Underneath all the sea and shine, hides a deeper layer to the sunny city of Sydney. Grab your ghostbusting equipment and explore Sydney’s strangest sites — from mental asylums and deserted roads to abandoned train platforms and whole islands, you can choose to take on this quest alone, or join a ghost tour.
Central Station’s Ghost Platforms
To start off, a staggering number of people use Sydney’s Central Station on a daily basis. Despite that, unsuspecting commuters are not aware that platforms 26 and 27 are closed to the general public. The two subterranean platforms reside in an area that remains locked to visitors — even the staff at Central Station have a sliver of a chance, if not none, to set foot within.
In the year of 1901, the bodies buried in Devonshire Street Cemetery were exhumed and relocated to various other cemeteries around Sydney; Platforms 26 and 27 were then built upon those very grounds. The walls are thick with concrete, making it nearly impossible for sounds from outside to drift into the station. Yet, several Sydney Trains officials revealed to have heard echoes of voices reverberating around the platform walls, as well as what seemed to sound suspiciously like children playing.
Complete with more abandoned features such as a dusty station master’s office and bathrooms, the chilly ambience runs deep. Sydney Open hosts tours of the underground labyrinth several times a year, so if you happen to be in the city at the right time, take a deep breath and descend Central Station for a ghostly excursion.
Cockatoo Island
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Cockatoo Island has a history of association with convict transportation in the 18th and 19th centuries. This seemingly cheerful and well-loved site, however, ironically doubles as one of Sydney’s most haunted places. Through the eras, it has served as a colonial prison, a dockyard and even a reformatory school for misbehaving girls. Many of the inmates have tried to escape confinement on the island by fleeing into the surrounding waters but were eventually met with unfortunate fates as shark food.
Presently, it attracts an impressive number of tourists from around the globe, and schools bring students here on excursions. Cockatoo Island hosts a ghost tour every Saturday night — perfect for paranormal enthusiasts. On a side note, the island also offers the Haunted History Tour as a more family-friendly alternative.
Many visitors testify to feeling someone breathe down their neck, only to turn around and see no one. Other times, the unexplainable scent of tobacco wafts through the air, accompanied by a sudden frigid drop in temperatures.
Gladesville Mental Hospital
First established in 1838, the mental asylum was initially named Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum and sits on the northern banks of the Parramatta River. It echoes a tragic history where mentally sound people — victims of depression and those traumatized by domestic violence — were admitted alongside the clinically insane. Although patients were intended to be released once they were rehabilitated, they were subjected to unethical mistreatments and abused.
The centre was eventually decommissioned and closed down in 1997, but because many of the patients’ families never returned to claim their bodies, the 1,000 anonymous corpses buried in an unmarked lot on-site still remain in the abandoned hospital today. Locals and nearby residents warn of dark energy that blankets the building ruins. A strange presence lurks within the crumbling walls.
Q Station
Nestled on Manly’s North Head, one of Sydney’s most popular wedding venues and scenic hotspots today used to be known as Quarantine Station. During the colonial era, ships carrying passengers with contagious diseases such as typhoid, smallpox or the bubonic plague were mandated to the first dock at the station, after which they were quarantined in the wards. Over 500 unfortunate lives were lost on site between 1832 and 1984 — their restless souls are rumoured to roam the grounds, bound inexplicably to their place of death where they wander the halls of this historic building.
Budding ghost hunters will be thrilled to know that the Q Station offers a series of ghost tours, each tailored to fit different groups of visitors. The standard tour is a 2.5-hour circuit around the area, accompanied by a guide retelling old stories. For families, a child-friendly option is available and for the extreme daredevils, spend an entire night investigating the building with ghost hunting equipment.
The Street With No Name
Located in the Inner West suburb of Annandale is a narrow alleyway that runs along a railway viaduct that opens up into the arches of a railway bridge near Jubilee Park. The locals call it “The Street With No Name” and it sits quietly behind a padlocked barb wire gate. Having witnessed a multitude of unspeakable crimes, the nameless street is most notorious for its history of being the dumping ground for bodies of murder victims — many of them children.
Rumour has it that evil energy brims in the air around the street and its surrounding park. This eerie feeling is most prominently felt at night and has frazzled the nerves of both unfortunate passers-by and paranormal investigators alike. To add on, there have been reports of dogs and young children exhibiting strange behaviours around the area, visitors experiencing sudden shifts in temperatures and the sound of ghostly footsteps.
Wakehurst Parkway
A rule of thumb is that drivers don’t cruise down the Wakehurst Parkway once night settles; It’s in their best interest to stay away. Past sunset, this stretch of road on the Northern Beaches sinks terrifyingly deep into darkness and centres around a number of supernatural occurrences. Drivers en route from Seaforth to Narrabeen past the witching hour have told tales of glancing up into the rearview mirror only to be met with the reflection of a young girl in the backseat.
Alternate versions of these stories speak of encountering an older nun instead, but either way, both apparitions will compel the driver to skid their vehicle off the road and crash. While any part on this road is bound to invoke goosebumps, it’s been said that its most haunted section is a slice of the road near Oxford Falls.
While ghost hunting might seem like a rather unconventional tourist activity, ghost tours have become quite the trend in recent years — but there’s no reason for you to experience the full thrill alone. Rope in a friend, or a group of them. As the old saying goes, “the more, the merrier”. Or rather, in this case, the scarier.
