North Head Quarantine Station

First published on 13 Feb 2009. Updated on 29 Oct 2010.

The ghost tours at North Head Quarantine Station are possibly the creepiest sightseeing you’ll ever do. Built in 1828, the station was the prison – and burial place – of scores of unfortunate souls, who were quarantined here for a minimum of 30 days if their ship was suspected of carrying an infectious disease such as smallpox, bubonic plague or influenza. The station was overcrowded, the treatment often degrading and many who died were buried in unmarked graves. Closed in 1972 (though, incredibly, it was used as emergency housing for Vietnamese orphans in 1975), the station is currently a top attraction for ghoulish tourists. They are led through its black streets, old fumigation rooms, shower blocks and cemetery by a guide with a kerosene lamp. Several visitors claim to have seen the resident ghosts – a moustachioed man in a three-piece suit and a stern matron – and others have reported feeling nauseous after getting a whiff of putrid and inexplicable smells. If you take a night tour, bring a torch and wear flat shoes. Ferry Manly then bus 135. Open (pre-booked tours only) Day tour 3pm-5pm Sat; 10am-noon, 3pm-5pm Sun. Adults’ ghost tour 8pm-11pm Wed-Sun. Family ghost tour 6.30pm-8.30pm Thur, Sun. Admission Day tour $25; $19 reductions; $70 family. Adults’ ghost tour $34; $32 reductions. Family ghost tour $25; $19 reductions; $70 family. Credit MC, V.