Sarah…are you there Sarah?

Weeeeeellllll! A very interesting night at the Altona Homestead last night!
For a venue that, quite frankly, we were worried wouldn’t be active enough, there was a big response last night. We were greatly helped by the fact that we had two lovely ladies from the Altona Historical Society so we could immediately check out names and facts, in addition to the historical brain of our brilliant resident story-teller Jacqui.
Lots of regulars turned up last night, including Adele all the way from Taralgon; psychic Cathy, Bugsy and crew from the Seahorse Wellbeing Centre in Bacchus Marsh (www.ourseahorse.com); the lovely Angelique and friend and it was also great to see so many locals who came down to have a good poke about their very own historic home.
Due to a late dinner, the vigils were squeezed down a bit but with the fabulous (but very poorly) Donna Abrahams circling the groups practising psychometry and connecting with those on the other side who were resident or visiting kept us all on the edge of our seat (Thanks Donna! Get well soon!).
Highlights were the moving rockinghorse in the drawing room (which, typically, wouldn’t do it again for my camera!), a torch that rolled from the centre of a table of it’s own accord and a mandolin playing by itself right before one of our guests burst into tears…she felt like she was a child who was in severe trouble for touching something.
In fact we had three tearys last night – and have come to the conclusion that the main bedroom definitely has plenty of activity, as does (for some people) the bathroom….hmmmm, curiouser and curiouser.
Anyway, until next month! And sorry for the lack of pics…can you believe I forgot my trusty Pentax! It was like ghosthunting without my left leg. But with being able to balance still.
I’ll get Jonesy to post some

PS. A big well done to the team – Renzo, Jasmine, Andrew, Andrea, Alison – who never let us down. And big fat chocolate bars to Jacqui from Lantern (www.lanternghosttours.com.au) who remained unflappable throughout!

Life AD

Well, life After Derek is getting better…but it was touch and go there for a while.
I’m not sure if this is the correct clinical name, but the team were suffering for a while from “post-psychic-settle-back-into-normal-life-istis” with Jan and Renzo showing the most extreme symptoms, which include silently mouthing the words “can you get a name for us Derek” and obsessively re-watching night vision camera footage.
But! All is not lost! We have some exciting new tours coming up including the Williamstown Morgue, Altona Homestead, a spooky old B&B and Jan’s crazy idea for a Psychic Supper (there’s that psychic thing again).
So stay tuned…or better still come and join us as we continue to explore the unexplained!!

Inside the Willi morgue...spooky even in daylight!

Sunday 22 August – What the f#*k! You losers! SHUT IT DOWN!!!!

Oh sorry! For a minute there Gordon Ramsay was updating the blog…
And what does a team of ghosthunters have to do with the famous foul-mouthed chef? Ummm…nothing really, we just had our farewell meal with Derek and Gwen at his restaurant – Maze at Crown.
And what a night! A chance for the team to relax and enjoy the company of the lovely and the super-buff big man, have a few glasses of wine, an amazing piece of steak, pig trotter finger food and a giggle and a chat about the event bloopers…
Derek revealed his thoughts on everyone in the team, describing yours truly as the only one he couldn’t make out at the start of the events…but who he has decided is a “real sweetie”. Phew! Gwen revealed I was the only one Derek was scared of during the events…well someone has to be the Time Bitch!!
We also discovered who is really updating Derek’s online presence…and I quote “I’ll keep in touch with you all on MyFace or SpaceBook…or I’ll get Gwen to do it”.
Gwen and Derek were also presented with their true-blue Aussie beer mugs (made by our multi-talented team member Andrew!) as well as an API t-shirt for Derek, which he promptly put on (after hiding himself behind the wine fridge to take his shirt off…sorry Michelle, didn’t get any pics!). Npt bad guns for an old bloke!
We had a brilliant night and a fitting end to all our hard work. I think I speak for everyone on the team when I say we have made two very special friends who have greatly touched us with their gracious and open nature, and whom we will – and already do – miss deeply.
Sob!!!
Come back soon Gwen and Derek!

Saturday 21st August – I’m heading over there somewhere…

Of course, watching Derek in full ghosthunting action-mode is quite different to his on-stage theatre work…which is why my hubby and I tagged along to Derek’s Melbourne show…
The queue round the corner revealed a few familiar faces from our Spooky Encounters events – nice to see you guys!
First up was the lovely Donna Abrahams as guest medium – I hadn’t realised how hard it must be for mediums to get their audience to “own” the spirits that are coming through! Donna had been followed around by a little girl for three days prior to the show, and thankfully one of the audience members was able to claim her…a very sad story, but an apparently happy little spirit who was pleased to have “got through”.
I don’t know if most people there were star-struck when the big man jumped on stage but he spent a lot of time running into the audience saying “Sam, where are they? You. Yes, you madam, this relates to you!”
But the one that sticks with me – the one reading that meant I’m struggling to hang onto my skepticism – was the woman whose relative had passed in a motorcycle accident – Derek described the colour of the bike and type of van, gave the man’s name, talked about his son who is having some health problems, then told the woman that the type of eczema cream her father was using wasn’t doing any good. “Tell your father he’s going to send him something that will help.” Totally accurate, totally jaw-dropping, totally believable.
Most interesting were the photos that the lovely loud Angelique sent me of her and her mates in the audience – will post them up – but they showed a number of orbs above people, with one woman seeming to have one on her shoulder.
But of course, on the way to dinner my husband and I tried to pick apart Derek’s demonstration, working out whether, with enough time and information, he could have found out the info he was giving. And quickly came to the conclusion that if you could find out all that you’d probably take up a career as Magnum PI rather than trying to pass off fake psychic abilities…
Dammit, it’s getting harder to stay skeptic…

Friday 20th Aug – Goodbye Connie…

Sorry it’s taken me a while to get this up…been trying to catch up on some sleep!
You know how I said the Mitre Tavern was thick with ghosts? Well our Friday night there (and our last event with Derek…sob!) was full of excitement. With Jo supplying live Twitter and Facebook chat to hundreds of DA fans across the globe, the night was certainly unforgettable.
Firstly it was great because our star-ghosthunter and self-confessed DA stalker Michelle from Sydney flew down to be with us…a fabulous dinner was first (really, the steaks are amazing!) and because all the action had been where ever Derek was the night before, we decided to do single group vigils. This of course meant the group was HUGE, but also that we could all stick together with the big man.
And secondly, he – and the spirits – didn’t disappoint! From the kick-off, two women in the top room were affected – one felt as though a rope had been tightened around her neck and the other was bound to a chair, unable to move or speak. Luckily API team member Andrew was able to “release” her, get her a glass of water and let Derek get rid of whatever was hanging onto her. Bit scary!
Connie was coming through loud and strong, with Derek channeling her – we had been given the story that Connie was a prostitute, but she quite firmly told us that was wrong! She then told function manager Jeff to fix the cellar drains because they stank and not to wear shorts. Hmmmmm…
After some time with Connie, Derek and his new-best-mates ghosthunters decided to obey the unwritten global paranormal rule – if you can help someone to move on, then you should. With the help of some group energy, Derek and our lovely guests and team sent Connie towards the light.
Relaxed, relieved and revived the group then settled in for some psychometry readings – one guest had seen many psychic’s in the 17 years since her Mum passed on to no avail, but Derek was able to finally pass on a message from her mother after picking up her wedding ring.
Of course we ended with too many drinks at the bar (a big THANK YOU to Jeff and his team for all their expert help!) with Derek and Gwen in fine form before we all staggered off into the night…but wait there’s more!

Thursday 19th August – Whoa!!

For those of you who don’t know, I’m the team skeptic. Hello
But without wanting to be predictable, I have to say my mind is slowly opening up to the possibility that there’s more to this “spirit world” stuff than I concede.
It was certainly a full on night!
Derek had to sprint from one room to the other to “release” one of our poor guests from the clutches of a mean man and the overall sadness of the departed in the venue certainly left a few people in tears…male and female!
I don’t know about the rest of the team, but I wasn’t expecting much from the Mitre Tavern – from an event management point of view it was a bit small and the office suits downstairs were making a bit of a racket.
Happy to say all concerns were unjustified…as those of you following Jo Garnett’s live streaming will have seen!
From the minute we walked into the very classy steakhouse on the first floor and set up the night vision, we had orbs flashing left and right, particularly around the staircase where a Lady of the Night called Connie hanged herself in the early 1900′s…a sad case of unrequited love.
As soon as Derek and Gwen arrived and we sat down for the most amazing steak ever (THANKS to Jeff and the team!) Derek was already seeing Connie as she leaned over the shoulders of our guests asking if everything was alright, and wanting to clear their empty plates…we had already had comments from guests who were feeling a brush over their shoulder and back of the head.
With the lights low, the glasses were moving across the table and Derek started to channel a lawyer who had passed on due to kidney problems…vigil 2 unearthed two women in the room who again made our female guests a bit sad, and some a bit angry!
But the real highlight of the night was the psychometry readings – Tracy and Kirstie were contacted by a male and female relative who said they hadn’t liked Kirstie’s former boyfriend and had got rid of him! Keryn’s Mum came through and told her not to move house and to watch out for Dave! And Damien and Belinda will be inviting us to their wedding and christening very soon!
All in all another great night for all at the Mitre and we’re both excited and sad to be having our very last night with Derek tonight!!

Wednesday 18th August – Stephen the warden…

Well, you know what I’m going to say, but here it is anyway!
Another GREAT night with the big man with the diamond earring…the former holding cells at the Royal Melbourne Hotel were like orb city on the night vision camera last night, much to the dismay of the bar staff who have to lock up and were already a bit scared of the bumps in the night….hehehe…
Cell 2 was especially active with a number of orbs flying around Teresa and Kristies heads in and out through the door to the men’s loos…and Teresa’s husband David and daughter Brooke had a shadowy figure on the wall behind them showing up on the night vision – but nothing could be found when we went in to investigate.
Our number one, two and three ticket holders for the night Brenda, Claire and Jeremy were orb spotting on the night vision, while Derek’s “laydeeees” – Janet, Bugsy, Cathy, Michelle, Suzie, Kim and Cathy – were drawn to the ladies loos where a “restless” spirit was being a bit rude, telling our guests to “get out”.
The Irish girls Ciara and Mairead (lovely single ladies looking for a couple of nice Aussie blokes!) teamed up with Tania and David, Craig and scaredy-cat Andrea for some fun in the wardens office with Derek and picked up the name Stephen – a former warden/police officer – who was a bit of an uptight old stick.
Hop-along Adele, big-man Mannie, Rachel and Nick (sorry for introducing you as Tania and David guys…next time just slap me!) and our Vega-girls Fiona and Tania joined Derek in the main corridor of the cells again getting that name “Stephen”.
And we were really pleased to see EVP specialist Jenny, and Lantern Ghost Tours boss Jacqui and her partner Andrew! If you haven’t done a Lantern Ghost Tour around Williamstown yet, get onto it!
All in all, another top night with a great bunch of new friends…lovely to meet each and every one of you!
AND NEWS JUST IN….Derek’s self-proclaimed “vomiting stalker”, the lovely Michelle from Sydney will be joining us at the Mitre Tavern on Friday night…she’s spent her frequent flyer points and bashed the credit card for accommodation…now all she needs to do is tell the boss she’s off to follow a celebrity psychic around Australia Don’t worry Michelle, if you get the sack Jan will employ you for the ghosthunts…she pays in love and kisses!!
Until tomorrow….

Question time...

Spooooooky Friday 13th…

Never fear dear reader…although you haven’t heard from us via blog-world for a while, we are still here!!
We are all back in (cold) Melbourne after a fabulous 3 nights at the Hero of Waterloo Hotel…ending with a super-spooky Friday 13th ghosthunting with the one and only Mr Derek Acorah…
Our biggest night ever so far was shared with our new Sydney ghosthunting friends including 3-night-Michelle who finally managed to stop crying with happiness long enough to have a photo taken with Derek! The Big Man had a lot of gorgeous female fans on Friday (thank goodness Gwen was there to keep him on the safe and narrow!) like Nikki, Aunty Robin, Brisbane Marg, Sandra, Olivia, Anna, Lesley, Julie, Kristy, Lorraine, Kristie M, sisters Deborah and Louise and the ready-to-pop Alice who is going to have a girl on a Saturday before 9am (we want an email when it finally happens!). Our brave blokes – Craig, Liam, Jason, Richmond, Ralph, Matthew, Terry and book-prize winner Matthew G – hardly got a look in when it came to photo time!
Derek was on top form on Friday, channeling the original builder of the Hero who was an interesting (if a little rude!) man, asking our Jan if she was “a lady”. The other spirits of the Hero were tantilisingly within reach before slipping away again to hide in the shadows, including a Lady of the Night called Anna who later obligingly said her name for our EVP’s later in the night…she was particularly interested in the fashions of the women attending on the night…can’t imagine those crinolines would have been much fun to wear!
Derek was his usual gracious self, even speaking to Louise and Deborah’s sister who was in the UK but a HUGE fan and was very annoyed that she would miss his debut tour. We’re still not sure if she has picked her jaw up off the ground!
It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Derek and Gwen in Sydney…roll on Melbourne!!

Thursday 12th August – The groaning woman….

Sorry for the late post, but all these late nights are starting to take their toll…we’re getting old you know!
Derek was on form again last night, bouncing around the Hero of Waterloo like a teenager. Sam was really put through his paces helping to make contact with those “on the other side”…
It’s always great to meet our ghosthunters and last night was no different – Natalie and Karina (our number one and two ticket holders!) had a lovely time chatting to Derek over drinks, as did (skeptic) Carol and (more skeptic) Garry. Rolla and Chris made friends with Natalie and Dean and were super spooked by a rattling window in the top dining room! Elizabeth and vomiting stalker Michelle were our super-brave cellar sleuths, while Kylie and Mark (hope you had a safe trip guys!) and Nicole and Adam enjoyed a few bevvies at the bar with our super-star from Scouse-land!
But top star of the night goes to the all-lady team in the top dining room who managed to convince this skeptic that there was someone/something there when a “female groan” was heard…perhaps a one-off, until we asked again and sure enough, a 2-3 second groaning sound was accompanied by the EMF going feral. Have to admit, it raised a few hackles on the back of the neck.
And just as an aside…while I write this, team member Andrea is upstairs shouting “Oh my God, what was that”. Turns out the villa we’re staying in has a few spirits…or maybe we’re just seeing ghosts everywhere!

Techie Renzo and the chiseled chinline of Derek Acorah watching the night vision...

Wednesday 11th August – “Ahhhh…my heart…!”

Well, what can we say?
Our first night with Derek Acorah was pretty good. That’s the understatement of the century…!
Besides a couple of brilliant photos taken in the cellar and the front bar, we had plenty of pushes, shoves, moans and groans. Derek was amazing, connecting with the spirit world and telling the group information that was detailed and historically accurate (thanks to our historian Alison!).
We had a great group of ghosthunters which made our job even easier – the lovely Michelle (Derek’s Number One Stalker!) made a new friend in Lucy (she of the red aura), and Joanna and her mates Connie, Anthony and Monica were the questioners in the cellar and Alana (mind your back!) and Christopher got some good pics.
But it was particularly great to meet the UFO PRSA team (Dominic and his harem!) who we’ve been Facebooking for ages…gotta to come to Melbourne for more fun guys!
So possession…Derek was channeling a man in the cellar who’d died of a heart attack…but if you want to know more you’ll have to come along…tickets still available for Thursday and Friday (the 13th!)…hehehe!! It really is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that you can’t miss out on!
In the meantime, enjoy the pics and we’ll get some UFO PRSA beauties up asap (thanks Kelly!).
We lurve you Derek! (That’s from Jan!)
Happy ghosthunting!!