UPSTAIRS

The Balcony

Phantom Footsteps

"In the early days I would sew on the front verandah when the weather was fine and on several occasions heard the distinctive sound of a womans high-heels walking above me on the balcony, this was unusual as there were large sections of floorboards missing and the footfalls never missed a step as they reverberated across the full length of the balcony. Sometimes I'd call out thinking it was a member of the family but never received a reply, on investigation I discovered no one was on that floor at the time or more commonly no one home at all but myself.

Late one night both Olive and one of our daughters heard the French doors that lead off the balcony into the upstairs hall open, close and someone walk along the hall, go down the stairs and then return by the same method 15 minutes later. Being alone in the house both thought the footsteps belonged to the other, until Olive called out to see if there was a problem and to their mutual bewilderment discovered neither had left their bed in hours.

As the years passed we got used to these phantom footsteps, after hearing them so many times could differentiate between footsteps made on lino or wood. Although we have now had the hallway carpeted for several years, the sound was very distinctive although not unnerving it still causes a bit of concern.

Box Room, Mrs. Crawley's Chapel The TV travel show "Getaway" came to Junee in 1992 to film a segment at Monte Cristo. Before the cameras started rolling reporter, Rebecca Harris, entered the Box Room to scout a suitable location to film.

While in there she felt overcome by a strange sensation and compelled to leave the room, that evening while filming the producer could not get her to re-enter the room and finally had to compromise by filming the section on Mrs Crawley's Chapel out on the balcony but within view of the door.

DRAWING ROOM

Unexplained Tears A radio announcer from FM93 in Wagga Wagga brought a friend from Tasmania over to view the Homestead, the tour went normally until the Drawing Room was reached. Upon entering the room his eyes started running for no apparent reason and he felt sad and distressed, also very embarrassed and apologized profusely.

Upon leaving Monte Cristo their next stop was Junee Cemetery to visit the graves of notable Junee pioneers, again he suddenly felt gripped by grief and began crying. Getting his wits about him he looked down and found he was standing on the grave of the child who died mysteriously on the stairs of Monte Cristo, was the sense of grief and sadness felt at the homestead and now on the grave that of a mother for her lost baby?.

Soon after an elderly English lady entered the room and started crying uncontrollably, we took her to the Entrance Building and gave her a cup of tea to comfort her, she was extremely embarrassed and at a loss to explain her sudden and apparent grief.

A Spooked Priest The Catholic Priest who conducted our marriage ceremony, Father Mac, paid us a visit one afternoon and was contentedly looking through the house while we readied lunch. Fifteen minuets later I went to escort him down to the Dining Room and as I approached from behind watched him enter the Drawing Room, abruptly back out, make the sign of the cross and blessed himself before leading me down the stairs in a great hurry. This incident remains vivid in my mind and I regret never having the courage to ask what he had seen or felt and often wonder what caused his premature departure.

BOYS' BEDROOM

A husband, wife and 15 year old daughter stopped in on their way from Sydney to Wagga, the family deciding Monte Cristo would be a pleasant diversion. As we entered the Boy's Room the girl started to shake and her skin cover with goose bumps, unable to catch her breath she started having an asthma-like attack and turned purple. We rushed her outside preparatory to taking her to the local Doctor, but as soon as she was out of the house she immediately returned to normal, she had never had an asthma attack in her life.

The conclusion of this particular episode took place two weeks later on the family's return to Sydney, they returned to Monte Cristo and asked if the girl could go back into the room, we did, and she had a repeat of the first visit. It thoroughly shook her parents and I doubt they will ever return again.

PHANTOM FACE IN THE WINDOW

When our two eldest daughters were young they shared this room for several years, it has no verandah outside just a blank wall dropping away to the ground far below. Many a night they would call us in and whimper about a man's face that kept appearing out side the window. Describing him as a younger man with sideburns, always dressed in work clothes, it happened so often they got used to it and ignore his presence.

FLOATING APPARITION

In the same room my wife's cousin John and his wife had a bone chilling experience they were reticent to recount for fear of being thought mad, apparently John was laying there awake when a figure all in white appeared, floated around the room and disappeared out the closed window.

BODILESS GHOST

Same room again, a serene ladies face appeared at the foot of the bed, this happened to a friend of ours called Mario. It didn't really scare him he told us, startled him a trifle and thought it unusual to see a face appear without a body.

A GHOSTLY VISITOR

One night we were holding a function in the Ballroom and I sent our youngest daughter, Shiralee, to check on her little brother asleep in the Boy's Room, she came back quite distressed and explained how as she rounded the corner from the staircase could see a young man in work clothes standing, staring down at her brother Lawrence, she could describe him right down to his work clothed with a hole in the sleeve, it took us hours to calm her down sufficiently.

In the same room we had a guest, a married man in his thirties sleeping there one night, at around 3AM I was awoken by his terrified screams of: "Reg!...Reg!..." Running down the hall I found him standing in the middle of the bed shaking like a leaf claiming there was someone else in the room with him, we had to give him another room before we could all get some sleep.

A MOTHER TO BE

One young mother-to-be on entering the room recently started to sway and lose colour, on removing her to the Girl's Room she recovered almost immediately.

A few moments later she asked if she could re-enter the Boy's Room and stayed about 5 seconds before rushing out pale and shaken, she apologized to the rest of the tour group and said she had to check if it was just her imagination and now knew it wasn't.