I had a very close encounter with a yowie, in my late teens far northwestern Australia Kimberly region rather not mention what town due to I believe that they will try to hunt it down but this event happened in the eighties. I was on a working holiday I only did casual work so when I wasn’t working I would get up just before dawn go bike riding about five to six km out of town. This day I changed my direction, decided to ride my bike north out of town. I did this ride about eight times just before the quarry/cement works.
The first few times were just very quiet. Then I noticed that the dogs would bark like crazy out near the quarry/cement works. It was just a stone’s throw off the main road. I didn’t think much of it. On a few occasions, I would hear this very low growl. It seemed to be about a hundred meters into the bush (low-lying shrubs and a forest of medium to large sapling gum trees with large trees spread randomly throughout the bush). I didn’t think much of it at the time. I would turn my head to see where it was coming from but couldn’t see anything. I just assumed it to be a stray dog and then thinking I hope it’s not a dingo because it’s early in the morning.
A few cars would pass by, a few meaning a dozen if that. I would go so far then turn back, ride on the other side. Then again I would hear this very low growl to a growling sound. This happened for three days straight. Like the idiot I am, I go back out the same way for my bike ride the next morning. This day I go past the quarry/cement works but you can hear the trucks and the dogs are going crazy more so than usual. I even heard one of the workers yelling at the dogs to knock it off.
Riding my bike, enjoying the early morning, the sun just warming up the chill air, misty haze rising off the ground, birds chirping away, cockatoos flying over. I should have realized then, going off the deep end, then I heard the growl just beside me. Then it started growling all of a sudden. I could hear small bushes and trees snapping. Then I could not just hear the heavy thudding of its feet on the bitumen road, I could feel it. I just shifted and leaned forward, pumped my legs as fast as I could. At the same time, I saw this hairy foot and its leg almost up to its thigh.
Just as I went to turn my head, a massive hairy hand (its fingernails were cracked and split full of dirt, its hair was long coarse hair kind of like the hair from a horse’s tail, the color of its hair in the sunlight was a brown auburn but when in the shade it looked dark brown/black) and forearm came clumsily down just missing grabbing me by the shoulder only because I moved just a fraction before and lowered my whole body forward to get more speed. It was pissed at me or very hungry, only thing that saved me three cars just came around the bend. It let out this even bigger longer kind of yell growl at the same time then ran into the (it seemed to be yelling talking) bushland.
That’s when I turned my head and saw this massive hairy nine-foot creature throwing a hissy fit. It was yelling and snapping small trees and saplings like twigs and he moved fast. I quickly tailgated out of there asap. When he was running behind me, you could hear the weight in his steps. He was running flat-footed, had no arches in his feet. As Maxwell Smart would say, “missed me by that much.”
Short of the long of this town, aware of this but kept it quiet, it makes its money on tourism. He was if you could give this yowie an age in its very late teens or twenties. It was very healthy and well-built, if that makes sense. The bitumen roads are raised about a meter or just over above the ground due to the flooding from the wet season. It sounded like it just leaped up onto the road, hit the ground running. To this day, I can still hear and feel the power in his running strides, thud thud.
