THE SILVER LADY

It’s not just bizarre creatures who lurk out there on the campgrounds; ghosts have been encountered, too. London tells us about her experience, which took place when she was 15 years old during her family’s annual Christmas holiday in 2003 at a beachfront caravan park near Killala Beach, New South Wales, Australia. This is no isolated wilderness spot, but an ordinary family camping ground with all the amenities: general store, pool, restaurant and kids club. And at the front is a row of 20 or so luxury villas suitable for a family with 1-3 children. “I hate camping,” London says. “I hate it with a passion, so my family – dad, mum and younger brother and sister – stayed in one of these villas. Our villa was facing the sea, but we couldn't immediately see the beach as there was a row of pine trees blocking the view.”

This being Australia, kangaroos freely hopped around the caravan park in search of food. On the third or fourth night of their stay, London says she went out into the front deck of their villa to hang her bikini on the railing to dry in the warm night air. It was about 10 p.m. The rest of the family was asleep, but she was doing her usual pre-bedtime cleanup.

“I flicked the deck light on because I heard what I thought was a kangaroo,” she says. “I turned my head to the pine trees and almost died of shock because of the lady standing there. She was standing there, staring at me. She glowed silver and was very illuminated. She had flowing clothing that was waving in the wind. She looked beautiful, but I was frozen in fear. I stood glued to the spot for a few seconds... then she was gone.”

The next morning, London ventured outside to the tree where the woman had been standing. There in the bark of the white ash was a burn mark in the shape of an L that was crossed on the top. She doesn’t know if this has anything to do with the apparition she saw or not, and if it’s a symbol, she doesn’t know what it might mean. About the ghost she says, “I never saw her again, and I never want to.”