew what I had seen though.

I didnt tell anyone till years later.

My 2nd sighting happened when I was 17, 50mtrs from the place I initially saw it. 30 of us were there to camp. All the boys left us 12 girls at camp while they went to get firewood. We sat chatting in a circle as dusk descended. One girl said "What's that?. We all turned to look and saw a big hairy thing standing watching us on the top of the bank.

In the twilight it was hard to determine what it was. Then the thing started to descend the bank slowly, toward us. We were watching it's every move. Then it dropped down on all fours, hiding in the undergrowth. As it crawled out and stood up, it then began to run at us. We all jumped into a vehicle and drove out to find the boys. They did a thorough search of the area on motorbikes and foot,to no avail. It was gone. I know what it was...again.

The 2 encounters I have listed are true and on the 2nd sighting, 12 of us saw it. There had always been a legend of a "June monster" in the area. A furry big thing that had attacked numerous local campers. I believe this creature/creatures have been around for a long time.

I am 41 now. The legend is older than me. I have never camped, nor ever will again, in the Megalong valley"[/b]
DMH

[matt13b]

Great story. Who's up for a camping trip in the Megalong Valley??

[yosemite68]

What aprt of the Megalong was it..??

The only 'river' I can think of is the Coxs, and that - to my knowledge - would be hard to get motorbikes to..

Would she be talking about Megalong Ck at Old Ford Reserve...??

[Jim]

Hello colleagues,

These are the kinds of stories that make me want to go camping at the Megalong Valley!

As I said before, I lean toward the skeptical side of the yowie phenomenon. Especially with reports such as this. After all, both sightings were at night, how can the interviewee claim they accurately saw what they did? Being a camping trip, was there alcohol, or maybe something stronger involved? These are legitimate questions.

I don't mean to be a party pooper - quite the contrary. The veracity of reports like this just cannot be taken on face value. It would be nice to believe this person outright, but weighing into reports like this, especially given they happened over 20 years ago, sets one's self up for criticism if you present them as evidence - even, at the very least, as anecdotal evidence.

It's been established in psychological research on human memory that our ability to recall events accurately, even relatively soon after their happening, is sketchy at best, and highly questionable at worst. This applies to both menial and significant or 'memorable' events an individual has experienced. A gap of 20 years before reporting an encounter like this should say to all of us interested in this phenomenon that we should tread with caution.

I am by no means calling this lady a liar. I would desperately love to believe her!

I'd be more than willing to spend a few nights out here! Sounds like fun!

All the best,
Jim

[SAB 8]

Great story. Who's up for a camping trip in the Megalong Valley??

Yer Matt13b - sounds gook - send me a message if your keen!

What aprt of the Megalong was it..??

The only 'river' I can think of is the Coxs, and that - to my knowledge - would be hard to get motorbikes to..

Would she be talking about Megalong Ck at Old Ford Reserve...??

Am wondering where the exact location is as well Yosemite68. Don`t know about Old Ford Reserve as it is on Megalong Creek. The two other campsites along the Six Foot Track are Alum Creek Camping Ground and Coxs River Camping Ground near Bowtells Swing Bridge. If I was to guess I would be leaning towards Coxs River Camping Ground as this is probably the main camping area in the valley - the area is quite scrubby as well as providing good cover for anything wishing to spy on strange humans - lol - Also in 2003 there was a yowie encounter near the Coxs River camp site - see. pg. 293 of The Yowie.
I was lucky enough to walk the Six Mile Track this year and some of the terrain was what I could only describe as 'spooky'. Also you can find yourself in some very remote areas along the track.

[SAB 8]

In the States, formal prepared campgrounds with restrooms and firepits, are one of the worst places to find activity.

Not sure if I fully agree with that one doctorscream. I had my encounter on the boundary of a formal camping area and have heard of many other reports from camping areas. I believe that campsites which are bordered by forest, scrub or any vegetation which provides good cover are actually pretty good places to go (especially if they are in a hotspot area). I have come to the conclusion that these beings are extremely curious of humans and the majority of encounters occur due to their surveillance of us as apposed to humans accidentally stumbling into remote areas in which they habitate. Their natural curiousity for humans will draw them to areas of human habitation such as camping sites. I think the Blue Mountains and Ormeau encounters support the belief that these beings are not afraid to approach or habituate areas where human activity is frequent (especially at night, dawn or dusk periods when they seem to be most active and confident).

[topender]

i agree

like most opportunistic omnivores / carnivores they have worked out that is potentialy ' buffet time " on the fringes of human habitats, ie: dumps, backyards, campgrounds and rural properties.
you only need to look at Dingos, feral pigs and in the States a prime example are bears, coyotes and even wolves.


cheers

[openmind]

There are a lot of suitable places at the southern end of Megalong Valley.
Check the reports database for the locations of previous incidents.
Have seen/heard curious things on my travels fairly deep into the wild dogs and surrounding valleys.

These areas require a day in and a day out of continuous hiking over often steep topography. Areas mostly traversed by keen outdoors people, not tourist hikers.

[Tracey]

We camped at kings tableland on the weekend but got nothing. I was actually amazed at how quiet the bush was . Not even a possum. One thing that did frighten the c**p out of me and christina who shared my tent. A dead branch fell out of the tall tree above us and lucky it came down and scraped the side of the tent on chris's side. We woke up and thought a stick had been thrown at our tent lolllllllllllllll. Lucky it didnt come down like a spear.

[openmind]

Here are two interesting and seemingly innocent reports from bushwalkers who mention things that are notable in areas beyond Megalong.
Note that the authors don't seem to notice the significance of their comments...

1
“…That night we were both terrified by the sinister sounds of some nearby monsters that decided to have a look at us. Their sounds were a cross between a tiger's roar and a pack of hyenas and we were both mystified by what could have made the noises. All we could do was build up the fire and hope they went away. They did…”

2
“…The Kowmung was a paradise compared to the Nattai and the hard-rolling quartzite of Scott's main range… …Stranger than that was the way that many young eucalypts (and only eucalypts) had been bent over or snapped off about a metre and a half off the ground. This damage was not caused by the same vehicle, it was much older. No cow or wombat or pig would do that, we could only conclude it was some human with a vengance (far too many to be track markers). The snapped eucalypts continued until the base of wide-opening ridge.”

Edit: Removed locations of these incidents as i'm unsure of the etiquette on this.

[Dion]

Hey Openmind

Can I ask where you got your quotes from was it from some form of Bushwalkers log book or something?

By the way welcome to the forums.

[openmind]

Yep from logs by bushwalkers.
Fortunately these areas require a fair amount of effort to access so they are naturally protected (unless you are a waterboard employee and have specific vehicle access permission and keys for this area).
As I say - The pristine natural beauty of any area is inversely proportional to the ease with which a case of beer can be carried to it.

Thanks for welcome.

[SAB 8]

Cheers Openmind

Mmmmhhh - I wonder how many other accounts of possible yowie encounters there is hiding in campsite log books throughout the country?????????

[openmind]

Sorry to mislead, quotes aren't from actual logbooks in bush, just from logs of trips.
These areas don't actually have 'campsites' - you just set-up where you can.
A few logbooks do exist on the top of some of the higher peaks in the area.
These are mainly frequented by those who travel light and fast (and often solo).

[Mike Williams]

“…That night we were both terrified by the sinister sounds of some nearby monsters that decided to have a look at us. Their sounds were a cross between a tiger's roar and a pack of hyenas and we were both mystified by what could have made the noises. All we could do was build up the fire and hope they went away. They did…”

The quote is from David Noble-
http://lists.anatomy.usyd.edu.au/piperm ... 01284.html
He was the guy that "discovered" the wollemi pine.

[SAB 8]

This was the explanation given on the website for the sounds:

My guess is that Dave Noble's monsters[Mittagong-Katoomba trip report] were yellow-bellied gliders, a beautiful species of gliding possum with a demonic cry.
Brian Hawkins.

???

Noble said the sounds were a cross between a tiger`s roar and a pack of hyenas.... That must be a seriously ferocious bunch of possums....

[openmind]

Found this in the sighting reports archives (for the same locale)...

"I believe that there is enough information in these descriptions to identify the animal that made the sound attributed to Gubba by the European settlers of Kanimba. It was the Yellow Bellied Glider - Petaurus australis. This species would have been found in low numbers in the places mentioned by O'Reilly and gradually become locally extinct as the tall old food and shelter trees were cleared. O'Reilly gives the date it was last heard in Kanimbla at around 1915-16. Even professional Zoologists describe its call as 'most unnerving'. Fanny Lynch's descriptions of it's size "littler than a Wombat" and it's color as grey are further confirmation. The Gundungurra of course knew the Yellow Bellied Glider and it's call and did not associate them with Gubba. In the period when Aboriginal and settler communities lived side by side in that valley, the whites became aware that the Aborigines feared a creature of the night called Gubba. When the settlers heard nocturnal sounds that terrified them they attributed them to the Aboriginal Gubba."

I wonder if they also mimic human sounds?? I've had this happen to me in the area in the middle of the night...

[Redneck]

Hey! Don't knock those gliders, they can be scary. The biggest fright of my entire life was from one of those little suckers.
Way back in the 80's when I was a soldier, I was up in North Queensland sitting on top of an Armoured Personnel Carrier leaning up against one of the vehicles antennas when all of a sudden I saw something in my peripheral vision hurtling through the air towards my head. I ducked out the way and with my heart in my mouth I looked to see what it was......yep, you guessed it, a cute little gliding possum hanging onto the antenna.

[Shazzoir]

OK, for those of you wanting to hear the call of the Yellow Bellied Glider (and hey, who among you isn't, right?) here you go....

http://www.threatenedspecies.environmen ... x?id=10601

Click the ear at the right of the screen twice to hear it.

To my ears, it's not really eerie sounding, but then, I'm safe in front of my computer!

Kind regards,
Shazz

[Dion]

Hey Shazz

Thanks for that link

But I would have to say it aint sound like a cross between a tigers roar and a pack of hyena's. lol.

This Brian Hawkins guy sounds like a bit of a noob to me.

[rob ross]

Spent all day yesterday till 9pm in Wollomi from start till end unfortunatly didnt see anything new but ended the day with look off the tablelands rd lookout rear of hospital overlooking Mt Solitary makes u wonder whats out there 500k+ round trip great day