Gold Coast yowie witness speaks out

The witness to the Gold Coast’s latest yowie sighting said he was plagued by nightmares of the creature and lived in fear of ridicule from his family and friends.

THE witness to the Gold Coast’s latest yowie sighting has told the Bulletin he spoke out to give others the strength to come forward.

The truck driver, who chose not to be named had claimed the yowie thumped the front of his truck in a mid morning scare in the Gold Coast hinterland late last year.

After the incident, the 53 year old said he was plagued by nightmares of the creature and lived in fear of ridicule from his family and friends.

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The witness sketch of the Yowie seen on Beechmont Road in November 2018.

“It was the worst thing that has ever happened to me,” he told the Bulletin.

“I tried to push it in the back of my head, and think that was freaky, it just can’t be real.

“I just couldn’t get it out of my mind, I was having trouble sleeping at night.”

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The man, who appears to be an average aussie bloke in every way, grew up hunting and camping, had never been a believer in the paranormal.

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Part of a footprint of a suspected Yowie found on the Gold Coast.

“I didn’t believe in ghosts or anything, it just wasn’t something I thought about,” he said.

“I am an avid camper and am out in the bush all the time, I have never experienced anything like that before, especially at 10 o’clock in the morning — it scared the crap out of me.”

The driver said it took him over a month to tell his wife about the incident.

“I wasn’t prepared to tell anyone, you can see by the reaction why,” he said, referring to the Bulletin’s original story on the incident Thursday.

“When I told my wife I was worried she would think I was losing it.”

Dean Harrison who runs Australian Yowie Research has seen and hunts the QLD Yowie

It was when the man’s wife said she believed him did he decide to pursue to matter further.

“It was a big relief, I felt like a weight has been lifted off of me,” he said.

“She said there are a lot of things out of there still to be discovered.”

The truck driver has hit back at those who questioned his lack of photographic evidence.

His regular tipper, which was equipped with a dash cam had to be serviced on the day of the incident.

“The whole thing lasted for five seconds, and you are staring this monster in the face watching it to make sure it isn’t going to step around at you — you are scared for your life, not grabbing for a camera.”

A supplied video screen-grab obtained on Thursday, January 24, 2019 of a sketch of a 10-foot tall ‘yowie' drawn by a truck driver who claims to have spotted it inland from the Gold Coast in November last year. (AAP Image/Supplied by Dean Harrison, Australian Yowie Research)

He has only had to drive Beechmont Road, the site of the encounter, once since.

“I was a little bit shaky going past the site,” he said.

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“I figure it is a one in an million thing. I have seen it once now and that is the end of it, lightning doesn’t strike twice.

“On the other hand I would like to see it with a camera just to prove it.”

The man said he has been thankful for the help of local Cryptozooloigist Dean Harrison who runs Australian Yowie Research.

“Dean has been really comforting and understanding, it was good to approach someone about it and know they wouldn't laugh,” he said.

“When you have seen something like this and you keep it inside you carry it around like a heavy heart, you feel so much lighter when you can talk about what you have seen.”

The truckie has since told most of his family and a few of his colleagues about the incident.

“They only rib me about it a little bit.”