Piliga Scrub, NSW Australia
c.1970

The Piliga Scrub is a massive expanse of thick bushland in the top quarter of New South Wales and covers an area of about 80 x 120 kilometres. Much has been lost in there, never to be found again, from sheep and cattle, to people and vehicles. Even today, it is dense and forbidding, although what used to be a dirt track that ran through the middle is now a major road called the Newell Highway.

There are a lot of stories that have emerged from the forest, and a particular one that sticks in my mind is that of a bag-lady who lived in the Piliga Scrub. She was often seen walking her old battered shopping trolley loaded with her belongings along the road, and truckers would see her at night walking in complete darkness.

She was a recluse, old, grey haired and crazy, and they dubbed her the Piliga Princess. She became quite well known, but one night she was hit and killed by a truck. The trucker who hit her said she had been wandering across the road and he hadn't seen her until it was too late. He told how as she was lit by the headlights, she turned to look directly at him and ran toward him, arms outstretched. The last thing he saw of her alive was the white hair flaring out around her wild-eyed face and the expression was one of manic glee.

Since then other truckers swear they have seen her walking her trolley at night, just as she had done for years before she was killed. One truck driver even claimed to have hit her trolley, but with no Princess in sight.

If you are from that region, or have driven through there and have seen anything unusual, I would love to hear from you.

There are many more Piliga stories from truckers, and there are a couple in particular that I'd like to include here later.