Unfinished Business

Australia's popular Sydney harbour is flanked by two of the country's most prized possessions the Sydney Opera House on the one side and directly across the water is its equally popular cousin, The Rocks. The Rocks is where Australia's first settlers initially landed. Most of them were convicts, living in cramped quarters where only the fittest managed to tough it out and survive. In those times, men outnumbered women by a ratio of four to one. I mention this statistic because it has a strong bearing on the story behind the hauntings at The Rocks. The incident dates back to the early twentieth century. It involves an 18 year old love struck couple a wide eyed, pale Irish girl with long, flaming red hair and her tall, dark haired heart throb. It was love at first sight for this convict couple, and after a heady courtship of two months they could no longer stand to be apart. They planned to get married. The all important day was set for an early winter's morning. It was going to be a very simple wedding. They did not have the money to even buy a half decent wedding gown and tuxedo. They planned simply to wear their best Sunday clothes and exchange vows in front of a handful of friends. But it was common in those times when women were few and far between, she was also particularly attractive to another man in the settlement. he was well into his twenties, with a weather beaten face and very rough manners that earned him a reputation as a rowdie. He had tried persistently to win the red head over but she had always rejected his advances.

But like most men, he did not give up. He still kept trying to entice her. To avoid trouble, she chose to keep her wedding plans a secret from him. but on the all important day, he managed to get wind of the planned wedding. He became wildly jealous, so the story goes. He confronted the groom and a full blown argument soon erupted by the pier. One thing led to another and soon the two were engaged in a fist fight. A crowd of settlers soon gathered to watch the two contestants. They lost no time in excitedly laying their best for a winner. But there was no winner that morning. in a bitter twist of irony, both men managed to kill each other with the bloody blows they inflicted on one another. It was a gory sight. Their blood intermingled together as their bruised and battered bodies lay dead amongst the excited crowd. The crowd had not seen such a brutal and exciting fight before that climaxed with such a finish. Some of them cheered, others jeered. The racket they made could be heard for miles. All this time, the bride had waited patiently for her husband to be to arrive at her tiny, cramped quarters and take her away for their secret wedding. When he did not come at the appointed hour, the nervous bride slowly became aware of the noisy cheers and jeers along the pier. She hesitated to go forward to see what the fuss was all about. She did not want to soil her best dress amongst the crush of the unruly crowd. but a little voice inside her head told her to go. Tentatively she went ahead and slowly elbowed her way through the rowdy crowd to see what the commotion was about. When she stumbled on the sight of her dead lover, it was all too much for her. in the early hours of that grey winter's morning, she took her own life.

She jumped off the pier and drowned in the cold, murky waters of Sydney harbour. But that was not the end of that sorry tale. Sydneysiders insist that on the occasional misty, grey winter's morning you can still see her the heart broken bride. She still roams The Rocks looking for her groom. All those who have seen her always remember her big, sorrowful eyes, her white gown and her flaming red hair. She walks right through living people totally oblivious to them, searching in vain for her lover. According to a press report in 1979, a 53 year old local resident was strolling along the pier in the early hours of the morning when he had a one on one encounter with her that he will not forget in a hurry. He was half way down the deserted pier when he suddenly became aware of a woman in white coming towards him. He could not make her out clearly but he remembered her long, red tresses blowing around her face. He thought it was strange for a young girl to be walking the streets of Sydney unaccompanied so early in the morning, wearing only a flimsy gown on such a cold winter's day. He was walking close to the railing along the pier as she walked up to him. She seemed to be directly in his path and being a gentlemen, he planned to greet her and step aside to let her pass. As she approached him, he nodded and said, 'Good morning.' But the woman had a vacant look in her large grey eyes and she stared straight ahead, completely ignoring him. Before he could step aside to let her pass, a strange thing happened. The man felt the entire right side of his body go cold.

It took awhile for the stunned man to realize what had happened, she walked right through his side.