The Lost City - Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory

[iwanttobelieve]

Hello People.

Firstly, this is bit of a strange event and even now I’m not sure what to make of it. I suppose the best thing to do is to relate what happened as best I can and allow you to interpret events however you want.

In August last year I had been spending some time with a Polish backpacker who was working in Darwin and we made the most of the dry season by going camping and hiking whenever we both had time off.

On one of these trips we spent the day at Litchfield National Park and late in the afternoon decided to visit a place called the Lost City which is a cluster of unusual rock formations about 10km off the main road.

We arrived there about half an hour before sunset and spent some time walking the tracks and having a look around. When we arrived back at the carpark (a dirt turning circle) we realised we had the place to ourselves and decided to set up camp rather than go back to one of the established camp sites around Litchfield as they are usually quite busy during the dry season.

So we got set up, had some dinner under the stars and then got in the tent which was basically a dome covered in insect mesh because we didn’t bother putting the fly cover on. It was a nice, cool night, very still and very quiet. Anyway, one thing led to another and we ended up “fooling around” for a while before deciding to get some sleep.

At around 3am my camping buddy got up to relieve herself and went to the back of my vehicle to get some girl things out of her bag. While she was at the back of the car she said to me (in a heavy Polish accent) what sounded like “sometink is breeding out here” which I just figured was some reference to the thousands of mozzies that were hanging around our tent so I didn’t pay too much attention.

She had already been up a couple of times to answer nature’s call but this time she went 180 degrees in the opposite direction to her previous spot which I thought was unusual because the terrain was a lot rougher in that direction.

Anyway, she was soon back in the tent and then grabbed hold of me and said she had never been so scared in her life. I asked her what was wrong and she said, “I told you. Something was breathing out there.”

I realised I had misheard her the first time and was a little alarmed that some animal was hanging around the camp. I asked her if it sounded like a dog panting (thinking it may have been a dingo) and she said no. When I asked her to describe the sound she sort of exhaled audibly, paused a couple of seconds and then did it again. I didn’t actually hear anything myself so I asked her if she saw anything. This is where things get a bit weird.

She said she didn’t “see” anything but there was something in the patch of bush at the centre of the dirt turning circle we were camped next to, about 30 metres away. The same direction from where she heard the breathing come from. I grabbed my torch and got out to have a look but didn’t see or hear anything. The patch of scrub was about 10-15 metres in diameter and the torch is very bright so I was pretty confident nothing was there. I then went back to the tent and we both went to sleep.

The next morning I pressed her a little bit to try and understand what had made her so frightened. I asked if she thought it may have been a pig or a buffalo or something and then she hesitated a couple of seconds and said, “No. A yeti.”

Needless to say she now had my full attention but I kept my demeanour neutral and just prodded her a little to see what would come out without any influence from myself. I asked her if it was tall like me and straight away she shook her head and said no. She then held her hand about mid-torso to indicate height so I took it to be about 4 feet tall.

I then asked her to describe what she saw in detail and she gave me a perfect description of a yowie, albeit one of the smaller varieties. She said it was looking with intense curiosity at our tent and she got the impression it had been there a while and that it was “mature”.

I was pretty amazed to hear all of this from a Polish backpacker with absolutely no idea or concept of what a yowie was. I’d certainly never bought the subject up and it was only a week later that I told her I had an interest in the subject. She was actually very relieved because until then she didn’t think I believed her. The reason she used the word yeti was because it was the only word she knew to describe what she had seen.

Again, this is where things get a bit weird. When I pressed her on what she “saw” she told me she turned to look in the direction the breathing was coming from but only “saw” the creature in her mind. I know, it sounds flaky but that’s how she related her experience. She described how she was hit with this image of a yeti-like creature looking directly at her and it immediately made me think of other witness reports where they describe getting “zapped” with extremely strong impressions, visions and feelings.

I decided to go back and have a look around the patch of scrub to see if there was any indication that something had been there and stared by walking around the dirt turning circle. I hadn’t gone far when I spotted two very distinct footprints in the fine bulldust on top of the hard dirt road. By this time a couple of cars had been and gone and one print was vague but I managed to take a pretty good photo of the other one. I was in bit of a rush because other cars were now coming down the road and I didn’t have the good sense to place something next to it for scale. I did place my own foot next to the print at some stage and estimate it to be about 30cm long.

What really caught my attention was the shape and curve of the instep. As you can see in the photo, the big toe follows the curve of the instep and is angled out and away from the line of the foot. By comparison, most people’s toes will point in the direction of the foot. My own toes actually point in the other way (I wore pointy shoes as a kid) so I know this print definitely does not belong to me.

The other curious thing about this photo is that there does not appear to be much definition in the area where you would expect to see the rest of the toes. While the big toe and the rest of the print is clearly defined (you can see dermal ridges over the entire print) the remaining area is indistinct yet still appears as if the ground has been pressed smooth by something.

I should also point out that those diamond shapes and lines that surround the print are tyre tracks from vehicles the day before. I suppose it’s possible that wind (there wasn’t any) or a passing car (only 1 at maybe 10-20kmh) may have partially altered the definition of the print before I took the photo but if that were the case then I’d also expect to see a loss of definition in the dermal ridges which have remained quite clear.

All I can say for sure is that the print does not belong to me or my friend. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person with big toe at such an angle. I don’t consider myself a podiatrist by any means so if anyone can offer a rational interpretation for the print I found I’d really love to hear it.

As for my Polish friend, it was about a week later when I told her I had an interest in Yowies and explained to her that they were basically Australia’s version of a Yeti. She was somewhat relieved because her experience now had some sort of context and she understood why I was so interested in her account of what happened. It was also at this point that I showed her the photo I had taken and she was quite shaken after viewing it, I think because it somehow made her experience a lot more real to her. She then gave me a curious piece of advice and told me was that if I ever had another encounter I should not try to talk to it because “they do not communicate that way.”

My apologies if this account is a bit long but I just wanted to accurately relate the event as it happened. Also, I would have posted this earlier but had actually lost track of the photo until recently.

Anyway, that pretty much sums up the whole event as it happened and as I said at the start I really don’t know what to make of it. In summary, a Polish girl who heard breathing and saw a “yeti” (but didn’t see it) and a clear footprint was found in the dust which may belong to said “yeti” or a horribly disfigured barefoot camper.

I’m open to ideas on this one.

Lost City.jpg

Footprint - Original.jpg

Footprint - Darkened.jpg

Feet.jpg

[Shazzoir]

Iwantobelieve, that is a superb account, thank you for sharing it with us! It certainly sounds like a genuine experience, for all the reasons you mentioned, and reading it all was glorious. Interesting about the insinuated 'mind language/imagery', and to be honest, it doesn't surprise me that something was interested in all the human pheremones that must have been floating about on the breeze in your locale, as I've heard of this before, as I am sure you have, being a member of this forum for as long as you have.

Shazz

[ChrisV]

Interesting story and thanks for sharing.
Having story told that way really takes you to the scene and what it must of been like .

The rock formation in that pic is very intriguing. Looks very unique and honestly frightening. Reminds me of some of those creepy rock formations at Hanging Rock in Victoria.

Chances are by your accounts that the smaller variety might of been present. The breathing sounds sound a little concerning, almost in a deviant way. I'd be high tailing out of there if I caught some small mate checking me or my partner out!!

Footprint shots are great....

Great share

[Wolf]

I wonder if her 'image in the mind' was a result of her brain trying to reject what she was looking at?
Often I think humans actually see these animals but their brain simply rejects it, in effect refuses to acknowledge it as a self protection mechanism from the trauma...

[iwanttobelieve]

Thanks for the feedback Shaz & ChrisV.

I'm glad you enjoyed my account but I'm still not sure what to make of it.

I've been thinking of maybe emailing a picture of the footprint to a paediatrician or someone in the know and get their take on it. Would be interesting to get a professional opinion.

Wolf, that's an interesting point you make and worth some consideration.

Interestingly, the girl who had the experience is a very experienced psychologist so I might put it to her and see what happens. Maybe I'll get some professional insight from her but I suspect things went down pretty much how she described, which is just plain weird.

Anyway, I appreciate your comments.

Cheers,

Iwanna.

[TheBlackStump]

Hi awanna

Thanks for sharing mate. The pic of the rocks is interesting IMO.

I done Kakadu last year and Litchfield is on my bucket list when I go to NT later this year.

awana = welcome on TIWI ISLANDS.

Also I met the son of the king of TIWI who was hanging in Darwin at the time. The king and his son both have the same name and it sounds/pronounces awana . Bit of useless info but I just thought I would mention it.

Cheers mate

[Dion]

Hi Iwanna

Long time no hear from.

An excellently written up report, few things that stuck out for me was she said she got the impression it was "Mature" and that she said she saw the creature in her mind. The..... “zapped” with extremely strong impressions, visions and feelings..... is characteristic of many peoples encounters with them, mine included.

Did she feel disorientated at all? as that often can accompany the above.

Thanks for sharing.

[iwanttobelieve]

Hi Dion.

Hope you've been well.

I'll have to ask my friend if she felt disorientated but she didn't appear to be. If anything she was quite calm, all things considered.

Having said that I must admit I wasn't paying too much attention (apart from noticing she was scared) and didn't really dig into details until the next morning.

I suppose what impressed me the most was that she had only been in Australia for a few weeks and had absolutely no idea about Yowies, large or small, and yet gave a classic witness account (in terms of description) while at the same time insisting she didn't really see it.

Wolf made an interesting suggestion that what she saw may have just blown her mind and she refused to accept what she was seeing but I suspect it was more than that. Not ruling it out but I got the feeling the whole event went a lot deeper than just a shock reaction.

For my part, I didn't hear a thing and it was a very quiet night. Admittedly I was on the fast track to a post-coital slumber but I'd like to think I would have noticed breathing so close to our camp. In any case, I wasn't exactly alert until after she came back to the tent and I went outside for a look. Even at that point I was still thinking she might have heard a dingo or pig.

It was only in the morning when she mentioned the word yeti that I started to understand she'd had some sort of encounter and that's when I found the footprint which (if it's the real deal) seems to run contrary to the "mind's eye" version of events i.e. a "vision" supported by physical evidence.

As for the footprint I'd really like to hear anyone's opinions, comments or even similar examples. In particular I'd love some insight on why that big toe sticks out the way it does or if I've just taken a photo of a really weird human print.

All feedback much appreciated!

[micathia]

Just curiosity,

The lost city, what do scientists say about? I can't believe there are only TWO sentences in Wikipedia about it.

It is made of stone, and it looks soooooooooooooooooooooo old! 3000 years won't turn a stone architecture into this. It could take 10,000 years. And it is definitely man-made.

Are yowies the guardians of their long lost city? or their masters'?

[theloneranger]

Cool story,
its not man made, I live in Germany and we took a non autobahn path one time to avoid a car crash and we could see in the distance these weird rocks. then a sign saying turn here for "die teufelsmauer" the devils wall. totaly natural formation but you would think its impossible.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=te ... ORM=HDRSC2

I took my missus ( polish as well ) to the blue mountains, was unfortunately extremely sick at the time so we could really do much walking, but I was telling her about yowies. she didnt believe me

[micathia]

Cool story,
its not man made, I live in Germany and we took a non autobahn path one time to avoid a car crash and we could see in the distance these weird rocks. then a sign saying turn here for "die teufelsmauer" the devils wall. totaly natural formation but you would think its impossible.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=te ... ORM=HDRSC2

I took my missus ( polish as well ) to the blue mountains, was unfortunately extremely sick at the time so we could really do much walking, but I was telling her about yowies. she didnt believe me

I download this photo from google. on the lady's left side (her left, our right), that formation, the big square rock, I bet my kidney it is man-made.

[iwanttobelieve]

Micathia, you owe someone a kidney.

The Lost City is a collection of rock formations that have left behind as the softer sandstone cap of the table top range eroded away. Pieces of rock will also fracture and break away (like bricks) which is why some of them look surprisingly geometrical and manmade.

It's not a unique event either but most places aren't as easily accessible.

Rocks.png

I believe many of the rock formations in the Blue Mountains have a similar history as that entire area was apparently once underwater.

Even as far south as Katherine many of the rock ridges are remnants of coral. It's safe to say that most geological attractions have been millions of years in the making. The Devil's Marbles near Tennant Creek are another good example of what nature can do with enough time.

Marbles.jpg

Marbles 2.jpg

Marbles 3.jpg

Black Mountain near Cooktown is amazing but it's hard to find a picture that does it any justice. It's literally a mountain of boulders sitting by itself. In fact, I think David Paulides mentioned it during one of his talk-back interviews after he had finished researching in Australia for one of his Missing 411 books. He's got a thing for boulders, I think because they have some proximity to many of his missing people cases, but it seems like bit of a stretch to me. It's like saying people go missing because of all the trees in the forest. Boulders are pretty much everywhere but Black Mountain is like the Holy Grail for boulder enthusiasts.

Black Mountain.jpg

Anyway, I happened to find a video of some tourist's trip to the Lost City. It's pretty boring but if you fast forward to 23:20 and pause you'll see the dirt turning circle I mentioned. The video is a few years old but when we were camped there that patch in the middle of the turning circle had a lot more scrub in it, mainly small trees and undergrowth. The walking tracks go off to the left of where those vehicles are parked and we camped over on the far right.

If you watch the rest of the video from there you will see some more examples of the Lost City rock formations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG7cLOuWo34

[Wolf]

I'm pretty sure I remember the local tribes warned people to stay away from Black mountain because it is the home of the Rainbow Serpent I think it was.... ?

[paulmcleod67]

"At around 3am my camping buddy got up to relieve herself and went to the back of my vehicle to get some girl things out of her bag."

If it was that time of moth for her, that would certainly attract a male from the scrub and the timing sounds about right at 3am when humans are supposed to be in REM sleep.

Just a thought.

Cheers

[paulmcleod67]

month not moth...I apologize I'm typing in the dark.

Cheers

[micathia]

Micathia, you owe someone a kidney.

The Lost City is a collection of rock formations that have left behind as the softer sandstone cap of the table top range eroded away. Pieces of rock will also fracture and break away (like bricks) which is why some of them look surprisingly geometrical and manmade.

It's not a unique event either but most places aren't as easily accessible.

Rocks.png

I believe many of the rock formations in the Blue Mountains have a similar history as that entire area was apparently once underwater.

Even as far south as Katherine many of the rock ridges are remnants of coral. It's safe to say that most geological attractions have been millions of years in the making. The Devil's Marbles near Tennant Creek are another good example of what nature can do with enough time.

Marbles.jpg

Marbles 2.jpg

Marbles 3.jpg

Black Mountain near Cooktown is amazing but it's hard to find a picture that does it any justice. It's literally a mountain of boulders sitting by itself. In fact, I think David Paulides mentioned it during one of his talk-back interviews after he had finished researching in Australia for one of his Missing 411 books. He's got a thing for boulders, I think because they have some proximity to many of his missing people cases, but it seems like bit of a stretch to me. It's like saying people go missing because of all the trees in the forest. Boulders are pretty much everywhere but Black Mountain is like the Holy Grail for boulder enthusiasts.

Black Mountain.jpg

Anyway, I happened to find a video of some tourist's trip to the Lost City. It's pretty boring but if you fast forward to 23:20 and pause you'll see the dirt turning circle I mentioned. The video is a few years old but when we were camped there that patch in the middle of the turning circle had a lot more scrub in it, mainly small trees and undergrowth. The walking tracks go off to the left of where those vehicles are parked and we camped over on the far right.

If you watch the rest of the video from there you will see some more examples of the Lost City rock formations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG7cLOuWo34

Ok, the screen shot grabbed from your video is even better. within the red circle, I don't believe it is formed naturally. The straight lines are obvious, similar structure is seen in many other ancient sites. I reckon it is even harder to propose some idea like "this Australian site might be ancient" than saying "yowie/bigfoot is real". Digging in Egypt, Iraq and India is definitely look more "smart" and more "professional" and more "mainstream" than digging there.

[TheBlackStump]

Australia is ancient IMO.
Those lines where the rocks join are not natural. I have seen examples of the exact same thing in NSW.
That rock sitting up top may have been put there in the distant past......

[micathia]

Australia is ancient IMO.
Those lines where the rocks join are not natural. I have seen examples of the exact same thing in NSW.
That rock sitting up top may have been put there in the distant past......

maybe a civilization even before the "last civilization".