Magpie Gully is not your average Australian Petting Zoo and Natural Bushland Reserve, it holds hidden secrets attached to a really dark past.
What began as a convict settlement, later developed into a gold rush town, founded and named 'Magpie Gully' by a man called Edward Tucker (also known as Ned Tucker), who arrived to the site as captain of a convict fleet. After he was forced to free the convicts from slavery, Tucker was taken by surprise when the convicts returned, offering to help him build Magpie Gully as a community.
Tucker would later be elected as the town's first and only mayor.
Ned Tucker - Founder and Mayor of Magpie Gully Town
By the time Magpie Gully was barely a completed town, Arthur Chamber, and his newly wedded wife Janet, arrived in search of some where to settle into their new married life.
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During his area wide search, Arthur discovered gold in a nearby mountain. So Tucker struck a deal with him. If Arthur where to allow the town folk to build a mine on his property, Tucker would have the town build him and his a nice cosy cottage. How could Arthur refuse?
Arthur Chamber and his wife Janet
Keeping his end of the bargain, Tucker had the town construct the Chambers a mine and and cottage. The mine fed the town its riches, and placed Magpie Gully on the map. After just a couple of years of operation, a disastrous explosion wiped out the entire facility, killing all the mine workers, including Arthur Chamber himself. It was a tragedy for sure, so the town constructed a graveyard in front of the mine's entrance, paying respects to everyone who lost their lives in the fatal disaster.
Before long, Magpie Gully received a surprise visit from local bushranger Connor Luca. A man so feared, the entire town barricaded themselves into the buildings upon his arrival. Luca had heard about the gold the town had been mining, so he had come to claim the town as his own, in order to take control of the town's gold. Ned Tucker was the only man in town brave enough to stand against Connor Luca, and had himself shot dead in the process.
Luca was soon approached by Arthur Chamber's widow Janet, who offered Luca to take him to the mine herself.
Connor Luca - Famous Bushranger
Little did Luca know that Janet had a little trick up her sleeve. Janet had secretly been studying witchcraft back in her England home and has cast a spell on the mine to ensure no one like Luca would ever invade her husband's mine. Before Luca knew it, the mine workers who once rested in their graves rose and took Luca away to his eternal prison. It is said the animated corpse of the mine workers still wander the mountain's mining tunnels and grave yard to this day, for if Luca's resting place was ever found and disturbed, his curse could be unleashed, triggering a zombie plague that could wipeout the world. This is how the mountain got it's name 'Mount Zombie'.
Once rumours of a witch's curse began to spread around town, the town's folk began to flee, leaving Magpie Gully nothing more than a ghost town. When Janet casted her curse, little did she know of the consequences. One of which that the curse would actually make her immortal. For over a hundred years, Janet watch helplessly as her beloved town of Magpie Gully rotted away.
A Young Jonathan Davis with his convey van.
It wouldn't be till sometime in the early 21st Century that Janet would finally get some company. A young emerging rock star named Jonathan Davis happened to be passing by the old ghost town of Magpie Gully, when he got himself lost, and his convey van suddenly broke down.
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After revealing her magic touch and got the van working again, Jonathan offered Janet to join him on his national tour. Janet was a little hesitant at first, for she didn't want to leave her home. But being the handsome and charming young man Jonathan was, Janet couldn't resist his pleading eyes, and decided to accept his offer.
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Janet would become absent from Magpie Gully for about a 20 months, than would return home to Magpie Gully pregnant.
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To her surprise, Janet would discover that her beloved home was no longer vacant.
Tom Tucker - a 21st century descendent of Major Ned Tucker, heard the stories of his ancestor as a young boy. As far as Tom was concerned, Ned died a hero. In honour of his memory, Tom had dreamt as a young boy of turn the old ghost town of 'Magpie Gully' into a tourist attraction. However, by the time he graduated high school and married his sweetheart Kath he was too late, for the local city council had already declared the town redundant and had it torn down. Only the old Chamber's Cottage remained standing. So if Tom couldn't save the town of Magpie Gully, at least he could save a piece of its history. After successfully having the old Chamber's Cottage heritage listed, he soon moved in with his wife Kath, with plans to transform the property into a petting zoo and camping resort, despite the stories he heard about Mount Zombie.
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Little did Tom know he had a fight ahead of him. To Tom, Janet was a disturbed young pregnate woman who claimed to be someone who lived over a hundred years ago.
Tom Tucker - just months after moving into the Chambers' Cottage
Tom successfully won a custody battle over the property in court, which had Janet committed into a psychiatric hospital. While there Janet gave birth to a baby girl, not wanting responsibility of her, Janet insisted with her nurse that the baby be taken to the Tuckers to look after her. Tom and Kath were more than happy to take the baby girl in, they called her Stacey and raised her as their own.
Stacey Tucker at 12 years of age.
Ash Tucker at 9 years of age.
3 years later, Kath gave birth to her own baby boy and called him Ash. The Tuckers grow into a happy family with a successful business. Tom renamed the property 'Magpie Gully: Farm and Wildlife Park' after the his ancestor's now deceased town, and successfully made a must see destination for tourists worldwide. Magpie Gully become a place an entire family could spend a weekend getaway, along the animals and nature of an undisturbed Australian Bushland. Magpie Gully was a relaxing paradise away from the hustle and bustle of the city. More important to Tom, guests could learn the history of the gold rush town Magpie Gully once was. However due to fear of its ghost stories, Mount Zombie remained untouched, though some intrigued tourists did take a little sneak peak through its rusted iron gates.
No doubt Tom's 'Magpie Gully' dream became a great success story, but it wasn't to last.
Dr. Mark Matheson and his son Simon.
One fateful night, Tom received a visit from world famous astro-biologist Mark Matheson and his 12 year old autistic son Simon. He claimed that Tom had a strange plant growing on his property that he suspected was not from this planet, and required to investigate immediately. Intrigued by the famous scientist's claims, Tom not only approve Dr. Matheson's investigation on his property, but decided to join his new friend on the search. Neither Tom, Dr. Matheson, nor his son Simon where ever seen again.
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Weeks later, Tom's son Ash who was only 9 at the time, began looking for his father deep in the dark bush in the middle of the night.
All Ash found was a glimpse of a monstrous presence. A mysterious local creature, who become known as 'The Grassman'.
After Ash's initial encounter, The Grassman became Magpie Gully's own equivalent of the 'Bigfoot' mystery. As many claimed to have encountered the rumoured creature himself, reports describe the Grassman as a man-like figure with green skin and hair that camouflages in the bush's foliage. Yet it is his red glowing eyes and grunt-screeching sounds that give the creature's presences away.
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Some say his dangerous and hostile, while others say he's a gentle creature, just looking for a way to co-exist.
Many scientists, journalists, and tourists have travelled miles and even from all parts of the world to catch a glimpse of the rumoured Grassman. Some have never returned.
It wasn't til people began to disappear that the situation became will problematic. The local city council has even insisted the place be closed down while its presumed unsafe.
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Quite skeptic of the Grassman's existence, Kath continues to maintain the park grounds, hoping that one day the council will come to their senses, and allow her to reopen the business her presumed dead husband worked so hard to build.
The Grassman
But the rumours of the Grassman are the least of Kath's concerns, for there is still Janet's curse which haunts the infamous Mount Zombie, as well as the mysterious disappearance of her husband. Presuming it really does exist of course, could the Grassman have something to do with Tom's disappearance...? Where did the Grassman come from? What is it doing in Magpie Gully, and since it only comes out at night, where does it go in the day time...? Then there's this mysterious plant that Dr. Matheson spoke of... What is this plant? Where did it come from and what's it doing on Earth? Did Tom and Dr. Matheson ever find it?
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With so many questions unanswered, one thing is for certain. If Kath is gonna continue maintaining Magpie Gully, she can't do it alone.