Location: Kilkivan, Queensland
Date: April, 2001
Operation Rotation
Dean and Trevor met up with Brett Green and his partner in crime 'Mick" who had organized to come out for the day. Brett is a most amazing character with many experiences with the Yowie over the years and holds a lot of information on this location and surrounding areas. It was at this location where Brett and 4 friends had witnessed first hand the power of the Yowie in a freak incident while bush walking 3 years ago. They were out exploring one day (as they did often in search of Ancient Aboriginal sites), when as they rounded a corner they heard what seemed like the noise of an animal fight of some kind. At this stage they had no idea what was about to transpire.
As they came closer, they cautiously made their way to the ridge of a steep decline that lead into a valley with a massive rock cascade. On the cascade were two large Male Yowie's fighting. The group of men froze in disbelief as they slowly and quietly went to ground and observed this fearsome display. They were in total shock at what they saw, and in Brett's words - "It was a Brutal fight". Although the men had cameras in their bags, they were far to taken by the event, to think of taking pictures and as Brett said, "The last thing we wanted was for them to know we were there - they were angry enough as it was".
Because this is Brett's story and it will make an appearance in his next Book, we won't give the reader all the details, however we can say that this fight seemed to be stemmed over either Territory or a Female. To cut a long story short, there were two 'clans' of Yowie there that day and Brett was lucky to escape with his life.
The location of this incident was less than 1km from Base Camp.
Brett has many other wonderful achievements in his life including several great books on a range of topics from Pyramids in Australia, Aboriginal Secrets, to the Yowie. He is the only person in this Country that has actual photographs of the Pyramids and stone structures from the Gympie region and facts that other researchers envy, and sometimes plagiarized.
Dean, Trevor, Brett and Mick all rolled into Base camp at the same time to relieve Mike's team. After a cup of Coffee and a chat discussing files, facts and figures about the Yowie, Brett was leading the way through the Forest pointing out 'items of interest'.
They walked many tracks and trails looking, listening and studying the area. It wasn't long before they came to the area of the "Feuding Yowies", which we aptly named "The Arena". Brett went through the story stage by stage, pointing out the exact places and what was viewed. It was a most credible and amazing story with the names of all the people involved as back up of the encounter. They searched high and low around the entire location, and one thing was for sure, there were an enormous amount of tracks through the thick bush land that looked very convincing.
During the early Afternoon they returned to Base Camp for a BBQ and a rest.
While chatting more on the subject of Aboriginal Folklore and the Yowie, they were stopped in their tracks mid conversation by massive smashing through the Forest where the other teams had reported hearing it previously. It was heading in their direction through the bush from the other side of the stream. They all looked at each other for a second in total bewilderment and amazement before Dean took hold of the Video Camera and tip-toed his way down the track to the Creek. Brett, Trevor and Mick then continued talking as if they hadn't heard it, with the view that the "Creature Unknown" wouldn't be aware they were onto it.
By the time Dean approached the area where the racket was last heard, the noise had all but vanished. When he rounded a bend in the Creek he found the most likely location of the commotion. As he stepped up into the dense Rainforest, he was immediately hit by a wall of "Icy Air" to the likes of which he had not experienced for many years.
The hairs on his body stood on end as these odd icy sensations chilled him. He stopped for a reality check, "Was this just a mere figment of his imagination?" He thought to himself. He ran through all the most likely causes of such instant fear, however the "Psychology Meter" said that he was fine, and it was not his imagination doing this to himself! This is always an important process that people should perform when in such situations. Always take a step back and analyze yourself, making sure that the fear is not self produced. You can rationalize your dilemma and position, then make a more rational and informed decision for your next move knowing your Psyche is in good working order. In this case, it was definitely an 'external' matter.
With the Video now turned on and the knowledge of the other men only a scream away, he pressed on. He recorded on video how he was feeling at that time and how he felt that there was definitely "something" there somewhere. The chills became so bad at one stage that he had to sit down and rest, and this was the moment he realized that all the wildlife had also become silent.
After a time of 15 minutes the head congestion cleared somewhat, he then continued searching the surroundings but found nothing. There was a clearing on the far side of the treed canopy that 'may' have been the route out for what ever it was, and it was at that stage the birds slowly began to chirp again and the environment resumed feeling "Normal".
The others were fascinated by the feelings that Dean described when he told the story back at Base Camp. Brett stated that he had also had such feelings when the Yowie had been around. Brett and Mick seemed to feel that the Yowie has a large Aura field that can affect other animals around it such as Birds and other Wildlife, thus the reason for the silent bush when they approach or are already in the area. Every living thing on the Planet has some form of Energy field, which has been proven to Science, and the possibility of the Yowie having a larger than normal field isn't too hard to comprehend.
Brett and Mick left the camp at 3.30pm, which left Dean and Trevor on their own for the night.
They had no idea what would transpire that night when they returned to "The Arena".
At Sun down they checked the Camera Equipment and started running the tapes. The Latrine at that stage turned into "Latrine's" and was a virtual minefield! You really had to watch your step or Boom! (Luckily, no one admitted to that mistake).
Dean and Trevor sat back listening to many witness tapes that had been recorded on our behalf by Tony Healy and Paul Cropper. Paul and Tony have been our backbone in processing the AYR's reports over time, freeing us up to perform our Research in the field. Paul has a most professional technique when interviewing witnesses, and it has been mentioned on many occasions that Paul should actually pursue a Radio career. He does a fantastic job interviewing these people and he also performs the task far better than we could. Not a single detail is missed and his charismatic persona ensures that the witness is at ease during the process. All these personal interviews will be displayed in their next book, which will be focused almost entirely on the Yowie. Something not to miss.
Dean and Trevor geared up. Their backpacks consisted of N.V., I.R., Video Camera, Flares, binoculars, bandages, drinks and other minor items. They hit the trail back to "The Arena". Once they came within 300m of the site they walked very slowly and precisely, ensuring that they made little to no noise at all. When they arrived, the boys headed down the dirty slope towards the massive rock slab carefully making the most minimal noise possible.
Once on the bottom half of the Granite grounds, they sat quietly and waited.
*[At this stage the Reader must be informed that what transpired on this rock was most unbelievable and hard to relate without them being there personally. So for all intense and purposes, we will withhold some of the actual events]
Dean and Trevor sat quietly at the bottom end of the rock face for half an hour with little, to no movement around them. The bush was seemingly quiet and there was no other animal life stirring at all. They left their gear at the bottom of the cascade, walked up to the top half with absolutely no Equipment what so ever and lay back on the Granite slab staring at the night sky. It was then that the forest came alive from above the valley.
The foliage snapped, cracked and moved from three different directions towards them at a steady pace. "Creatures Unknown" were making their way down the slopes towards where they lay with no inhibitions and making as much noise as required.
During this time only two comments were made by Trevor as they stared at each other in amazement. One being "This is like Custers last stand" and the other one was "Are you ready for this?"
They knew that their equipment was too far to retrieve quickly. They surmised at the time that this response could have been a result of the "Creatures Unknown" being encouraged by the fact that Dean and Trevor were not carrying anything and were now on equal ground. It was just a thought at the time, and whatever the facts maybe, the "Creatures" continued down the hill towards them. The movements were most definitely bipedal from all three directions and they seemed to be all heading to the one area, which was at the top of the Cascade. When they arrived, they stayed just within the fringe line of the forest surrounds, which was roughly 35m from where they lay. The boys were determined not to leave or even stare in their direction. Every so often, one or the other couldn't resist and would have to have a short glimpse. As these "Creatures" would transfer their weight from one foot to the other, the sticks beneath their feet would crack and break, but they seemed quite happy in their vantage point to stay and 'watch the Humans'.
*[Notice that we didn't mention the name 'Yowie'. There were large bipedal Creatures surrounding them, however they were not seen physically by either man due to the darkness and thick bush. They were not Kangaroo's, Dingo's, Cow's, Horses or Sheep. Whatever they were, walked and thought like Humans. They circled behind the men and watched from behind trees. The entire situation was clearly obvious and the event transpired over 30-40 minutes.]
Many strange and bizarre thoughts and feelings were observed in both men to the point that Dean decided that they should leave the area. Trevor was reluctant to go, as he saw this as a Golden opportunity, but Dean had had enough, so they gathered their gear and left. During the walk back to Base, they discussed at length what had just transpired. Trevor re-iterated the fact that they had somehow missed out on something that they should have stayed for and was still keen to return. Dean on the other hand, just wanted to get back to the relative safety of Base.
Back at Base, they checked the cameras and baits and went to bed with one eye open.
Loud and violent snorts and grunts were heard that night, but unfortunately it was only Trevor.
You see, Trevor is known in the group as the "Snorer of a thousand Earthquakes". It truly has to be heard to believed. He makes so much noise that we swear that the Yowie would be too scared to visit the Base at night, thinking there was something far larger and more frightening than he within the tent. In fact if we put Trevor, Steve and Rob together in a tent at night we have a 3piece band that makes all the forest animals hide and cower in terror.
After several noise pollution related arguments during the night, Trevor was banished to the Hammock. After he tore a hole in Mike's Hammock and fell through it in shear frustration, he then lit a candle and sat in a chair outside the tent. At 4am he returned promising to cut the emissions, however it wasn't long before Dean could stand no more and stormed out of the tent. It turned out to be quite fortunate that he did, as he found the Base camp alight from Trevor's candle! More heated debating continued as they put the fire out. Oh, what a night.
On daybreak, Dean headed back to "The Arena". There were no physical signs of interest besides some broken foliage and on his return back to Base, strange Howling sounds began in bursts from the top of the mountain. These Howls were not Dingo. We had purchased audio tapes of various howls and these ones were not Dog, Dingo or alike. At one stage Dean thought it may have been Trevor clowning around, however it was not.
Later that morning they met up with a freelance Journalist acting on behalf of the "Sunday Mail". He spent a day and a night with the crew, but it was a rather uneventful time.
The next day Rob, John and Ashley arrived for their shift. While waiting for them to arrive, Dean found many footprints through the sandy creek bed that were very fresh. There were the usual smaller prints of "Junior", however this time either his Mother or Father was following. This was a very exciting find.
Dean and Trevor went home and left the next crew to do their best. Apparently during their first night the heavens opened and the rain poured. The next morning the rain had set in and didn't look like it was going to clear for the rest of the Operation, so they had little other choice but to pack up and end the Expedition.
We were all very disappointed at the sudden end of the Operation and all look forward to our next adventure????.
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Australian Yowie Research - Data Base
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