A YOWIE SIGHTING? I live in a suburb south of Sydney named Heathcote East. Any of you familiar with the suburb would be aware that it's surrounded by The Royal National Park on 3 sides. You may remember the suburb from the recent bushfires of 2001/2002. Anyway, back to the "story".. I usually try and go for a bike ride in the Park at least 4 times a week. It's quite relaxing and keeps me in shape. Anyway, the fitter I get the further I venture into the quite dense bush. It's in this dense bush that I first had the feeling of being watched. Actually, it's more than just a feeling. The surrounding area seems to go extremely quiet....no birds, no nothing, just total silence. At first I quite enjoyed the experience. It was very relaxing and quite surreal to be so close to Sydney and in total silence. Then it happened..... The feeling of being watched became overpowering on one occasion. I spun around quickly and just caught a glimpse of a large "animal" turn and crash through the bush. The sound of it running through the bush was quite loud indicating a large, heavy animal. Although it sounded to be clumsily running through the undergrowth quite the opposite was true. It left very little damage to the surrounding trees and would be almost impossible to follow. It was maybe 15 minutes after this that I heard a low pitched howling from the next valley, perhaps 3-4 kilometers away..I have never heard anything like this before in the Park. I still ride my bike in The Park all the time and still feel like I'm being watched. Each time it feels like it's getting closer. I feel no fear and feel like this "animal" is just curious rather than stalking or hunting. I say this beacause this has been happening for some months and if it wanted to attack it's had ample opportunity. Anyway, that's my "story". Make of it as you will. It's not important to me wether you believe me or not for I know what I say is true. Contact me here: defrag73@softhome.net Submitted From: NSW, Australia