After camp was set up, the summer heat was so intense the order of the day was to plunge into the clear waters and explore our new wonder land.
As night fell, we built a fire under the twisted canopy of willows in full bloom with our backs to the water and sitting like primitive man gazing at the flickering fire.
Talking away quietly, the hair on the backs of our necks and a sudden bolt of insecurity and fear ran down our spines and the funny thing is we both felt this at the same time. All of a sudden we turned to each other and started debating who was going to turn around first, then on the count of three we both turned around at the same time only to see a face peering from the water with the reddest of eyes you have ever seen. For two seconds we gazed in total petrifying fear at a half ape half man type of humanoid, which the water completely exploded with the splash of its arms and the creature escaped under the water into the darkness.
There was no mistaking this creature, and the one advantage that I have over most people that claim to see or want to study it, I had thirty days of different experiences and several more face to face sightings.
To cut a long story short, the one thing I don't understand is why it didnt kill us. After our great plans of becoming millionaires after we caught it, the other six face to face encounters from a distance of no more than thirty feet, and not to mention the final and last encounter (the straw that broke the camels back) Chris was so shaken up by the previous experiences, he got the bright idea to jump out of the tent with the intent of stabbing and subdueing it and many arguments broke out over long sleepless nights before he decided to do this. .

The only way you can tell it was around was the fact that every living thing around went dead silent. As he left the tent there was an almighty splash and I thought Chris had ran a little to far and ran off straight into the water, but this wasn't the case. As I left, I saw Chris standing there with the knife at his feet and his face was totally lifeless and white. I tried shaking him and trying to get a word out of him but this was pointless, so I took the torch and shone it upon the water, and for twenty minutes I watched this thing in full glory as it swam up against the current, then dog paddling with just it's head above water as it swam to the other side and got up onto the bank, walked up to the drape of willow branches, and began just starring at us intently as we did on the other side with equal curiosity.
I am cutting the story very short, but for twenty minutes we did not break eye contact, and then I told Chris who had sort of come around, just to sit down and show we mean no harm to it.
After that time went by it came out in it's full glory and showed itself as clear as day, then it just walked back into the water coming straight at us. Of course we panic-ed and proceeded to throw anything we could find in our reach. (there is a lot more of this story than i am telling) After that, the very next morning we were out of there and I have never been camping since.

ps. Dont tell me evolution is not real, the missing link is still running around in the dark. My advice is, if anything like this happens to you on a camping trip, RUN!

EVO

Please ask any questions! You cant beat the truth!

EVO

Coming from an old Romany line and having lived in a many different cultures, I have a plethora of "ghost" stories. But, having read Evo's tale, I have a "strange" tale too.

Travelling through Northern QLD in a faithfull old combie camper once, was too buggered by heat and driving to make it to the next town. So pulled off the road for some food and kip.

My ex,(a very prosaic and grounded person) who had started to sort out wood for the fire suddenly came hurtling back, minus wood, jumped in the van and demanded we leave. I was starving and, as the only reason he could give was that he didn't like the place, wouldn't go without at least eating.

He eventually insisted we just grab some bread and tinned stuff and stay inside. I agreed but drew the line at winding up the windows in a north Qld summer!

So when I heard some heavy shuffling footsteps I yelled out "G'day" - before even realising we had passed no houses in hours and no car had drawn up. The ex - usually an extremely friendly guy - frantically started winding up windows. No-one answered, but the footsteps stopped. Next minute, with no preliminary scrambling noises, something very heavy landed on the roof - the dint stayed as long as we owned the vehicle.

By now every hair on my body was standing up straight but when someone/thing started first knocking and then slamming on the roof both of our teeth started chattering. Mouth full of Spam and bread I yanked the column reverse and we shot out of the bush onto the road backwards. As I did a wheely (in a combie van!) the heavy thing on the roof disapeared and we didn't stop till the next town 120ks away!

We never found out what it was but the people in town told us there was "somethin' funny" about that stretch of bush.

A recluse? Big Foot? A Roo with a penchant for scaring people? Never found out. But the feeling we both got was absolutely terrifying.

Thanks for all your inputs so far.

I'm getting goose-bumps reading them.

They're great!

I've also got a few more.

They're ones my husband experienced.

At the age of fourteen my husband was on a scout camp
some four hundred metres from a country cemetery.
All scouts had to do guard-duty during the night.
Twice, my husband was on duty during early dawn.

On these two occasions, just before sun-rise, he heard
voices in the distance, and looking across a
field, a hundred metres away, he saw four or five
figures, walking side by side towards him, and
talking. He was surprised but assumed they were
senior scouts returning from night games.

When they came within fifty metres, the voices
stopped, and the figures faded.

He later found out there were no night games.

The second incident occurred when my husband
was twenty, cross-country hiking with three
friends. Around midnight, on a moonlit night
they decided to pitch their tent in a paddock,
and settle down for the night.

My husband was woken by the sound of heavy
breathing and movement outside the tent.
He woke up with his heart racing thinking
the worst, woke his friends, and they carefully
peaked outside the tent to witness dark
apparitions surrounding them.

Slowly the images became clearer, and they saw
that the apparitions were cows, who presumably
had come to be milked.

They decided to pack up and move on. The
cows followed them all the way across the
paddock.

I just remembered another one:

I was about fifeteen, and my older brother
had befriended a neighbour's son a few
houses from ours. The boy was a bit slow,
but he had a lovely, gentle nature.

Anyway, to make a long story short, the
boy's parents came home from work one night,
and found their son had hung himself in their
garage. They later found out that the kid had
been bullied and teased dreadfully at school.

My brother was deeply shocked, we all were.
Weeks later we learned that the family of
that boy had put their house up for sale.
It seems that they were being disturbed by
something at night. They would clearly hear
crying, moaning, and footsteps.

Who knows, perhaps it could have been
psychological? The strange thing was though,
that the people who bought the house also
sold it after a year.