Lantern Ghost Tours: Haunted Times July 2012

Phone: 1300 390 119 www.lanternghosttours.com

Haunted Times

Welcome to the seventh edition of Haunted Times. July was a busy month! We survived another 48 hr sleep deprivation challenge on the eternally creepy J Ward Lunatic Asylum sleepover. Dave and Josh from the Silic & Lee show braved the Ghosts of the Old City tour (lookout for the show in 2013). We ran our first Old Surfers Paradise Ghost Tour as featured in the Sunday Mail and Great South East. We said farewell to our friends from Sea Shepherd who have left Williamstown to save the largest humpback whale sanctuary in the world in Western Australia. Jacqui was thrilled to be shortlisted for the Telstra Business Women's Awards. Luckily we still have a lot to look forward to in August: we are busy preparing for our special, one off Valley of the Gods Haunted Weekend Away to the beautiful village of Walhalla (only a few spaces left).

Happy Haunting
The Lantern Ghost Tours Team

SPECIAL ONE OFF TOUR: Friday 24th TO 26th August

Only a couple of spaces left for this limited edition tour!!! Join us for a haunted weekend away to the beautiful, historic and haunted “Valley of the Gods” Walhalla. Once a thriving gold mining town, Walhalla is now a village where ghosts outnumber its 15 residents! The weekend package includes 2 nights haunted accommodation in the former Primary School, a paranormal investigation, Walhalla Ghost Tour, 4WD adventure to hidden ghost towns and a visit to Australia’s most unique cemetery. Includes 2 breakfasts, 2 dinners, ghost tour, 4WD tour, cemetery tour, paranormal investigation, 2 nights haunted accommodation. One tour only: Friday 24th to Sunday 26th August. Book Now.

NEW TOUR: Old Surfers Paradise Ghost Tour

Congratulations to Jaime, Rebecca and Sarah for their brand new Old Surfers Paradise Ghost tour. The very first tour ran on Friday 13th July and despite the rain, has become instantly popular with tourists and locals keen to discover the darker side of Australia's favourite playground. Don’t be fooled by the modern exterior, Surfers Paradise is steeped in history. The coastline first appeared on a map in 1509 during the reign of King Henry VIII (infamous for beheading his wives). Lantern Ghost Tours have received hundreds of emails and phone calls about ghost sightings in
the area, making the area one of the most unique haunted locations in the world, with modern buildings masking a spiritual underworld. The new tour has already featured in the Sunday Mail and will feature on Channel 7s Great South East. Discover the dark side of Surfers Paradise for yourself on the Old Surfers Paradise Ghost Tour. Book Now.

GHOST TOUR SPOTLIGHT: J Ward Lunatic Asylum Ghost Tour

Be committed for an evening. Enter the cells of the criminally insane if you dare. Walk in the footsteps of self mutilators, men with superhuman powers and infamous characters linked to the Queen. Learn of governors who have murdered inmates, prisoners buried in the grounds and the many souls trapped within these walls. J Ward became a ward (J Ward) of the Ararat Lunatic Asylum in the mid 1880s to house the most depraved and most dangerous men in Victoria in horrific conditions under the highest security. Shockingly, it only closed in 1991 and now offers a glimpse of life for Victoria's Criminally Insane men. Lantern Ghost Tours have been running ghost tours, paranormal investigations and sleepovers at the J Ward Lunatic Asylum for over 2 years and have discovered many of the trapped souls that still linger. Join one of our award winning tours of Australia’s most infamous asylums. Book now.

ENTER CODE "VIP" FOR 10% DISCOUNT

COMMUNITY: Steve Irwin to Commence Operation Kimberley Miinimbi

On Sunday July 22, the MY Steve Irwin under the command of Captain Malcolm Holland left Seaworks Williamstown, Melbourne Australia en route to Broome in a last ditch effort to save the largest humpback whale nursery in the world. The Steve Irwin was given a very moving send off with a Smoking Ceremony from Rodney Augustine, who is a Nyul Nyul and Jabir Jabir man whose land and sea country is at risk due to the proposed Woodside gas hub. Read more.

FRIDAY 13TH: A Special Evening

By Tour Guide Extraordinaire: Ann C

Driving through thick fog on the Point Cook Homestead Road reinforced the isolation that folk living in the area would have felt in the nineteenth century. The beams of the headlights blended with fog, giving no clear outlines but a vague and mysterious future. The fog continued on the driveway to the homestead itself, the car jolting through the potholes. As guests arrived it was clear that the fog had provided an eerie stage setting and that the Homestead had done itself proud with first impressions.

But it didn’t stop there. A short way into the tour the fog lifted and we were under a clear black winter sky pricked with silver stars. Beautiful. And the ghostly inhabitants of the homestead played their parts. A thud in the cellar had guests jumping, it was repeated when requested. Also in the cellar a young woman felt an invisible hand grasp her arm. The black fur jacket of one of our guests was apparently irresistible, and was stroked in the hallway between the smoking room and the sitting room. The copper divining rods crossed in Thomas’ and Andrew’s bedrooms and uncrossed when asked.

At the end of the tour a woman came up to me and told me that she had just received a phone call from her husband. She asked him why he had rung. He said “You rang me” She hadn’t, and she could think of no way she had accidently called him. Friday the 13^th of July was a night of possibility at Point Cook Homestead. I am glad I was there to feel it and share it.

AWARDS: Telstra Women's Business Awards

Congratulations to Jacqui for being shortlisted for the Telstra Business Women's Awards in two categories: Nokia Innovation Award and Commonwealth Bank Business Owner Award. Lantern Ghost Tours have also been shortlisted for the Wyndham Business Awards. Read full article.

MEDIA: Silic & Lee Show

Ross, Jacqui and Andrew had a ball scaring the crew from the Silic & Lee Show on a private Ghosts of the Old City, Williamstown Tour last Thursday. We had an unusually high level of paranormal activity with a sighting of a female apparition at the Titanic Theatre Restaurant, a few scares in the old morgue where one of the camera men was so scared he ran into the wall, Dave being frightened in the old opium den and the EMFs triggering in unison and responding to all our questions. Poor old Josh also found a mysterious, unexplained text message on his phone at the end of the tour and we had to cleanse two of the crews' vehicles so they could drive them home! You can watch the show early 2013. Visit their facebook page.

TOUR GUIDE SPOTLIGHT: Johnny

Johnny has been scaring groups of people on the Old Melbourne and Altona Homestead Ghost Tours for almost 2 years. He has had women fall for him...literally...at Altona Pier and some strange requests.....

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT GHOST HUNTING? I like meeting new people, hearing their experiences and encounters and getting outdoors amongst the general public...it gets so lonely at psych ward...

DO YOU GET SCARED? The tour and content don't scare me, some of the colourful folks who call the CBD home can however be a little unnerving....

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE NOT GHOST HUNTING? I'm an actor, drama teacher and avid hydroponic peach farmer - I could eat a peach for hours..

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS? while dressed in full period costume one evening,a bunch of well lubricated Irish chaps mistook me for Harry Potter and asked, very enthusiastically, if I would do them a "fecking trick...." But alas,I don't do requests...

HOW DID YOU GET INTO THIS? When my job at the disposable cigarette lighter repair factory was made redundant,I needed a new challenge...An audition notice was posted, my people spoke to their people, and that, they say, is your fathers brother...

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