After writing Ghost Boy which has a flash back to an outbreak of smallpox at the Quarantine Station in Manly in 1881, I’ve always wanted to stay overnight at the QS to see if I was able to witness any ghostly sightings. There is a definite atmosphere there, and guides are convinced the site is genuinely haunted – so when I saw the following article about the Dare the Boss campaign, plus photo in the Manly Daily a couple of weeks ago, I contacted Natasha and, to my delight, she has agreed to my coming on board for the experience (and I’ll also make a donation, of course.) It’s a fund-raiser in a really good cause and here are the details if you’d like to support Natasha: http://donate.ccia.org.au/my-fundraising/572/natashas-dare-the-boss-natasha-cannon. From the Manly Daily: Natasha Cannon has joined the Dare The Boss challenge by spending the night in the haunted Quarantine Station. RUNNING a company with more than 6000 members has its challenges. But Natasha Cannon is facing her greatest one yet after her staff dared her to stay in a haunted dormitory overnight. The 44-year-old, of Mona Vale, will sleep at the Quarantine Station to raise money for children’s cancer research. “I’m not looking forward to this. I really am quite scared,” she said. Mrs Cannon, who runs the Executive Assistant Network, a company she set up on the northern beaches 10 years ago, is appealing for other northern beaches leaders or bosses to join her at the spooky location, so she does not have to brave it all by herself. “People have been telling me about all about the ghostly goings on at the Quarantine Station, so I’m pretty worried,” she said. And, perhaps she should be. More than 500 people died there between 1833 and 1984. As the name suggests, the site was used to quarantine new arrivals who sailed here and had or were suspected of having diseases. Spanish influenza, smallpox and bubonic plague were among the deadly contagious diseases new arrivals carried. Some of those died in “agony”, according to historians. NB For those of you living in Sydney who haven’t yet been to the QS, it’s a really fascinating place to visit!
