The Spirits of Lake Leak - Ghosts of The South Coast Part 7

The Spirits of Lake Leak

Not far from Millicent, close to Glencoe, is a large dormant volcano with a lake in its crater, much like Mount Gambier's Blue Lake, but much smaller. That lake is known as “Lake Leak”.
For many years, it was rumoured in the local area, that Lake Leak was haunted. Very few people dared to venture up to the beautiful setting at night for fear they may encounter the local ghost.


People have drowned in this lake, that is a well-established fact. The locals knew those who had lost their lives here and knew how dangerous the place could be. It was often said on a moonlit night one could see a silver-grey, human-like figure lying on the dark waters of the lake. Whether the figure was a male or female, could be discerned, but nonetheless, people witnessed a mysterious person, floating, still, upon the water...like a dead body...

Not many people ventured to the lake at night, but every so often a stockman or rider passing through, would camp nearby and let their horses rest, They would wake in the night and see the mysterious figure floating on the water. The men (or man) would quickly pack up and ride into the night scared out of their wits, others wouldn’t even wait to pack up, but simply split until morning and then return for their things.


 One evening a man, braver than most, happened upon the lake and decided to stay the night. He spotted the mysterious shimmery silver-grey figure and watched it closely, noticing it never moved. Throwing caution to the wind, he decided to move closer and observe the figure.
It just lay there, floating, never drifting, always in the same spot.

The observant man decided not to bother the ghost this time, but just watch the figure. He then decided he should watch it for a few nights, to see if it ever did anything. One night he decided he would try and communicate with it, but had no reply.

On the third night, he spotted another ghost, this one much closer to him, and weirdly doing the exact same thing as the distant ghost, floating upon the water.

Working up all his bravery he decided to investigate the second ghost and got much closer. He was shocked at his discovery... the “ghost” was, in fact, an ancient white gum tree stripped of its bark and emerging in the still waters. He ventured to the distant ghost, to discover the same thing.

The next day he rode into town to the pub, to tell his story of bravery, and to tell the locals that the ghost of Lake Leak, which had haunted them for over a decade was nothing more than an old tree!



© 2013 Allen Tiller