Hinterland legend 7000 years in the making
TIMELINE OF TERROR
SINCE the early 1930s, tales of a hinterland yowie with nightmarish eyes, large hairy figure and harrowing screams have terrified Gold Coasters.
But despite the lack of a body, a pelt or conclusive recordings, the stories of the creature have permeated local mythology to this day, drawing yowie hunters.
For Yugambeh Aboriginal man Shaun Davies, language researcher at the Yugambeh Museum, the modern yowie sightings serve as a link to indigenous lore of the past.
A passionate cultural researcher, Mr Davies has devoted half a decade to collecting indigenous stories of the Gold Coast region.
He has found a number of similarities between the stories passed down by traditional owners and the figures purported to have been seen in recent decades.
“It (the yowie) has an indigenous history,” Mr Davies said.
“The figures described don’t always line up, but there are two types of creatures which are similar.”
The creatures are known as the Janjarri and the Bunyun.
Janjarri, often translated as “the hairy people’’, are said to inhabit thick scrub and rainforest below the hinterland in areas like Ormeau, Coomera and Oxenford. Generally described as 90-150cm tall, the creatures were also called fairies by the first white settlers.
WHEN THE PLATYPUS WAS FIRST FOUND IT WAS DISMISSED AS A FAKE OR MYTHOLOGY
SHAUN DAVIES
“They were also called Gujarang, which literally means cousin,” Mr Davies said.
Bunyun, a more terrifying creature, were said to inhabit the rocky areas of the Great Dividing Range, including Springbrook and Mount Tamborine.
They were said to be tall, muscular, rock-shaped creatures and the source of landslides.
“To me the descriptions of the Gold Coast yowies seem to be a mix of the two,” Mr Davies said.
According to Mr Davies, the traditional tribal routes in the Coomera area crisscross the landscape specifically to avoid the Bunyun or the “fairy fellas’’.
“When I hear these stories, I do get pleasantly pleased white fellas get to experience these things, that it isn’t just something we have in our stories,” Mr Davies said.
He said research had kept his mind open to the possibilities of what might be out there.
“When the platypus was first found it was dismissed as a fake or mythology,” he said.
“So who knows about legendary creatures like the Bunyip and the Yowie. These stories can sometimes go back 7000 years.”
THE HUNTER
To the founder of Australian Yowie Research, Dean Harrison, the creatures are not a hypothetical matter – they are his life’s calling.
The cryptozoologist began recording every available sighting of the animal after what he claims was a near-death encounter with a Yowie on his Ormeau property in 1998.
The AYR data base was now one of the most extensive in the country.
“I had no choice but to do this,” Mr Harrison said.
“Before research specialists, there was nowhere for people to turn to.
“These encounters do change some people and they need to be able to speak with someone who believes them.”
Mr Harrison is deep into his investigation into the latest sighting made by a truck driver outside of Witheren, near Canungra in the Gold Coast Hinterland, which the Bulletin last month. reported
MODERN SIGHTINGS
In November 1977 a group of TSS boys, camping in Springbrook National Park, claimed to have seen a 3m tall hairy creature in the scrub.
The boys said they had watched through binoculars as the animal crush saplings “like matchsticks” .
One of the boys, Bill O’Chee, who went on to become a Queensland National Party senator, confirmed his original account in the early 2000s, describing it as the most “amazing experience”.
A year later another sighting was made by 13year-old Shaun Cooper at his Yakkayne St home in Nerang.
The boy claimed he saw a creature with black fur clawing at a tree one winter afternoon.
A Department of Environment and Science spokeswoman said they had no recent reports of Yowie sightings on the Gold Coast. Gold Coast sightings recorded by the Bulletin and Australian Yowie Research.
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Springbrook .............. Canungra .................. Coomera ................... Springbrook ............. Springbrook ............. Springbrook ............. Springbrook ............. Wongawallen ........... Advancetown ........... Canungra ................. Ormeau .................... Canungra .................. Ormeau ................... Springbrook ............ Canungra ................. Ormeau .................... Ormeau .................... Springbrook ............. Springbrook ............. Witheren .................. Ormeau .................... Ormeau ................... Hinze Dam ............... Ormeau ................... Ormeau ................... Ormeau ................... Upper Coomera ...... Yarrabilba ............... Springbrook ............ Beechmont .............. Jimboomba .............. Ormeau Hills ............ Logan Village ............