Narrabri Shire Council has a quirky sense of humour.
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One hundred klicks from the rugged forest of the Pilliga, the council has been quietly punking the public for the last six months.
It's snuck a 'Yowie' into its promotion material for a bit of a laugh.
The Pilliga Forest attracts loads of Yowie hunters drawn to the area based on reported sightings, Narrabri Shire Council's tourism manager Penny Jobling said.
"Particularly on the Newell Highway between Narrabri and Coonabarabran, with other numerous sightings of the ape-like beast being reported from inside the Pilliga Forest," she said.
"Recently the council has been capturing the progress of large projects in video format with two suspected Yowies being spotted so far.
"We have noticed the Yowie in two of Council's project videos with the identity of the creature unknown.
"We have only been made aware recently of the Yowie being captured in our footage."
Eventually those videos came to the attention of Anaiwan tracker Don Fermor.
He reckons he's seen four in his lifetime, at just 11 the scream of one blew right through him.
The hairy man, or Yurri as it's called in Kamilaroi tongue, is a bi-pedal being that's existed in Aboriginal folklore for thousands of years.
The Yurri was a nemesis to Aboriginal people back in the tribal days, Kamilaroi man Les Waters said.
"I believe they have been around, they have been spoken about in the mission forever-and-a-day," he said.
"Where they come from is not really clear, but there's enough evidence in the culture to say they did exist and a lot of people believe they're still around today."
As the story goes, the Cleverman [an enforcer of lore in the Dreamtime] entombed the Yurri in a rock in Bundjalung country near Nimbin because of his unruly ways.
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When the Cleverman broke lore it allowed the Yurri to bust out of the rock, that still wears a black mark to this day.
Along Gunnedah Road there's a hill called Cleverman Ridge, Mr Waters said.
"These things suggest its more of a reality than a myth," he said.
For now, the closest most tourists can get to one is with a life-sized sculpture in one of Narrabri's pubs.
Madeline Link
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
