National Park After Dark - History and Haunts of Oz: Sydney Harbour National Park

Episode Date: October 28, 2024

One of Australia’s most haunted locations sits in the same harbor as one of the country’s most visited landmarks. Across the bay from the Opera House lies the remnants of the oldest and longest running Quarantine station in Oz’s history. Over 500 people lost their lives here, and it's long been said several of them have never left.For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials:Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to this week’s partners!Uncommon Goods: Use our link to get 15% off your next giftSoul:  For 30% off your order, head to GetSoul.com and use code NPAD.Lume Deodorant: Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with@lumedeodorant and get 15% off with promo code NPAD at LumeDeodorant.com! #lumepodBetterHelp: National Park After Dark is sponsored by BetterHelp. Get 10% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Limitless. Now open your eyes. Go to Monday.com. Start for free and finally. Breathe. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice.

Off campus, L, every year after, the love hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. we cannot see with the naked eye has always driven us forward in our quest for understanding. The limits to our vision have limited us for centuries until we began to question, just because we cannot see it, does that truly mean it isn't there? That inquiry changed the way we viewed the world and beyond.

Telescopes picked up faraway galaxies and opened our minds to more questions, including opening the door to conversation about intergalactic intelligent life. microscopes honed in on minuscule organisms, answering long-pondered questions about disease, which puzzled us for most of human history. Spectrum analyzers helped us see radio waves, so we could better understand the function of our hearts. We take this knowledge and these devices for granted now, but before their invention, anyone who poised theories about what they ultimately revealed were largely dismissed, and sometimes ridiculed.

One of history's best exemplifications of this is Ignaz Semmelweis. The Hungarian physician who noticed women in the maternity ward were dying at an alarming rate after being treated by doctors who performed autopsies. His hypothesis of death particles that were somehow being transferred from cadavers to new mothers during delivery was literally laughed at. Today we remember him as the father of hygiene and washing our hands is second nature. But at a time where so much of what we consider to be best, valid rode on what we could literally see right in front of us, Semmelweis only earned widespread

acceptance years after his death. His story has become a lesson to us all, to stop and consider just because we cannot see something, and science hasn't yet proven its existence, or rather, we do not yet have the scientific tools to understand its existence, doesn't necessarily mean something isn't there. Welcome to National Park After Dark. This feels like a hospital episode. Does it feel like a spooky hospital episode? Because that was the vibe I was going for. Well, it's pretty scary to think of that a woman giving birth is being treated by a doctor who performed an autopsy before that and didn't wash their hands.

So that's definitely scary. That is frightening. Yeah. But that's the only time we're going to talk about that. So we'll just leave that there. But yeah, when I was researching Semmelweis and his story briefly, clearly just for the introduction, but there was a quote that one of the other physicians said when they were speaking about his theory and considering his theory of the transfer of germs and things like that, they basically were saying, how could gentlemen have germs? Like a gentleman couldn't possibly. Like a man of stature couldn't have a germ.

A doctor? Me? A doctor? No. With germs? Who doesn't wash their hands? We've come a long way. Yeah.

The invention of soap changed a lot of things. The use of soap using it. Yeah. It's crazy. It's crazy to think that there was a time that, and of course, now we know, so that's why it's crazy, but it's crazy to think that there was a time where you're, you know, it's crazy to think that there was a time where your doctors weren't washing their hands or you weren't washing your hands ever just to like you're eating food you're putting your hands like you touch your face so many times a day and just like eating

food and touching other things never washing your hands ever i heard a statistic once and i don't know where it was probably on the internet without any sort of credible backing so i'm not exactly sure of this statistic but it's always kind of stuck with me that you touch your face three thousand times a day That can't be true. I don't know. Three thousand times a day. Like one, two, three, four, five. I just did five.

So quick. That's true. But like. Like brushing your hair from your face or I don't know. Or just like sometimes when I'm like thinking I'll like kind of just like hold my chin a little bit. Not like pondering like. Yeah. But I'll, you know, I'll just rub my jaw or so.

I don't know. But I try not to because of. the leaps and bounds that we've both taken with investing in skincare. Yeah. I'm trying to do the math on that. So let me see. So if we're touching our face 3,000 times a day, that's 24 hours. Do 12 hours because we're asleep. Let's say we're asleep for 12 on a good day. So in 12 hours, we touch our face 3,000 times. Again, I'm just saying this is probably right. Okay. So there's 12 hours. We're doing 12 hours. 12 hours. I guess it would be do 3,000 divided by 12. That's good. I was trying to put it into a minute. So that means that we would

do our face 250 times an hour. Okay. So we're wrong. I'm wrong. Or that person was wrong. But it's a lot. Maybe Google it. See what the actual number is. Four times a minute. How often does... Maybe that's true. That doesn't feel totally impossible. Four times a minute. Right?

Yeah. Okay. Hold on. No. No. This is wrong. The first thing that comes up is like an article, mostly focusing on COVID. But it says that research shows that we touch our faces 20.

23 times an hour. So it's way less than 3,000, but that's still a lot. That is. Okay, that literally has nothing to do with this episode. And I'm so sorry for getting us off the rails right away. If anybody is listening to this for the very first time, hi, I'm Danielle and that's Cassie. And we talk about death and awful events in national parks. And facts that aren't true sometimes. and we debunk them while we're on the podcast. Yeah. Okay. Well, also, if you're listening right now and you have never watched our YouTube, we're also on YouTube and you can actually see us talking too.

Yeah, you can, which is weird for me still. And it looks like Cassie just got back from a or is in Aruba. You're tan. You're in a tank top. You look like you're living a different life than me. I'm pale and I have like five layers on. Where? What's happening? Is it warm up there? Yeah. Is it not warm at you? Where you are? At you? At me? No, not really. It's 65 degrees in sunny here already and we're recording this in the morning. Yeah, I don't know. It's not that, it's not that warm here yet. And the office just because it's above the garage, it heats up really slowly. So it's always kind of chilly here. But anyway, okay, enough talking except for the fact that I have to tell everyone. talking on this podcast. I'm not going to say another word. Just listen for the next hour in silence.

Yeah, it's a meditation podcast. Last weekend. So we're recording a week in advance. So as of like, I guess two weeks ago now when everyone's listening, I went to the Titanic exhibit over the weekend. And it was really fun. And if anyone is in Boston or in the Boston area, the exhibit's going to be there for a few months. I went on opening day because I'm like, I have I got to be there. I got to be there. So I went on opening day and it was really cool. It was small compared to some of the other exhibits I've seen, but it is a traveling exhibit. But it's really cool. And they have a lot of recreations of different parts of the ship, different the first through third classes and the big infamous staircase. And it's just, it was really, really cool. So if anyone's looking for something to do in the New England area that likes the Titanic, you should go. So it was really cool. What have you been up to? Not too much. It was my dad's birthday this past weekend. So I was in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, hang out for a few days. And now I'm back and just doing so fun fact, it's October here, but I live at 2,000 feet elevation. So it has started snowing here. And it

is time to winterize everything. So that's my plan today is I still have a lot of garden stuff out that I need to like take in the hoses, bring in, um, just kind of winterize things to prepare for the snow that's here. It has since melted at my elevation, but we got over a foot higher than me. So winter is coming. We always joke is November 1st. Yeah, winter's coming. Game of Thrones. Uh, and we always joke here that November 1st is the first day winter up here and it snows every day, uh, until spring. So November 1st is right around the corner. So I got to get ready. Yep, got to prepare. Yeah. Okay, well, we're going somewhere for this episode that doesn't get snow. We're going abroad. We haven't done a story outside of the United States in quite a while,

I feel like. So we are actually heading to Australia for today's story. Cool. It's on, it's on my list. Definitely. I've never been to Australia. I know. When we were in Borneo, Cassie was like, I'm just going to go to Australia. It's just, it's right there. It's literally right there. It's literally right there. And I'm like, yeah, looking at the map on Google Maps, it's such a good idea. Yeah, you should totally just pop on over. Pop on over, yeah, after like another 14 hour flight somehow. So she scrapped that pretty quickly. But yeah, it's like, it was actually 17 hours. I was like, yes. Yes. I guess it all does depend also on where you were going in Australia from Borneo. I was trying to go to Sydney. And it was just like, it's.

is totally across. I thought it was going to be, I was naive. I thought it would be like a five-hour flight and it was not. So, yeah. Some of us think we touch their face three thousand times a day and other people think that Australia is five hours from Borneo and that's just how it is. But we are going to Sydney for today's story. So you can have fun that way. Girl, winter is so last season. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress. Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope.

It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. So we're going to Australia's Sydney Harbor National Park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And this park is actually pretty small, coming in at under 1,000 acres, but it consists of five small harbor islands, rugged sandstone cliffs, sheltered beaches, bushlands, and hiking trails that all hold a lot of history, lengthy Aboriginal history, colonial and military histories. Northhead, the scenic area the park is located on, has a long and rich Aboriginal history prior to colonization, as does pretty much every park we've ever spoken about and ever will. Northhead, also known as Karangal, was home to several Aboriginal groups, including the Gaimai and Karaji, who utilized the area as an

important ceremonial site and as a place of significant teaching and remains a place of significance today. The British colonists also had their first and earliest recorded contact with the Aboriginal peoples here at this location on North Head in January of 1788. Today, visitors to this spot will be in the park, and in the winter months, they have a perfect whale watching opportunities, while atop the harbor's beautiful coastline that overlooks one of the world's most famous harbors and can choose from different islands within the park to hike, picnic, swim, and snorkel, or just join guided historic tours. With its picturesque lookouts, grassy knolls, and bushlands teeming with wildlife, this national park is a top destination for romantic getaways, weddings, and special events.

One of the locations known for its luxurious accommodations within the national park is named the Cue Station. The space advertises these rooms and sweets and cottages and lounges. They say come and stay here. They advertise the beautiful French doors that lead out onto these balconies that overlook the bay and the water. There's large comfy beds to tangle up in. There's private bathrooms with soaking tubs and these big suites with adjoining kind of like parlor rooms all just advertise as this beautiful romantic escape or an escape to go to. with your family for some bonding time, just the ultimate relaxation. I mean, I'm convinced their marketing has worked for me.

Yeah, you should see the pictures, too. But these rooms, suites, and cottages are buildings that once served a completely different purpose. They functioned as barracks, hospitals, and segregating housing complexes for over 13,000 people for over 100 years. Thousands of people poured in here from ships entering Sydney Harbor arriving from all over the world. but the people weren't here by choice. The Q station, as we know it today, was originally the North Head Quarantine Station, where 572 people died from diseases such as smallpox, the Spanish influenza, the bubonic plague, scarlet fever, and more.

And today are buried on site and may just pay you a visit while you're visiting the park. Less convinced. Well, I'm more convinced. I don't know how that happened. I know you are. So let's get familiar with the quarantine station and what it was like for the people who spent time here. By 1832, Sydney was pretty terrified about the possibility of the spread of deadly infectious diseases coming in aboard the various passenger and cargo ships that were entering the harbor and their country from various parts of the world. After a disastrous voyage and subsequent quarantine of the Lady Maggotten in which 73 passengers and crew died, the governor formally requested. funds for the establishment of a permanent quarantine station at this site at North Head.

In response, Parliament sanctioned an isolated area on the edge of Sydney Harbor, about 10 kilometers from the community itself that would serve as the country's first permanent quarantine station that would forcibly quarantine ships, which arrived from infected ports upon their arrival to the country. The quarantine station was opened in 1833, and the first step upon arrival was disinfection. And from that time when it first opened, up until the early 1900s, this process was extremely basic and less effective than desired. And we're pretty much talking. The ships would come in. There would be tents that were set up above the cliffs, on the cliffs, above the beach. And people would just kind of be put there and sequestered there until they either died or

showed signs of recovering from whatever ailment they had. So were there any treat? So what was the disinfecting? The disinfecting portion would come a little bit later. But at this point in time from the 1830s when it first opened to the early 1900s, the understanding of diseases was pretty limited. There were pretty much mysteries, how they were transmitted, how to treat them, etc. They were all kind of big unknowns. So the establishment of an efficient and effective process was trial and error for the most part for the very beginning, the first couple decades of the quarantine station. So they pretty much just set up some tents and they were like, let's burn your clothes and you just need to stay over here until the disease is not noticed anymore or you pass away. And in 2011,

yeah. So in 1911, the director of the station was sent on a five-month trip around the world with a mission to visit other quarantine sites and note their best practices. So basically, he was studying how other quarantine stations operated. And it became apparent that Australia had been struggling with properly dealing with various endemic diseases coming their way, smallpox at this point in time in particular. So he set out to learn and bring back all of his observations and what was working best for other places and put it into practice at the quarantine station at North Head. Maybe I'll get into this, but do you know, like, how he was protecting himself from these

diseases while he was hopping, like, around all these quarantine stations? I don't get into it, and I don't know, but he was fine. Interesting. Yeah. Well, and I have to imagine he wasn't going to travel comes with risk of picking up bugs and things like that, especially if you're going for that sole purpose. to places, infected areas that you know there are, there is the presence of various diseases. But he wasn't like throwing himself into the general population. He was going to speak to the

operators of the, the quarantine stations. And, you know, he wasn't like going into the population. He wasn't talking to the patients or anything. Right. Because the patients don't know anything about how it's operated. He's talking there. Yeah, to like the superintendent and things like that. Okay. That makes more sense. So he brings back a bunch of information and all these best practices and implements them. And it changes the way that North Head was operated completely. So once a ship would pull into the bay at Sydney Harbor Cue Station, a doctor from the queue station would row out to the ship and check in with the captain.

Just to get an idea of how many people were ill, how many people were being treated, and for what diseases. The sick would then be taken first off this ship and sent directly to the hospital, while healthy or asymptomatic people would be instructed to take one change of clothing with them and would be brought to shore to the wharf where the disinfection process began in the bathing blocks, which were buildings that contained about two dozen showers each, and there were three of them. And these are not, they're basically, they look like buildings of sheet metal that were constructed and divided into little cubicles, like kind of like step one, step two, step three type of thing for each shower. A foreman and a superintendent would be yelling instructions. The idea was to get passengers moving as quickly as possible to limit the chance of the spread of disease. So it wasn't like a, okay, we're going to take a nice shower now. You can place your belongings over there and like take your time.

No, it was like, let's get a move on here. Their change of clothing would then be taken and sent directly to large auto claves for sterilization while their personal possessions were taken and sent to what was called the baker's oven where it was placed on this kind of like track, which would be sent through a decontamination process that was designed to kill any insects or vermin. that were creep crawling around. In their clothes. And in their luggage.

Remember, this is the late 1800s, early 1900s. So yes. Just picturing like in your clothes, you have a mouse in your pocket. Like, what are you doing? It's not on purpose. But yeah, so that was for their personal belongings. And meanwhile, people are walking to the showers with just one change of clothing. When they arrived at the shower, the bathing stations, the passengers would be sent into

a waiting room until the next shower bay was available to wait their turn. They'd be lined up, instructed to take a step into the cubicle in the shower to disrobe, and their clothes would be placed into a wire basket and taken away for sterilization while they moved into the shower portion. The showers ran with hot water, which was actually a first time experience for a lot of these people who came from places, countries, or an area that does not have a running water or be hot water. So this is like a first time experience for a lot of people. Like, ooh, what's this? I like it here.

Well, no, because this isn't just hot water. It's cutting edge technology for a lot of these people. But it's not like a spa experience because, yes, there's hot water. but it is mixed with carbolic acid, which do you know what carbolic acid is? No, but acid and water don't sound good. Yeah, so this poisonous chemical is a substance that's used to make plastics, epoxy, and used to kill germs. And this addition, sometimes, depending on the quantity of how much was put into the water

tanks would sometimes take off a layer of people's skin while they were. I mean, it's like a full-body chemical peel. You can think of it that way. Skin care. It makes you feel better. Head-to-to-treatment. Like they come out younger. Yeah.

Like, you know how much we pay for that for just our face? Yeah. And you got a whole body treatment? Amazing. That's not going to age well. But okay. So after you're done with this, oh, also there's the addition of the foreman and the superintendents would also be watching you through a peephole that was drilled into the side of

the shower wall to make sure that people were actually getting under the water and fully soaking themselves. So you have. I mean, I know I joke that it's a chemical appeal, but I mean, this sounds horrific and horrible. And people are watching you. Men, strange men are watching you from a little people in the side of the wall. Yeah. I imagine most of these people coming in are men.

Well, right? Oh, because a lot. of these people are immigrants coming to find a new life. Like there are tons of family as women and children. This was like cargo ship kind of things, like people bringing in goods from other countries for some reason. There's both. There's both. And there's also a lot of military coming in because of World War I and World War II that happened in the time frame that this Q station is running and functioning. It ran for over 150 years. Oh, okay. Yeah. So. So, So there's people from all ages coming here, a lot of families.

After you're done with your shower, you'd be given your change of clothing, which had been sterilized while you were going through the showering process. Or those of others, like, they're not always keeping track of, oh, this is your clothes. Sometimes people got other people's clothing. And then you were sent to your accommodations. The showers were divided by class first through third. And the experiences from then on forward for those who were required to be at. Northhead Station varied wildly based on a few things in addition to their class. The circumstances in which they arrived if their ship was infected with any sort of disease and if so,

which won, as well as their race and their gender. Prior to the 1850s, accommodations were barrack style, very basic for all classes, everyone coming in, and the entire station was pretty rudimentary for everybody. However, by the 1870s, passengers began demanding that their accommodation, at the quarantine station reflected their ticket status and their standard of travel. So I imagine that this is the first class started demanding this because I don't foresee anyone in the third class demanding that type of. They be treated as third class. Yeah.

So in response to that, the queue station built new facilities for the first and second class while the barracks became the third class accommodations. The entire property's holding capacity was about 1,200, although 2,500 people were housed here during the peak of one of the deadliest pandemics in world history, which was the Spanish flu. In response to this influx, patients were put out in tents outside, on the porches, just kind of scattered everywhere. Clearly, they're over 1,000 over capacity, holding capacity, so they had to make up for it somehow. For those in first class who were lucky enough to not be sick, their time at the queue station was kind of like an extended holiday.

They had access to tennis courts, swimming pools, and even concerts and dances. And their dining hall and their living quarters were small in comparison to the second and third class accommodations because there were proportionally less first class ticket holders usually traveling at this time. But they were all very well adorned and decorated. Their dining hall had a big nice fireplace. Everyone got dressed up for dinner time and would dine together every night. Their meals were prepared by chefs and they were waited on by stewards. It was a pretty fancy experience for being quarantined. No wonder why they argued for that.

I mean, versus barracks versus that. Yeah, it's an upgrade for sure. Yeah, they won on that type for sure. A news article from a local paper published in 1913 describes it in part saying, quote, Those who are merely detained as contacts have about 500 acres of grounds to ramble over. In good weather, the days pass like a picnic. There are paths and retreats and open well-grassed plots. Cricket has been played, fishing is open to all, and those who like swimming have it in abundance.

So, I mean, that feels like a vacation to me. For sure. Second class had a similar yet less luxurious experience. However, most people arrived in the third class and they had a vastly different experience. Many of those passengers were soldiers returning from war. And keep in mind that these men are already going through it. I mean, they're coming back from war. And some of them are ill with disease, which is primarily the reason that they're there.

Others are seriously wounded while some, in a best case scenario, are just exhausted. you know, they're tired and they want to just go home. But others are suffering from PTSD, all making for a third-class experience that was less than ideal. For example, in February of 1919, the ship that Argonne arrived at the station. And this is a ship full of soldiers coming back from the First World War. They had already been delayed several times on their way back for various different reasons. And when they arrived at the queue station, things got worse.

they were kept in limbo first of all on the ship for four days, literally just hanging in the port because they weren't allowed on land yet because there was a big debate for some reason regarding the ship, regarding who was responsible for them, whether it was the military or the queue station. And I'm not sure why that is because so many different military ships and soldiers came to the queue station over its history. And so I'm not sure why this particular ship had this problem, but either way, it was pissing off the soldiers. They were just sitting as it should on the ship for over four days. And as the debate wore on, the troops were getting fed up, and several of the men attempted to pull up anchor and steer the ship towards the main port in Sydney. But they were ultimately stopped. In a second attempt to escape their confines on the ship, 42 men commandeered three different lifeboats and were able to escape. They were eventually all rounded up by police, but two men actually made it as far away as Newcastle. which is about 100 miles away. So they were on it.

When a decision was ultimately made and the men were finally allowed to the queue station, they were required to carry their own packs and kits a mile uphill to their quarters, which turned out to be a patch of grass. So they had to dig their own trenches and pitch their own tents that would serve as their accommodation. And there was also the matter of the brown snakes that were prevalent on the grounds of the queue station. Oh, yeah, we're in Australia. Yep. And on their first night, they documented that they killed over 60 of these snakes that were slithering in and out of their tents and all around the area that they were to stay.

So it's just I say that as an example of the difference in because the soldiers were not treated as first class. They're coming back. Which is crazy. Like, thank you for serving our country, but here's like the shit end of the stick. Right. And as I mentioned, usually the worst of the worst patients and passengers and crew members that were coming in would be taken directly to the hospital. But, I mean, there are other people here that are probably not feeling their greatest. They're going through it.

And they're like, all right, take all your crap and hike up a mile uphill. And you're already tired and exhausted. And you can like figure it out. And we'll get to you eventually. Yeah. And I imagine like if this is where you live, you're coming home for more. And you want to see your wife, your children, your family members. And now you're stuck in this place that is treating you horribly.

You don't know when you're going to get to leave. You're doing kind of hard labor just to live there. And now you're maybe you're only a couple miles from where your family lives, but you're stuck in this spot. Yeah. And not being treated fairly. Yeah. While other people can just buy a place to sit in front of a fireplace and go swimming and play tennis. And be served.

And be served as chef. And you just fought for your country. And this is how you're being treated. It's wild. Well, it does get worse as far as how people were treated. Because remember, the station. I figured. Yeah.

Because remember, I said the station didn't just segregate people by class. They also segregated people by race. And at this time in Australian history, people of Chinese descent had it really terribly. So in regards to the queue station specifically, upon arrival, people of Chinese descent were not permitted ashore until they quarantined first on their boats for 21 days, which was not a thing for nearly everybody else. 21 days is so long. Yep. Then once that time period was up, they would have to give over all of their belongings and clothing, which was standard for everybody else to go through the baker's oven and the, you know, auto claves and things like that. But yeah, actually, they would just burn everything for...

They wouldn't get any of their belongings back? No, everything would be burned. And it wasn't until 1904 until they were actually given actual structural accommodations because before they were just intense or just rudimentary things that were thrown up on the lawn. And even these structural accommodations were not great. They're, they basically looked like a three-sided sheet metal lean to, kind of like a barn. It looks like a barn to me when I was looking at some of the videos and tours that they have up on YouTube of this area. So I'm not very familiar with Australia and China's history, but do you know why Chinese people

were treated worse? Yes. So at the time, they, especially during the 1880s, there was a outbreak of smallpox. And it was wrongly believed that Chinese arrivals were to blame for the introduction and spread of smallpox. So they were treated unjustly. This is feeling very reminiscent of what's happening in today's world. I just want to say, like, this is, history repeats itself and here we are. And it's interesting you say that because I, for my research process for this episode in particular, I watched a series that.

that the queue station actually created and put up on their YouTube channel, there was like five or six, maybe up to eight short like 15-minute clips of the tour guides at the park bringing you around to each place of the queue station and going over the different histories associated with each location and the process and what it was like for people who came here and they filmed it during COVID. And they talked a lot about the parallels of, you know, what the world was going through in 2020 versus when the queue station was in operation. So they do draw a lot of parallels to that.

Yeah. So back to the awful and unjust accommodations and treatments for the Chinese who arrived here. Not only did they have these awful accommodations, each of those accommodations was divided into kind of like three sections and each section had bunk beds instead of these like big onsuits and things like that. They were bunk beds that were stacked on top of each other. Yeah. So they were three tiered bunk beds and each of them were supposed to hold 60 people in each

of these little rooms. And the sick were not separated from the well. So they're all just in a room together. They're all just in this crammed room together. They're left to their own devices to care for themselves. They're not going to the hospital on site. They were given very little supplies and they even had to cook for themselves and were given no access to running water.

That's horrible. Yeah. That's just brewing so many things here. You're going to have people who if there's no water, you can't clean yourselves. You're around sick people. You're going to get it. It's going to spread. You don't have, you have to cook your own food, but I'm assuming the food that they're

giving isn't great. And imagine you're cooking, imagine you're asymptomatic, but you're a carrier for a disease and you're cooking food for others. Yeah. You know, there's just, there's so much wrong with this clearly, but those practices did eventually change. However, I would be remiss to not mention them because it's awful. And it's part of how this station operated for a period of time. Extensive records were kept, which is how we know most of how the station was operated throughout time. However, many of the experiences of the station.

the passengers are recorded in the land itself. The station has over 1,600 inscriptions that were made by passengers and crew that are carved around North Head. So there's all of these. A lot of them are just like the ship name they came on and the date and maybe somebody's initials or the names, but some are larger and they express their fears, their experiences, or simply, like I said, just a short, like I was here on this. state. There are poems and initials and details carved in several different languages and throughout

different periods of history. And it's important to say that the station was not constantly occupied because there wasn't always a quarantine necessary. It was only when there was illness or disease noted on a ship coming in. Like every ship would come in and kind of go like, okay, is there anybody sick or ill on the ship? If so, you're going to the quarantine station. If not, you're going just straight to the main port in Sydney. So it wasn't every single ship coming in. Maybe you said this already, but how long are healthy people supposed to stay here for that are actually have gotten into the corn, not like the 21 day stuff and people out to see who are actually there. So I read that the average stay here was between three and 40 days. That's a huge range. Three or 40 days. I think

it depends on like I said, a bunch of different factors and what was going on on the ship that you arrived on. Like, imagine you're not sick, but 50 people died of something on the same vessel that you came in on. You know, it's all dependent. So while it wasn't always in operation, there were times in history that it was full and like I said earlier, completely overrun, in particular during the Spanish influenza epidemic. Worldwide, it killed an estimated 50 million people. And when it first hit in 1918, it was a complete mystery and no treatment existed. During this time at the quarantine station, an additional step was added to help combat the Spanish flu. Passengers and crew from incoming ships were taken from the vessels and dragged into inhalation chambers with 50 to 60 other people.

The doors were bolted from the outside and a small trap door on the ceiling would be opened. From there, a gas canister would be thrown into the chamber that would fill the room. And this treatment, quote unquote, would last for four minutes, which they had to endure twice. a day for three day long periods. And they did this because they thought that this practice would purify people's lungs. But in reality, the treatment actually made the disease worse if someone did in fact have it or if someone did not have it, it would make them more susceptible and more likely to contract Spanish influenza by doing this. Yeah, it sounds horrible. You just trap people into like a gas chamber essentially? It does look like a gas chamber, yeah. Yeah. Because it is. But that's the right

picture to have in mind. So during this time, the Spanish influenza, the hospital is completely inundated with people. Every single bed was filled of the sick and dying and put they were spilled out onto the porches, intense, things like that. And if you were infected, you'd typically be given a simple hospital bed in a room with dozens of other people just separated by a sheet, if anything. And if you were lucky, you had a mosquito net that you could throw over yourself. The bed would be equipped with straps as well, because during the end stages of the Spanish flu, your lungs fill with fluid and patients become really irritable and delusional and they start flailing. They're drowning in their own fluids. And be in response to that, the nurses would

give them syringes full of strychnine as a treatment, which stricknine is a poison. Strychnine is something that people put out as a poison to kill coyotes and wolves, and it causes convulsions and can lead and often leads to death. So this is... Is that what they were intending, is to kill them once they got to a certain point? No, this was just kind of like whatever acid I was talking about earlier, I already brain dumped the name. It was thought that it and the same thing with the gas chambers. It's like these are all being used as treatments because people are so unfamiliar with the disease and how to accurately

treat people with these various diseases. It's just like a big time of trial and error. And even though they thought it was helping or minimizing different symptoms, it was clearly not not doing a lot of good. Yeah, that's so scary. The doctors and nurses stayed on site on the quarantine station site, although clearly in their own separate units and housing blocks and things like that. And their jobs left them at a high risk of infection in death themselves. And several people lost their lives after exposure to various diseases brought to the land while working at the queue station. Annie Egan was one of those people. She was a 27-year-old nurse who was really early on in her career. And she volunteered at the station to aid soldiers suffering from the flu.

She arrived in November of 1918 and cared for the sick and dying. But a month later, she was dead. She was a devout Catholic. Her final wishes in her last days were to be seen by a priest so that she could be given her final rights. But her request was repeatedly denied. She spent four days, the last four days of her life, pleading with her higher-ups for religious comfort, but passed away on December 5th without receiving any. And because her-

Why did they deny her? Because they didn't want anybody from the outside coming in, no matter what the purpose was. And because her body was still highly infectious, she was buried by another nurse. Her family and friends were not allowed to be there on the grounds at the quarantine station. And she was buried with full military honors. Days later, down in Sydney, a funeral and a church service were given in Annie's honor by her family and friends. And words spread about her final request for those final rights and the

denial of that. And the community was horrified by it. They kind of got up in arms for her. And in response to the uproar, the archbishop pleaded to the government to allow the dying in the quarantine station to be allowed spiritual counsel in their final moments if they requested it. Yeah, that's awful. Your last moments and you're not even allowed to practice your faith or be comforted in that moment. And it was a big battle, but ultimately that comfort was permitted. And from then on out at the station, if they were requested, priests were allowed on site to the bedside of the dying. And again, with the height of the COVID epidemic, I mean, a personal antidote, my great aunt was dying during the time of COVID. And she was very, very close to my mom.

And she, my great aunt never married. She was such a badass. She never married and she traveled the world. She had the same job her whole life and she spent her money. She saved her money to travel the world and to. She was like the real cool aunt. Truly. Yeah, truly. And she traveled the world and then any extra money that she had, she gifted to her nieces and nephews, me and a lot of my cousins to go to school with and to further education. And she was awesome. But anyways, she had cancer. And she was admitted to the hospital in her final months because it got really, really bad. And she couldn't care for herself. And nobody was allowed to be with her because of COVID restrictions. And she passed away by herself.

So it's just that it just reminded me of that time. Like my mom literally would go outside of her hospital window to see her because there were such high restrictions on who was allowed in. And with patients. patient people, you know. At least she was able to like physically go there outside the window. You know, like a lot of people are like way up in skyscrapers and hospitals and stuff. Yeah. Way up on the floors. But that is, it's so horrible, especially knowing now what we know. What we know. Like, COVID is no longer as scary as it was when it first came out. So that's not happening in hospitals anymore. So that's awful. Yeah. There are 572 people known to have died one. on site at the quarantine station and they are buried in one of three cemeteries in the park

and they range from anybody from an infant all the way to the elderly. However, no records exist for the death tolls in the first nine years of the Q station's operation, meaning that the people who passed away there and are interred there, that number likely exceeds a thousand people. So there's 572 people who we know of. Smallpox, typhids. typhoid, scarlet fever, whooping cough, bubonic plague, and Spanish influenza were among the diseases responsible for their deaths. Despite so many burials, there are little visual remnants of the graves themselves. For example, in the second cemetery, we know that there are at least 100 people that are interred there. However, there's only one gravestone that you can visually see there today.

Only one out of 100 that they know of? Yeah. Just for various reasons, either people couldn't afford a headstone and there's just no marker there or they were damaged and removed over time. There's a bunch of different reasons. But if you're to go there to the second cemetery, there's only one actual grave marker that you can visually see. I'm so glad you asked. His name is Isaac Lowe's and he was six years old when he passed away. He arrived in 1878 to the queue station on a ship where Scarlet Fever was pretty rampant and he died of that disease once he was in quarantine. And his best friend Thomas also died the same week that Thomas did. And although only Isaac's headstone remains due to historic photographs, we know that Thomas is buried right next to his best friend because she wants to I know. I'm sorry. I could cry. Like really, I'm getting my period soon. I could cry. I feel like you say that every week. Me like a few minutes. That's awful. That's so sad. Yeah. So they, we know because of historical record that they are there side by side, but only Isaac's grave. And there's like a wrought iron metal fence kind of around his grave as well that his parents put up for him. There are also various monuments for the hundreds of people who died at sea on their way to the quarantine station that are near the cemeteries as well. Because I mean,

Yeah, so many people died once they were there, but even more people died en route there. The station operated for 156 years and was host to over 13,000 people. But with improved medical technology and the popularity of air travel, it shut its doors in March of 1984, when ownership was handed over to the government for use as a national park. The park preserves the station on the west side of Northhead, including the wharf, the showers, disinfection chambers, administrative buildings, dining halls, dorms, and hospitals. But the park also serves as a sanctuary because there are various groups that have worked really hard over the years to protect all of the land in the area due to its rich ecological value

with native and endangered populations of flora and fauna. Interestingly, this isn't the only Australian National Park that preserves a quarantine station. Point Neepin National Park in Melbourne holds the remnants of another quarantine station that was established right around the same time as North Head. But if you're in Sydney and would like to learn more about the Northhead quarantine station, the park hosts several different group and private tours that cover a ton of ground. There is a disease and burial tour where guides will explain to groups the various strange and horrifying medical practices of the time that we kind of touched upon with the whole strict nine thing.

And then there are also history tours that focus on the stories of the migrants, coming through the station, many of which were just coming in hopes and search of a new and better life. There are tours tailored to children, which goes through the process of what it was kind of like to come to the station aboard a ship, like step by step. They lead them through that. And of course, there are ghost tours. What we've all been waiting for. Guess what they're called. Guess what they're called. I don't know. You're going to have to tell me. Quarantine after dark. Oh, that's cute.

What a coincidence. We should work together in some way. So like I said, it wouldn't be an October episode if there wasn't a paranormal angle to this whole thing. So here we go. On to the paranormal stuff. Cool. The entire quarantine station grounds are known for paranormal activity and have drawn amateur and professional ghost hunting groups from all around the world, as it has cemented

itself as one of Australia's most haunted sites. Whistford voices, unexplained apparitions, and inexplicable icy cold patches of air can be, and have been noted pretty much anywhere on site. It's not like you have to be in one place to sense something. But there are a few places where people have experienced more of those things than not. So to start, we're going to go to the Grave Diggers Cottage. Ooh. Ooh. I mean, it already sounds spooky.

So it's the oldest building on site dating back to the 1840s, but the name is kind of misleading. I mean, it has a really catchy name. I'll give them that. But it's kind of up for debate what the original purpose of the building was. And they're not even sure if grave diggers actually that was their housing unit. They think it was mostly used for as like an officer's building or an administrative building. That's very misleading. But regardless.

It's stuck and I like it. And it's on it. So there are several entities that are thought to inhabit the cottage today. Guides have witnessed chairs being dragged across the floor, heard items be picked up and chucked across the room. The floor has vibrated underneath their feet and most guides and visitors have sensed odd feelings, even fainting and becoming nauseous. There have also been apparition seen, specifically a tall, thin man walking through the building

from the front to the back, and when he makes his way towards the back, he ends up sitting in one of the armchairs that are back there before disappearing. Creepy. Additionally, there has been an apparition seen in the cottage's bathtub, crouched down, and weeping, or the apparition of a man in a wide-brimmed hat and dark cloak hanging out in the kitchen. But in particular, there is an infamous spirit named Samuel that resides there. And sadly, he isn't the friendliest of spirits.

One night, while giving a tour of the cottage, a guide named Brandon was speaking to his group. They were kind of standing in the kitchen area and just kind of hanging out while he told them the history of the building. A woman and her young daughter had wandered into a nearby bedroom because the cottage isn't big. It's a small building. So while they were probably at the outskirts of the group and they kind of wandered into the adjacent bedroom known as Sam's bedroom. Suddenly, they both began screaming, and Brandon rushed past his group into the room to see what the hell was going on. And he entered to see the woman, the older woman, being thrashed around by an invisible force. And even more terrifying, she started speaking in a man's voice.

Oh, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. That is the worst haunting. So Brandon, you know, is trying to help her. So he grabs her and tries to pull her out of the room. But there is something, an invisible force. Literally, he could see the back of her jacket being pulled back.

Like she was being held back into that room. I hate that. I'm so sorry. I know this one's actually really, imagine. I just have to say, I'm watching myself on video. I've touched my face like 500 times. 3,000 is the number. 3000 is my number

Okay, anyways So I'm going to put my hands down here And not use them again But keep your hands to yourself They are to myself Remember that in like elementary school Where they're like keep your hands to yourself If you're like fidgeting and stuff

And then you had to like put them on the desk Fold them in front of you and just Yeah And just like sit there like very common Not move Yeah back to this woman She finally Brandon helps her And she's finally removed from not only the bedroom

but the entire cottage. And she gets out, calmed down. And that was it. And then she left. She's not talking in a man's voice anymore. No, I guess she was fine afterwards. I guess she got the full tour experience. She sure did.

She signed up for a paranormal tour and she got one. Yeah. And they say about Samuel or Sam that he sometimes gets very upset with women in particular and that he's easily agitated. So they're not sure if she said something that irritated his spirit or he just picked on her. But either way, that's a really jarring account from that cottage. Do we know his history, like who he was in life? No.

There's rumors that he was one of the site's grave diggers. But, I mean, who knows? So next, let's go to the hospital ward. Again, unexplained apparitions, shadows, and strange. sensations have been felt and experienced here, but there is one spirit in particular that is known to patrol the building. It's been known for years amongst the guides that when they start speaking of a particular nurse, or one of the nurses that had passed away while working on site, they'd sent somebody come up and stand behind them during that portion of the tour. So the person

who was talking about this and explaining that he was like, yeah, I was a new guide. and when I was being prepped, because as part of your training, you have to shadow other tours and other guides giving their talks and things like that. And he said it was just known amongst guides that during this time, don't be surprised if you sent something weird, come up and stand behind you. Interesting. And not only that, on several occasions, visitors who don't know this, you know, they don't know that whole thing amongst guides, they've noticed an apparition of a woman in a nursing uniform

tagging along with groups, either like trailing behind the guide or standing at the edge of the group while they were in the hospital. Even more particular, this entity who arrives and hangs out for this part of the tour often gravitates to visitors who currently serve or who have served in the armed forces. Oh, wow. Isn't that crazy? And it's like they put that together after from just talking to people who have experienced this, a large portion of them are veterans or have a military background. And they're not showing up in their uniforms. She just knows. She just knows.

Yeah. Oh, that's so interesting. And it's speculated that this is Annie Egan, the young nurse who passed away that was volunteering with the military and taking care of soldiers. And then died a month later. Yeah. Or maybe Elizabeth McGregor, who I didn't talk about in particular, but she was another young nurse. who cared for soldiers and died after contracting the flu from them.

And she's buried on site as well. So that is, I think that's amongst one of the better hauntings here. Because I think that, I mean, just showing up and tagging along and maybe making sure that people are okay, seems nice. She sounds caring and nice. Thoughtful. Yeah. Well, this is the one you're going to hate the most, I think. I thought the other one was bad, so all right.

I don't know. We'll see. You tell me. Right on me. Okay, so we're going to the morgue now next stop. Of course we are. Yeah, as one does. Of course things have gone down in the morgue.

Normally, people experience feelings of uneasiness and don't last long once inside this building on tours. This is one of the spots where most people kind of tap out the earliest and just wait outside until the group moves along. Well, it's that strong that people don't even want to be down there. Yeah. And on one occasion, this is kind of recent. This is 2019. A guide who had been working at the station for years was conducting one of the paranormal tours and was bringing the group through the morgue.

And it's interesting because in the past, this guide whose name is Mel, she was super comfortable in the morgue. She was like, yeah, it was kind of creepy just because I knew its purpose and it's all, it's still adorned the way that a morgue would typically look and it's kind of freaky, but she never felt uneasiness or she didn't feel anything that a lot of the visitors would feel. She was like, I've been there at night by myself, like doing our rounds and I was never, like, I can't go there, you know. Yeah.

She never really felt any sort of hesitation. Long story short. But on this night, Mel and her group were gathered around the original concrete autopsy slab in the middle of the room that the park, they, have a mannequin on it that's like draped in a white sheet just for oh just so you can envision I could envision what a morgue would look like but thank you yeah they just really want you to know um so the lights were dimmed and the guide was actually so Mel was holding the bottom of the feet of this mannequin while she was talking as everyone was circled around her and she felt something

brushed down the side of her arm. And she glanced next to her thinking that somebody brushed into her or touched her. And she's shown the light of her flashlight over to where she was touched. But nobody in her group was near her. They were at least several feet away on either side. But whatever, she didn't really think much of it. Continued her speech. Several minutes go by. And then suddenly her hand that was still resting on the bottom of this mannequin's feet was for, forcibly smacked off. And so this time, she's a little more concerned because this is, I mean, when you feel, yeah, when you feel the brush of something against you, it could be anything. You know, you're just like, what? Yeah. Weird. But this is like unmistakable. Somebody,

something smacked her hand off of the thing. So she's thoroughly freaked out, but she doesn't want to freak out her tour. So, and it's dark. Remember, it's like dimly lit. It's dark. People have flashlights. She didn't think that anyone even noticed her hand like it smacked away. So she keeps going. And suddenly she feels hands between her shoulder blades on her back and she was shoved forward. Like it's increasing in aggression here. And this time she whipped her light around everyone near her and said, okay, who is like, who is touching me? Has anyone touched me? And everyone just shook their heads. No. Like what are you talking about? Yeah. What are you saying? So a professional, as always, I mean, I don't know if I could have this level of professionalism.

She continued her tour. She's like, okay, weird. And she keeps going. And then suddenly she feels this like, she described it kind of like the feeling of like a snake wrapping around her, this icy cold like breeze. But it was not just blowing past her. It started behind her wrapped around her side, one of her sides and went off towards the person standing directly beside her. slithered around her and she followed this sensation kind of with her eyes as it goes over towards her side and she watches as the woman to her left suddenly looks terrified because she's

starting to feel it now and the EMF reader that this woman is holding starts lighting up like a Christmas tree and it was stagnant before so scared but intrigued Mel asks out loud if there's anyone here with us, can you give us a sign? No, they've already given a sign, girl. They've already given the sign. I would argue. Yeah. Yeah. And they're not friendly ones. As a response to this, she shoved forward again. And this time, because everyone is paying attention to what's happening, they all just ran out of the building. Fair. Yeah. Let's get out of here. I'd be me. I just envision you of the cartoons where people are so afraid they start running. and their feet are just like a blur.

Yeah. Get out of it. Or actually, more accurately, the scene in Casper. Are you familiar with Casper? Like enough to know. Yeah, I haven't seen it in a very long time. Oh, you should add it. I think it might be my favorite Halloween movie.

I think. It might be. Yeah. I just love it. That hocus pocus is a close second, but I really think Casper's my first. But anyways, when they're having the party at the house, like with all the kids, it's a costume party. And then the girl is dancing with Casper.

And everyone realizes that he's a ghost. He turns back from a boy to a ghost. Yes. Oh, I all just like bring flashbacks. The music stops. Their jaws drop. And they all just like high tail it running over each other out of the building. That's what this tour was like.

That's what I imagine. Anyway, so back to Mel. She has to go back the next night. Oh, it's not over. For another tour. I know it's not over because you said, I'm going to hate this one the most. Yeah.

So she has to go back for another tour. The show must go on. And she's in the same place at the same point in time of her speech. And while nothing happened to her, she was in the same place, same time. And a woman next to her starts complaining of an icy cold feeling and sensing that someone was poking her in the back of her between her shoulder blades, like kind of like shoving her forward. So it kind of was like, she said that she felt like it was back and making its presence known to me. Like, yes, this woman felt something, but she, whatever was doing this knew that she would recognize this is the same pattern and the same thing. And this is after like a long period of time for her not having any experiences here in the morgue personally.

Yeah, because she was very comfortable here. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And in another instance, in the morgue, this is a different guide now. And this one's the weirdest. But she goes into the building to do just like a security check. She wasn't with a tour or guiding anything.

But she went through the building and she was doing her rounds. And as she took out her phone to check the time, her notes app came up. And it was writing high, high, high, high, repeatedly as it was just like being held in her hand. That is so weird. feels more friendly though. I, Nick High. No. You're telling me if that happened to you, you would be like, oh, this is cute.

It would still scare me, but it would scare me less than being like shoved. Yeah, that's true. That's true. You're not physically assaulting me. You're just writing on my phone. You're just wanting me to know you're here. If it said, hi, you're going to die. I would be way more afraid.

He's like red, red, red rum. Yeah. Okay. Lastly, onto the shower. block. Despite not having any documented deaths in this building, the activity is pretty high here. There are shadowy figures that have been seen wandering throughout this building, popping their heads in and out of the shower cubicles, almost as if trying to sneak a look at visitors, or there are apparitions noted running through the hallway that separate the different cubicles of the showers.

There have been voices of children seemingly in desperation, crying out, perhaps not. wanting to be forced into the chemical showers. There have been people who experienced either very cold or very hot patches of air while in here. And guides and visitors have felt the sensation of being frozen in place, kind of like sleep paralysis while you're awake. So you're not able to move. You know what's going on. You know, you're very aware. You're fully conscious. You're fully conscious. You're very aware, but you can't move your legs and you can't speak and call for help. which is terrifying. People have been physically shoved or spun around in place, like physically turned around while here, or they just feel extreme levels of discomfort. During one paranormal investigation

of the building, a ghost hunting team was using an ovulus or a ghost box. And this is my favorite part of all the paranormal stories. Okay. So for those people who are not familiar with this type of device. It contains a database kind of just like words and syllables that supposedly allow entities to communicate in real time to the user versus people who go around with a recorder in hopes of catching an EVP. That's footage that you have to typically relisten to at a later date. You'll say questions or ask prompts. You'll wait, pause for a couple moments and then ask something else and then later on you hook it up and re-listen to it and listen for voices, whereas the obelisk, it'll say something out loud in real time. So during this session, the device said the

words, enough and leave, kind of like often, but also Cameron, mom, and stomach. And one of the investigators that were on the team had a son named Cameron. And the very next day, she received a call from her husband saying that Cameron had been rushed to the hospital with appendicitis. That is freaky. Right. That is so freaky. That is like, like, it's not saying like hospital, sick, army, soldier, like things that have to do with that particular site. Which would still be really interesting.

Yeah. And I think what makes it extra freaky is when you hear of a voice or an apparition saying something from the past that they would have said in their real life. It's like that makes sense. This is when they lived. Yes. But knowing that they know something about your current life of someone who's not even there. Right.

I know. I know. It's freaky. It's freaky. The Q station doesn't just offer paranormal tours. They level up. Okay. They level up their paranormal tours because they offer sleepover.

paranormal tours. Shut up. No. What are we going? I am not going to Australia with you. For sure. Why?

So turning these tours, guests stay the night and ghost hunt the entire time. And on one of these occasions, the group had settled in for the night and were asleep. The guide was awoken in the early morning hours by three loud knocks directly above her head. And when she

opened her eyes, there was a human shaped shadow figure wearing a hood standing at the foot of her bed. Of course there was. She managed. So you kept for sleeping overnight there. She managed to whisper, go away three times. And it eventually did disappear. And she was able to see the rest of the room behind where this figure was before it

disappeared. And she meant she kind of described it like it pixelated away and disappeared. And then she could see the fireplace on the other side of where it was standing. So those are just a few of the many accounts that pour in every single year from the Northhead quarantine station. So whether you're interested in going for the history or the haunts, this Australian National Park has it all. And that's it. That's the end. Love it.

Wow. That was so interesting. Oh, my God. No, the sleepover thing, I will do haunted tours with you. Sleeping over, though. I mean, how much? I mean, we've slept in haunted places before, but like to actively search for it at night. Well, I think it's a little different because, yes, we've, I've sought out paranormal,

places that have been known for their paranormal activity and we've stayed there. But this is like, not only are you doing that, you're adding the layer of you are actively engaging, trying to engage. and you're trying to forge this type of connection. And you're rising. Your vibes are like, I'm here for you to do something to me. And I'm trying to make that happen. And yeah.

So it's a little different. You're instigating. You're instigating. Yeah, you're definitely instigating. But lucky for you, I don't have it in me to travel across the world again right now. So you're safe. Great. for now, for now.

Well, I'm happy that you did this episode in Australia because I know that we have a lot of Australian listeners who are going to be really excited to hear this. But also, it was really interesting with a lot of history and hauntings. And I think it's the perfect one to have come out right before Halloween. Yeah. So, oh, yeah, Halloween's this week. Yeah. Do you have a costume?

I don't even have plans. Same. To be honest. So sad. Well, it just like, it's hard. because we're so busy. The end of October has been really busy for us work-wise because of a few things happening in November

that we're trying to get ahead of. And it's just kind of like, it's the best time of the year. And like, there's so many opportunities, especially with Halloween. And like, I just, there was a, yeah, a few things I wanted to do that. I just, like, was not able to. Included in that is preparing anything for Halloween.

Yeah. Do you remember college when Halloween was like a full week of event where you had a costume? I remember if Halloween was on Monday, then starting Thursday night, I would have a costume Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and of course, Monday because Monday was Halloween. Yes. But it was the weekend for that and Thursday. And it's just like how the times have changed. Costumes that I had. My Facebook albums are private for a reason.

I will just say that. And there are, okay, I just off the top of my head, I remember being, like doing the Toga thing, like the Greek Toga. Oh, yeah. Obviously. One would, did you go to college if you didn't dress up like that at one point? And then a cowboy, cowgirl. Everyone was a cowgirl. And not like a cool one with chaps and like a, no.

This was like, how little clothing can I wear while still conveying I am a cowgirl? I was a cowgirl. I remember for Halloween, on Halloween, when we had that huge snowstorm. The snowstorm of 2008. No, no. This is college. This is in college. Oh, no. I mean, sorry. 2012. Yeah, maybe it was 2012. That would make more sense. Because it was the year before I graduated. I remember it being terrible. I remember I wore like the smallest shorts I had. I like tied up a shirt really small.

I had a cowboy hat on and cowboy boots. And because I thought I looked cute, I didn't want to wear a jacket to cover it up. Plus, they're going to a house party. Where are you going to put your jacket? You're not going to hold it. No, that's crazy. So I just walked around my college town to parties in a blizzard where we got like three and a half, four feet, like something ridiculous.

We got so much snow. It was so cold. And I was just walking around like that. I had the similar experience. We were probably doing the same thing in Keene and Plymouth at the same time. Parallel lives. Yeah. So the cowgirl.

What else? I was a cat. Of course. What kind of cat is kidding? I'm not sure. A black one. I had like leopard leggings. Oh, okay.

So maybe I was a black cat at one point. Okay. How, did you do Toga too? I didn't do Toga. Oh, God. I thought we were on a thing. I did pirate. I was pirate.

one. I was also a pirate. Cassie. Look at that. Okay, wait. This is where I think we're going to. Again, I think so. I also had, this might be where we diverge a little bit, but I was a lion tamer. So I had like a safari hat. I had this long green vest that was not quite a shirt, but not quite a dress, but I wore it as I had no pants on, obviously. And then I carried around it. I didn't want to carry around a jacket because why would you do that. But I carried around a Hawaiian stuffed animal. That was literally this thing. Okay, that's pretty good. And then I had like a whip and then I put three little red paint marks here as if I was scratched by the line. I'm sure it looked very realistic.

It did. It sure did. I have one outfit. I just found it on Facebook because mine is also private, so don't try to find it because it's private for reason. I have no idea what I am in this. Can you describe it? But I am wearing, yes. Also, I think we might, if I'm feeling silly, we can post these. Okay. But maybe not, because I haven't looked at them in a really long time. And I know for a fact, I am. edited the I did I've never been like a face tune person like I've never gotten the this past our generation I think I think it is but I definitely fucked with the um like the saturation and yeah so I looked like an opa lupa you put like little stickers on them

and stuff so my outfit that I found I have no idea what I think I'm those I think do you remember those candies that come on paper that you oh dot that you're a little circle dots I think I'm dots candy wait can you send this to me like just send this to me really quickly because I want to see like I want to um if you if you put this on Instagram I swear to God I will ask for your permission for your uh your outfits for okay let's see it's coming there's so many things going on from my hair to my outfit to also I'm pretty sure I'm wearing a bathing suit top for a bra Well, you were trying to hide because it's the cut of the... Yeah.

It's the cut of the top. But you can see the bathing suit, so it doesn't really hide anything. That is true. But there is so much to say about this because, number one, you're doing the classic millennial this. Hand on your hip. Hand on your hip. Just one. There's a Bob Marley poster in the background.

There is. And that's my bedroom. Yep. Your dorm room. Your bangs are straightened. side swept, but you also have a curl, but also just the top layer of... I also have a poop. But I do think you're supposed to be dots because I see...

Were they raised? Do you remember if they were raised or they're just like polka dot pattern? I think that they're just polka dot pattern. And... But for whatever reason, I'm like a slutty candy. ...dots because I also have... Here's a picture here. I have pink stocking.

like the... Oh yeah. Yeah. Because that no outfit is complete without... Are you playing root in that picture? Sure am. Just show me. Beer pong, as other people say.

Beer pong. Bayrute, yeah. I always called it root. I don't know. I did too. Yeah. God, there are just so many... I'm just trying to think of anything else that I did because, like you said, there was several

outfits per weekend. I'm a dominatrix angel. This is so. so fun. Oh my God. This is so fun. I love how I was I was the devil. Oh. Yeah, it was the devil. Just a straight up devil, not any sort of, um, I didn't do a crossover. Like, you had like one year. Just an angel costume with just a leather strap that indicated the dominatrix. The whole thing. Another one that we did is me and my friends all dressed up as Playboy bunnies and then one of my friends dressed up as Hugh Hefner. Okay, that's good. But we didn't have actual

comments so we or costumes so he just like wore his bathrobe and we just wore like whatever black thing we could find I mean you got to do what you got to do because I was also a playboy bunny look at that with the ears and the little cuff links and everything and then also I'm trying to remember where this album is but my senior year we did me and my roommates did we were calendar girls Oh, here they are. We were the calendar. So one was, so I was Valentine's Day. So I was a risque, look at this, like, look at the, can I just say the bandana, or not the bandana, the thing around your head. The little like headband around your head. Yep. Okay. So I was that and I had my roommates put lipstick on and kiss me all over. So I had kiss marks everywhere. And then one of my roommates was Cinco

Mayo. And then one was Mardi Gras and one was St. Patrick's Day. That's a fun idea. Isn't that cute? Yeah. But it only worked if we were like together, you know? Yeah. And it was hard to. If you were just alone, it was hard to. It's hard to stick together. Oh, here's the playboy, but wow. This was also senior year. So like, again, with the, my album that I just showed you of all of mine was labeled Halloween 2010. All of those outfits were all 2010. Oh, here I go with the, here I am. There you are. You're a cat. I'm a cat. Duh. Okay. So not only did I had leopard leggings, I had a, this is clearly a leopard lingerie top that I'm just wearing out in about. I'm, what the hell? Oh my God. I'm, I don't know. I feel like the people are going to want this after we've been talking about it for.

Yeah. We were thriving. It's basically. Oh, here's the cowboy. Oh, my God. You're going to die. I know this was the cowboy because it's in the album, but if I just saw this, I would be like, are you even dressed up as anything other than ugly? Look how saturated that picture is, first of all. Oh, my God. Yeah. The editing on it. And then I have a Edward Cullen and Marilyn Monroe poster above my bed. I love that. Also, our cowboy outfits are the exact same, except I have a pink flannel on.

And mine's blue. Yeah. Same, same, but different. Always. Yeah. Were you ever a military girl for Halloween? I was not. I was not. I was that one. Like an army, uh, camo. Yeah. Wow. I did that once. God, I just the embarrassment. I have secondhand embarrassment for myself. Honestly, I am good for you, girl, that you had the confidence to get out like that. And I can't even believe I wore heels. Yeah. heels were another. like actual like really tall bedazzled yeah wow okay let's let's stop talking about this because

we've been talking about it for really long time yeah anyway maybe for Halloween we'll post some of our old Halloween costumes what have we done what if we done it's something to look forward to on Halloween if we uh unless new bag out if you don't see it don't ask questions it's just we decided this was a really bad idea um it's just so funny the evolution because I'm like God like I don't know what I'm going to be this year and then circling back to like really to tie this into a bow. The planet and nothing. I mean, I went to Spirit of Halloween to get a couple of like cobweb things to decorate the house with. But that's pretty much the extent, you know, of the spirit that I have been able to put into this year.

And I was looking at the costumes and I'm like, I just, where am I? I'm not even going anywhere. So what is the point? What is the point? But it's so funny because I was going to. go visit somebody and I'm like I don't have anything like if we were to go to a part like I don't have any plants you know I have nothing yeah I have the remnants of a beetle juice costume but it's not complete and then you have to do like your hair and your makeup and it's like a whole thing and they're like

dressing up for Halloween they're like I have a shark onesie I'm like perfect then you can't see any of me I'm basically pyjamas you know like uh how you've evolved from wearing nothing to wanting to wear a shark costume. A sharky. Like that you can just see like my eyeballs. They're like those pajamas that are going viral online where you just like lay. It has like all the girls like laying on their couch just in a shark oncey. Like one of those.

Exactly. It's like wow. I've devolved if anything. But I think that's progress. You know. Yeah, for sure. Okay. Well, thank you everyone for listening to that, whatever that was.

And we will see you next week. We hope you enjoy your Halloween and yeah, have a great holiday. Yes, and in the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you're back. Bye, everyone. Bye. Thank you so much for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale or story suggestion, send us an email at Stories at NPAD Podcast.com.

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