Ghosts. Underground tunnels. Thousands of buried meat pies. Who said Canberra was dull?
Some of the stories people tell about such things are true, believe it or not. Others can be classified as purely urban legends. Many of these stories have passed through generations and have spread even more in the internet age.
Canberra's resident expert in such matters is writer and cryptozoologist Tim the Yowie Man, who said there was often a grain of truth in urban legends.
"The big one I get asked about is the tunnels," Tim said.
That is, the tunnels rumoured to be under Parliament House and its predecessor, Old Parliament House - supply tunnels? Hiding places in case of attack? Connections between the two buildings?
"There's no evidence to support any network of tunnels [under] Old Parliament House," Tim said.
A network of pneumatic tubes was used to send documents and during World War II there were zigzagging trenches around the building in case of enemy attack, which may have given rise to the rumours.
As for the current Parliament House's alleged tunnels, he hasn't inquired too deeply as he wouldn't be told officially anyway, "relating to national security".
There is also reputed to be secret-squirrel stuff going on at, or possibly under, the Deakin telephone exchange, though this was denied in parliament by Barry Jones during the Hawke government.
Speaking of things underground, another story is that the organisers of the opening of Old Parliament House in 1927 vastly overestimated the number of people who would turn up and thousands of Sargents meat pies and other foodstuffs had to be disposed of: one story is that they were buried under where the Treasury building is. More mundanely, the Queanbeyan tip has been named as their final resting place.
Another rumour about something hidden goes back to the early 19th century. Bushranger John Tennant was believed to have stashed ill-gotten gains somewhere on, or in, Mount Tennent (a typo that stuck). People have been seeking it for many years.
"I've been looking myself," Tim said.
No such treasure has turned up, but as Tim said, "That doesn't mean it's not there."
Or, of course, someone might have found it already and kept the discovery quiet.
There are multiple legends about the appearing and disappearing Lake George, Tim said, with many people asking where the water goes.
"Most don't understand evaporation and run-off."
He said one legend is that when Lake George goes up, a lake somewhere else - New Zealand, Siberia - goes down.
Some of the stories are true, including, sadly, a number of drownings - but you might be sceptical about talk of ghosts: one story is that spirits walk along the lake's shore but only their tops are visible because of the raised highway.
Another Lake George story is a local version of an urban legend told internationally. A driver picks up a young woman who says she needs to get to an address in Queanbeyan. By the time the destination is reached, she has disappeared. The person who answers the door tells the driver the girl drowned in the lake.
"A young girl from Queanbeyan died in the lake, but the story of the vanishing hitchhiker is not true."
Other ghosts are more specific to the area, including Malcolm, whose footsteps are said to be heard walking around the House of Representatives lobby in Old Parliament House - but only when he's surprised.
"When the security guards do their nightly rounds they say, 'Hello, Malcolm' and they never hear the shuffling footsteps."
There have also been reports of strange lights in the building's cabinet room and other spookiness.
Blundell House is said to be haunted by the ghost of Flora Blundell, who at the age of 16 was burned to death one night in 1892 while she was ironing too close to the fireplace.
And the National Film and Sound Archive is also said to be haunted, perhaps a leftover from its earlier purpose. Originally the building was the Australian Institute of Anatomy, where many corpses - humans and otherwise - were dissected and studied and visitors came to look at exhibits such as the heart of race horse Phar Lap. The building also housed Canberra's first morgue. It's rumoured the body of the murdered young woman known as the "pyjama girl" because of what she was wearing when found near Albury in 1934 might have been kept there briefly en route to Sydney.
"There's no documentation," Tim said.
But that's never stopped urban legends from spreading - nor have dubious sources like a "friend of a friend". Tim said urban legends were particularly prevalent in earlier times when reliable sources were harder to come by. But even in the age of the internet, when information is easier to obtain than ever, rumours and legends spread - and even faster now. Although there are entire websites devoted to debunking urban legends, people still spread them and still believe what they want to believe.
There are more urban legends about Canberra. Perhaps you'd like to go on one of Tim's tours - or share your own experiences.
- For more information about Tim the Yowie Man and his tours see: yowieman.com.au.
