Built in 1875, "Ellerslie" is an incredible specimen of Victorian Gothic architecture. The property became a Youth Hostel in 1964 and the recent manager over the past few years have noticed some strange happenings. Paranormal activity previously recorded include strange knocking on walls in an otherwise empty building, footsteps, Poltergeist activity in the basement, oppressive atmospheres, electrical problems and EVP recordings.

The investigation began with separate walk-arounds with guest mediums John Crowdey and Marlene Woolgar, which was notable as both independently picked up on similar information which is especially significant as there are few historical records in the public domain about this location. Both referenced a dark male figure with the name of Edward, who was apparently a senior butler who would impart aggressive physical and mental discipline upon other members of staff. Both also connected with the energies of a former event in the reception area, which has undergone recent major renovation, where they suggested a young chamber maid had been abused and raped by a man, who was then the victim of a shooting by a member of her family in retribution. The night vigils began with my first group split between 2 rooms on the middle floor. Little activity was recorded by either group as the night began quietly. My second vigil lead another team to the ground floor, splitting into groups of 2 to investigate the Lounge and Bedrooms 1, 2 and 3. Again all remained relatively quiet with the exception of one experience during my visit to bedroom 1 which had previously been linked to the activity of small children. While having an unrelated discussion both of us felt a sudden energy within the room lasting only a moment, but significant enough to make each of us feel as if the hairs all over our bodies were standing on end. I felt some validation that something strange had occurred as we both mentioned this sensation at exactly the same time with no element of pre-suggestion from the other. The third vigil took place in Room 9, which had been a hive of activity all night linked to the negative presence of Edward. Our team chose to attempt a different method of communication by trying to antagonise this energy into some form of manifestation, as we believed his oppressive abuse had been targeted towards females during his time and the group contained 5 women. After calling out a number times for him to prove his existence and encouraging him to do something to make us leave, the only activity was loud footsteps and shuffling from what we assumed to be the vigil taking place on the top floor. To our surprise it was only until after the vigil we discovered that Room 9 is located in an Annex off to the side of the building, with just an inaccessible loft space above. I then chose to return for a short solo vigil in an attempt to connect with the female energy traditionally associated to this room. I had chosen to place the camcorder on the mantelpiece with the small spotlight on and began recording. Upon asking if this energy could make me aware of her presence the camera light suddenly flicked off sending the room into total darkness, although it continued to record. It was only on a later investigation that I discovered that the torch is set on an automatic timer. Our final vigil took place on the top floor where all remained still. The evening concluded with my first taste of table-tipping in the lounge, which produced some remarkable movement as the table rotated almost 90 degrees. A second attempt then saw the table rock violently as it appeared to almost dance around the room for a number of minutes.