Yowie Progressive Campfire Stories During the winter of 1942 a party of four bushmen There’s nothing better than a good story told around were returning from a horseback visit to the Barrington the campfire. If you’re holidaying with kids a pro- Campfire Tops. At a spot about 5km south-east of Carey’s Peak gressive story is a great way to include everyone and their dogs became very excited, racing about, every spin a yarn to remember. Yarns bristle they owned standing stiff. The basic format is for one person to begin by The men noticed the dogs had been following a track saying; Barrington Tops of very large unusual looking footprints heading in the Once upon a time there was a ____ and they went Gloucester Region direction of the western edge of the Allyn Valley. While on a _____ and they found _____ etc. the footprints looked they were far to large for each person around the campfire gets a turn at add- a normal man, with the foot impressions measured ing their own spin to the story, as little or as much as 23cm in length. the imagination allows. Yowie The Yowie is steeped in Australian myth and legend. After tracking the footprints for a kilometre they came Other variations to the progressive story include; Often described as a large hairy , humanoid like to a sheer drop where the footprints ended. Where it creature, the Yowie is ’s equivalent to the appeared that the creature had lowered itself down fortunately / unfortunately North American Big Foot and the Himalayan Abomi- the cliff, using vines. Each person has the option to say fortunately or un- nable Snowman. fortunately before they start retelling their part of Mixing clay from a nearby creek the bushmen made a the story. Taking the story in either an upbeat direc- The Yowie file tells us that Australian Aborigines crude cast of the footprint, which they presented to a tion or a dark and sinister direction. often warned British settlers to beware of huge, ape scientist at Taronga Park Zoo. They were advised that -like creatures that lurked in the rugged mountains the foot impressions looked similar to a large bear or ABC and deep forests of the Australian mainland. Their and it was suggested that the creature was an The first word of your part of the story needs to people, they said, had been encountering the hairy escaped circus animal. start with A, the next person their first word must creatures since time immemorial. They knew them start with B etc. by many names, including doolagarl, thoolagarl, Information courtesy of jurrawarra and tjangara. www.australianyowieresearchcentre.com Soon the colonists, too, began to experience hair- raising encounters with the elusive, foul-smelling

giants, which they referred to as “youries”. Today, Gloucester they are generally referred to as yowies. The list of modern-day eyewitnesses includes zoologists, rang- Visitor Information Centre ers, surveyors and members of the elite Special Air 27 Denison Street Gloucester 2422 Service Regiment, which suggests the mysterious AUSTRALIA creatures really do exist.

02 6538 5252 Information courtesy of [email protected] www.gloucestertourism.com.au www.yowiefile.com

Drop Bears The Barrington Lights Bunyips The Drop Bear, is a large, aboreal predatory marsupial There have been many sightings for the Barrington The bunyip is a mythical creature — a lake monster related to the Koala Thylarctos plummetus. Lights. The following is an account by a local farmer — from Australian folklore; the word itself means who managed to take over 100 photos of strange “devil” or “spirit.” According to Aboriginal legend, Approximately the size of a leopard or very large dog looking and moving lights over his property during the bloodthirsty bunyip inhabited swamps, riv- with coarse orange fur with some darker mottled 1997. Near the end of last year, whenever he had a erbeds, billabongs (the stagnant backwaters of a patterning (as seen in most Koalas). It is a heavily built sighting, he woke up the next day to the sound of mili- river), and even wells, and lay in wait at night to animal with powerful forearms for climbing and holding tary jets and helicopters flying about the mountain devour any animal or person lurking nearby. on to prey. It lacks canines, using broad powerful pre- ranges as if searching for something. There are no molars as biting tools instead. Size range120kg, 130cm roads beyond his place, just thick and wild "bush". Stories tell us that the Bunyip had a particular fond- long, 90 cm at the shoulder. Soon afterwards, the sightings stopped and nothing ness for the sweet flesh of women and children. more has been seen or photographed in 1998 The legend also held that the bunyip was a very Drop Bears can be found in the densely forested regions aggressive hairy animal with supernatural powers. of the in South-eastern Australia. The photos were taken at Barrington Tops during May Not one to surprise unsuspecting interlopers, the However there are also some reports of them from through August of 1997. A series of photos (not bunyip warned its victims of their imminent doom South-east . Drop Bears prefer closed shown) shows three small lights appearing to enter a with terrifying howls. Some Aborigines (today the canopy forest as well as open woodland on the margins larger glowing object. more commonly accepted term is Indigenous Aus- of dense forest. tralians) avoided swampy areas out of fear of being Information courtesy of grabbed and eaten. Drop Bears hunt by ambushing ground dwelling animals www.ufoinfo.com from above, waiting up to as much as four hours to In the mid-1800s, an unidentified skull was found make a surprise kill. Once prey is within view, the Drop along a river bank in New South Wales that seemed Bear will drop as much as eight metres to pounce on to prove the existence of bunyips. Many observers top of the unsuspecting victim. The initial impact often were not convinced, and believed the skull discov- stuns the prey, allowing it to be bitten on the neck and ery was a hoax. Research was halted because the quickly subdued. skull mysteriously disappeared after a few days on exhibit at the Australian Museum in Sydney. Coinci- Bush walkers have been known to be 'dropped on' by dentally, reports of bunyip sightings increased dra- drop bears, resulting in injury including mainly lacera- matically during this time. tions and occasionally bites. Most attacks are consid- ered accidental and there are no reports of incidents Even though today most Australians consider the being fatal. bunyip to be mythical, they have not dismissed its lore. In fact, the National Library of Australia spon- There are some suggested folk remedies that are said to sors a traveling exhibition on bunyips, and several act as a repellent to Drop Bears, these include having folk-tales appear on the government’s Web site. In forks in the hair or Vegemite spread behind the ears. addition, a set of four postage stamps has been is- There is no evidence to suggest that any such repellents sued with different version of its likeness to com- work. memorate the legendary bunyip.

Information courtesy of Information courtesy of www.australianmuseum.net.au/drop-bear www.paranormal-encyclopedia.com