Ghosts in the bush

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B><U>Assorted Stories</U></B></div> <div> <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Claude1"><B><U>Claude The Crow</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Claude Rturns"><B><U>Claude Returns</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Swivel Head"><B><U>Swivel Head the Koala</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ghosts in the bush"><B><U>Ghosts in the Bush</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Max"><B><U>Max</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Great Bed Race"><B><U>The Great Bed Race</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mr Webster"><B><U>Mr Webster</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Big Red"><B><U>Big Red</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Them Aussies"><B><U>Them Aussie are Tuff</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cokklebid"><B><U>Cokklebiddy</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marriage in the Bush"><B><U>Marriage in the Bush</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="7 Strippers in Paradise"><B><U>7 Strippers in Paradise</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Brotherhood"><B><U>The Brotherhood</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lady Penelope"><B><U>Lady Penelope</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gday Mate"><B><U>Gday Mate</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Duke"><B><U>The Duke</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bluey"><B><U>Bluey</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Walkers"><B><U>The Walkers</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Inventer"><B><U>The Inventor</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id52.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lumpy"><B><U>Lumpy</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Madeline"><B><U>Madeline</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stan the Pot Man"><B><U>Stan The Pot Man</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Man Stan"><B><U>Our Man Stan</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bert The Cook"><B><U>Bert The Cook</U></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Coober Pedy"><B><U>Coober Pedy</U></B></A></div> <div> <B></B></div> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=82 style=" border-bottom: 1px solid #999980;" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0408dfe1egerdp.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Glenn-Harris</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="GlennHarris"><B>home</B></A></div> <bR> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=398 width="100%" colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0408dfc3.jpg"> <div> <B><U>GHOSTS IN THE BUSH</U></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> I had been very lucky in my early days in the Outback. I mostly travelled with the same group of friends, we worked and travelled together for a time, they were then, and are now my mates. </div> <bR> <div> My introduction to the bush began in 1978, I managed to get a job as a Roustabout with a survey team. My job was general hand and gopher. Well for the first couple of days we crossed some really tuff country, at night we were buggered but we always had time to sit around the fire and tell yarns, stories and learn about the outback from the elders. </div> <div> I will never forget the night that someone started to tell ghost stories, we were about 50 klm’s from the nearest town, the boss wanted to camp near a small dry creek. He had been here before and knew that there were rabbits in the area. Bluey and I were nominated to go catch the food, so we took a couple of guns and went bush, we managed to catch a couple of rabbits and a snake, which when mixed together would make a really tasty stew. we also found some grubs, these dig deep into the roots of trees. but with a bit of work can be gouged out, they are best eaten alive, and are quite tasty. I must admit though that the first one I ever had took me about 20 minutes to eat, 19 minutes to think about it and the other 1 minute to swallow. </div> <bR> <div> After dinner, we each took a turn to tell a story, for 60 minutes or so, I heard one to many ghost stories. I think we all had, cause I felt a little jumpy out there in the bush, no lights but plenty of animal noises in the background. Also there was a Dingo close by, you can always tell when a dingo is calling, it just growls, they don’t bark like normal dogs. </div> <div> We had erected all the tents into a tight circle, with the largest tent in the middle, this was used for every one to sleep in. Lights went out around 9 pm, we had an early start in the morning. I remember lying there in my hammock, looking out of my window, thinking of home. I closed my eyes and started to drift off into a deep sleep. When all of a sudden there was a loud CRASH, I looked up and saw stars, no tent just the sky. Our tent had disappeared, tent hooks and all. I wasn’t the first to investigate, I guess I still had ghosts on my mind, but when we all got up, we discovered the tent had just vanished, Harry the cook, decided to go bush and look for it, no one volunteered to go with him, so he just sneered and disappeared into the scrub. </div> <bR> <div> We picked up its trail about 30 yards out of camp. The tracks were heading easterly, and by the look of its tracks, either something had scared it or it was on a mission, cause it had moved very fast. They was scraps of tent everywhere as it had ripped its self on the scrub. </div> <div> We didn’t realise what had happened until the next day. Our boss had decided to drive into town that night, unfortunately the tent that we were sleeping in was tied down to the landrover he took, so when he drove off, he took our tent with him, he didn’t realise until he got into town, then it was to late for him to do anything. The poor chap who had tied the tent to the rover had to pay for a new tent. It cost me a whole weeks wage, but I certainly never did it again. </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>