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- Project Puhinui: Session Four – Puhinui House, Howick Historical Village30/04/2016Historic Buildings / Investigations / Project PuhinuiSession Four: 30th April 2016 – Solo Overnight vigil by Lisa Ward. I thought it was a nice old house, very representative of the 1800s. I loved the Veranda. I went in treating it as an ordinary ‘un-haunted’ house and thought that I would just see if anything happened to convince me otherwise. The house was fairly big. Downstairs consisted of a large living area, a dinning room with small office in an alcove. At the back of the house were modern toilets, the kitchen and parlour and a small porch area leading to the back door. If you continued to walk down the corridor this narrowed and ended in the small maid’s bed room. A big staircase led to the upstairs hall way. Off the hallway were the main bedroom, a child’s bedroom, a more modern looking sewing room, a room full of pictured and other junk, a small room with mannequins and a room full of filing cabinets. The house didn’t feel uncomfortable in anyway when I first arrived. The only room that I thought seemed a bit creepy was the maid’s room. I think this may just have been related to the fact that the room was at the end of a dark narrow corridor. The bed was arranged as if someone had been sleeping in it. The master bed room also made me feel a little bit uncomfortable, but again I think this may have been related to hearing reports that the mirror had swung on its own accord. I arrived for my solo vigil at Puhinui house at around 7 pm. It was still night, calm and cloudy with a temperature of around 16ºC. Mark met me by the house. I was impressed with the beautiful façade of the 19th century house. I’ve always loved verandas and this house had a large veranda at the front. The inside of the house was no less impressive. A beautiful staircase and stained glass window confronted you as you walked through the door. Mark took the time show me around the rooms explaining some of the history of the place and some of the stories from previous investigations. The house was sizeable and I imagined back in the day (mid 1800s) it must have been a beautiful house to live in and not so large that it wasn’t homely. The house felt fairly normal on arrival. I didn’t feel any change of emotion as I walked around. We spent some time setting up the DVR cameras. These were placed at the bottom of the staircase, looking up the stairwell, in the hallway at the top of the stairs, in the room containing filing cabinets and a metal bin and in the main living room. At the top of the stairs I also placed a toy stuffed dog on a chair as a trigger object but this hadn’t moved by the morning. Mark left me around 8.30 pm and I was alone to soak up the atmosphere. I wandered around the house again getting a feel for the place. I’d planned first to go around taking photographs to document the house. After this, I planned to set up the voice recorders. Footsteps Around 9 pm, I started taking photos around the living room, trying to capture some of the memorabilia. I was busy taking photographs of a badly taxidermied tiger when I suddenly heard loud footsteps walking down the corridor outside of the living room. I would describe them as low heels on a hard or wooden floor, someone walking quite quickly or with a purpose. There were around 6 to 8 footsteps. The footsteps sounded like they were going down the corridor past the toilets and away from the living room. As I was stood by the door by this corridor I moved quickly to see if I could see someone, but there was no-one there. I took a photo to see if I could capture anything, but nothing was captured. The incident freaked me out a bit, I think I was even shaking a bit and couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. At the same time it was exciting as this is what investigation is about, having these experiences. I knew no-one was in the house; I’d previously walked right through the house with Mark and we’d even checked the back door was locked. Mark had long gone about 15 to 20 minutes before. As I moved around the house, I felt a little nervous. The areas where I felt most uneasy were upstairs, particularly the master bedroom. I found I didn’t want to really go into the room. Downstairs, walking through the kitchen made me really shudder and I didn’t want to be in there. I felt an overwhelming feeling of being watched and intruding. I even felt this in the kitchen in the morning when it was lighter, so it wasn’t just the darkness that was making me feel uncomfortable. I didn’t really like the maid’s room, but this was at the end of a creepy looking corridor, so I don’t think that helped. At around 4.30 am I woke up and felt like someone was pressing a single finger hard on the top of my head, it was quite painful. I also suddenly felt like someone had lifted and pulled my duvet back, and I knew I hadn’t moved! I sat up quickly but didn’t see anything. I felt like I just wanted to get out of the house at that point. DVR cameras were placed at the bottom of the staircase, looking up the stairwell, in the hallway at the top of the stairs, in the room containing filing cabinets and a metal bin and in the main living room. At the top of the stairs I also placed a toy stuffed dog on a chair as a trigger object but this hadn’t moved by the morning. The living room the video did capture me reacting to the footstep noise, although I’m only just in the shot. Voice recorders were placed on first step of the staircase and on the table in the upstairs hallway. Following the footstep event, I set up voice recorders, one on the bottom of the stairs and the other on a table in the hallway upstairs. I then took some pictures around the house. At 9.30, still feeling a little nervous, I decided to have some quiet time in the living room. I sat on my make shift bed and did a bit of meditation to calm my nerves, but as the evening progressed on, I couldn’t easily shake the feeling of unease. As I moved around the house, I felt a little nervous. The areas where I felt most uneasy were upstairs, particularly the master bedroom. I found I didn’t want to really go into the room. Downstairs, walking through the kitchen made me really shudder and I didn’t want to be in there. I felt an overwhelming feeling of being watched and intruding. I even felt this in the kitchen in the morning when it was lighter, so it wasn’t just the darkness that was making me feel uncomfortable. I didn’t really like the maid’s room, but this was at the end of a creepy looking corridor, so I don’t think that helped. At 9.45 pm I decided to do a communication session. I sat on the lower stairs. I asked if Serita was there. I asked lots of questions about the house and who was there, whether they owned the house or had worked there. I asked for names. I asked whether they minded all the people who had stayed overnight recently. I picked up what sounded like male and female voices. I hear what I think sounds like the following: Male voice saying “yes” Male voice saying something like “Bullshit” A female voice shouting “Aunt” (however this was picked up while I was still in the living room before I even started the EVP session) Female voice saying ‘tomorrow’ A female voice that replies “yes” when I ask “perhaps you like the company” referring to people staying overnight in the house. Two loud bangs which don’t sound like normal house noises, these are very distinct and clear, but I couldn’t work out the direction they were coming from as I had my headphones on. At around 10.00 pm I moved upstairs and sat in the hallway and did a second EVP session. I’ve still to go through this file in more detail. At around 10.15 pm I decided to turn off all the upstairs and then downstairs lights so that I didn’t draw the attention of anyone outside that there was someone in the house. Loud bang around 3 am. Male voice (English accent) at 6 am (ish0) saying what sounds like “in front” I then went back to the living area and tried a ghost box session. I asked some more questions and during the session I said my name and asked whoever was there to repeat it. I thought I heard my name. I also asked whoever was there to tell me what colour jumper I was wearing. I thought I heard a clear ‘pink’ and this was repeated a second time (as I was wearing a pinkish jumper), but I accept it was probably voice pareidolia and my mind wanting to hear those responses. It would be interesting to ask someone else in the team who didn’t know what I was wearing as to whether they hear a colour after I ask the question. Other than that, the ghost box didn’t yield anything exciting. From 10.30 pm onwards I decided to have more quiet time and leave the voice recorders to do their work. I sat reading, looking at Facebook, sending a few messages and trying to read a scientific paper I’d been asked to review. I did find the silence a little oppressive. I couldn’t shake the sense of unease and just felt like I wasn’t alone or I was being watched. I put the feeling down to my own imagination and kept telling myself to keep a calm mind and that fear is all in the mind. At 11.45 I decided to check that the voice recorders were still running. I changed the batteries on the voice recorder on the stairs. Around midnight I decided to pack in and get some sleep. I woke several times during the night and lay there listening for any sounds. It was quiet each time. At around 4.30 am I woke up and felt like someone was pressing a single finger hard on the top of my head, it was quite painful. I also suddenly felt like someone had lifted and pulled my duvet back, and I knew I hadn’t moved! I sat up quickly but didn’t see anything. I felt like I just wanted to get out of the house at that point. I managed to eventually get back to sleep and my alarm went off at 6.00 am. It was still dark outside, but I decided to get up and start packing up so I could leave by 7.00 am. I started to take my stuff out to the car and it was nice to be outside of the house. I spent a few minutes looking at the house and found that I just really didn’t want to go back in. I braced myself and went back. I worked my way around disconnecting the DVR cameras and switching off voice recorders and packing away all the equipment. Once, I’d got everything back in the car I decided to take more pictures inside as the light was coming in. I also walked around the back of the house and took more pictures. At around 7.00 am, I was out of there! I’ve listened to the voice recordings left running over night. There are a couple of loud bangs around 3 am, other than that it was quiet until around 6 am. I can hear myself downstairs starting to pack up, but I hear what sounds like a male voice close to the upstairs voice recorder saying what sounds like “In front” It sounds like an English accent to me. Although I found it hard at times to be in the house, I’m pleased I had the experience to do the solo vigil. It does make it a lot easier to interpret sounds on the voice recorder and during the EVPs. You can be more certain it’s not noise contamination from someone else. Is the house haunted? I think there is something there but as to what it is I’m not sure. With the footsteps and voices picked up on EVP, some of it could be put down to residual energy, if there even is such a thing. Mark had also heard similar footsteps to me and comparing notes in the same area of the house. I seemed to get a clear “yes” in answer to a question during an EVP session, so perhaps there is intelligent energy there. This could also be concluded from the torch throwing event during Mark’s vigil. The EVP words captured are generally quite random rather than responses to questions, making it seem like there are energies still living in the house carrying out their lives; with male and female voices captured, it seems as if there is more than one energy there. I’ve wondered if it’s some kind of time loop replaying over. I never felt like I was in any danger in the house, but as mentioned I often felt uneasy and nervous at times. It was unbelievably quiet at times and the darkness of the house seemed quite brooding particularly in the wee small hours. As described above, there were some areas of the house which made me feel more uncomfortable than others. It’s certainly and interesting house from a paranormal perspective. I think we could do a lot more research there and I don’t think it will disappoint. Audio Anomalies These are two loud bangs heard during an EVP session around 10 pm. They came from within the house, but I wasn’t sure of the direction as I had headphones on. I caught what sounds like a male voice saying ‘in front’ or ‘it’s Francis’ early in the morning around 6 am. You can also hear me downstairs moving around as I was starting to pack away my gear This is a voice caught while the voice recorder was on the steps just prior to me starting an EVP session around 10 pm. I was in the living room at the time. It sounds like a ladies voice shouting “aunt” This was a ladies voice captured during my EVP session around 10 pm. I asked perhaps you like the company referring to the recent HA people staying overnight… I can hear a faint but clear “yes” to my question... Read more...
- Derelict Church – Fife, Scotland31/10/2018Haunted Locations / United Kingdom ... Read more...

“Pioneers in the field…. Leading the way with Paranormal Research in New Zealand” – Connor Biddle, Paranormal Encounters.

“I have much respect for the level of study Mark and his team have put into the paranormal phenomenon through the years. His work is interesting and very well researched.” – Murray Bott, U.F.O Researcher & NZ’s MUFON representative.

”Refreshing to see solid and innovative investigation work, done with passion and honesty. Haunted Auckland stand out in the crowd and dont fit any typical mould. This is a very good thing”. – Paranormal Review newsletter

Paranormal New Zealand is the home of Haunted Auckland, a Paranormal Investigation and Research group.

Whether you’ve been aware of Mark Wallbank’s research work since the 1980s, subscribed to his popular mid-2000s blog BizarreNZ, followed the Haunted Auckland team since 2010, or just recently discovered us; WELCOME and thanks for joining in the fun, learning, and adventures.

We are a dedicated group of paranormal enthusiasts, all having one thing in common – a passion and drive to find out as much as humanly possible about the mysterious and unknown field that is the Paranormal, as well as documenting New Zealand’s historical buildings and landmarks in their current state.

Paranormal (păr′ə-nôr′məl) adjective.
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as beyond normal experience or scientific explanation. The term “paranormal” has existed in the English language since at least 1920. The word consists of two parts: “para” and “normal”. The definition implies that the scientific explanation of the world around us is “normal” and anything that is above, beyond, or contrary to that is “para”.

We’re always learning new things, so hope to pass that knowledge on to you all so that you might learn as we do, in this crazy but fascinating world of the paranormal.

Firstly a few things you should know about Haunted Auckland. We’re a small Auckland based team of friendly, dedicated, well seasoned and enthusiastic researchers with differing levels of experience, knowledge, skills and expertise and totaling around 100 years of experience. Our investigators are intelligent, honest, compassionate and possess critically thinking (yet wide open) minds. We’re also very good listeners.

We work closely with Property Managers, local Councils and Historical organisations to help preserve local histories, bring further awareness and raise funds by running public events.

Haunted Auckland has it’s roots deep and strong. Going back to 1984, with a team (Auckland Ghost Hunting Group) formed by H.A founder, Mark Wallbank; making them NZ’s longest running Paranormal field-research entity.

What we aren’t: We aren’t Ghost Busters, Ghost Hunters, Exorcists, Mediums, Clairvoyants or Psychics and we don’t do clearings, blessings or the ridding homes of alleged demons. We don’t do prayers, rituals, or bring in any religious elements to our work. We aren’t mental health experts or sleep disorder professionals, though we do work closely with mental health professionals.

We travel that spooky road, between sceptic and believer. We are happy to sit right in amongst it all and take the research wherever it may lead us.

While we are sceptical and doubtful of certain cases and ideas, we have seen and experienced enough in our time to realise that dedication to the research is definitely a worthwhile cause. Instead of blindly believing (or disbelieving), or just accepting what we are told is true and real, we prefer to seek out the answers ourselves through first-hand, “boots on the ground” investigation. Experimentation, observation and documentation. We don’t have all the answers and we don’t consider ourselves experts.

The team prides itself in being quite a bit different from other paranormal investigation teams out there. Our mindset strays from the popular culture train of thinking with regards to the paranormal, that is already rife with spirit boxes, phone apps and flashy, easily manipulated fad gadgets. Our goal is answers and evidence, not social media or entertainment popularity.

We don’t follow the mainstream, gadget driven mentality. Gadgets marketed to the naïve and gullible, claiming to detect and interact with ghosts.

We don’t however dismiss these gadgets until we have fairly trialed and experimented with them within our own investigations, before deciding whether they are worthy and valid to use within our research, or just more useless toys for the ever growing ‘’junk box’’.

Research time in these locations is valuable and a privilege, so wasting it on pointless flashy boxes that offer no accurate data in return or are vague and open to interpretation (as well as mis-interpretation) is counter-productive and a poorly used opportunity. Thinking outside of the ‘’box’’ confinements of the popular T.V and social media- lead mainstream is something, the team sees as important if the field is to move forward and gain any serious credibility or traction within scientific or academic circles.

The team utilises a combination of old-school thinking and techniques, coupled with a modern way of thinking. Simple and stripped back yet embracing current technology to work though theories and ideas that may find their way into our research. We don’t make claims we can’t back up with evidence or reliable data.

We pride ourselves in keeping it real. No faking evidence or embellishing of facts. If nothing happened, nothing happened.

What we are, is “real world” researchers. Learning by doing. Walking the talk. Substance over fluff. If we don’t know something, we say so.

We don’t charge anything for what we do. The opportunity to investigate a location and hopefully further our research is its own great reward.

We follow the Scientific Method as closely as we are able to; though it’s not always easy to create a fully controlled environment and the fact that true paranormal activity is sporadic and very rare means we don’t always have a lot to go on. Still, we do our best with what we have to work with at the time and go wherever it takes us.

We go to where the stories come from in order to see for ourselves. We talk to the people involved to get their sides to the occurrences.

Our conclusions are never really final and we find multiple return visits yield the best results; so have built up trusting relationships with quite a few locations within the historical communities in this country. Our clean and respected reputation within historical circles is something the team prides itself on, as it has grown over the last decade and is based on well over 200 investigation sessions within that time.

For a full listing of References & testimonials, please visit our TESTIMONIALS page on this website.

Exploration – Observation – Experimentation – Documentation … Ultimately leading to Interaction, Understanding and Conclusion.

KEEPING IT REAL

Please check out our website and don’t hesitate to make contact if you have any queries or would like to know more about what we do. We’re always happy to talk about spooks!

Through the years the team have investigated:

Waikato

Hawkes Bay

Central North Island

Chateau Tongariro Hotel

West Coast and Central South Island

Seaview Asylum
Otira Stagecoach Hotel

Canterbury

The Old Shipping Office (Akaroa)

Otago

Cardrona Hotel
Vulcan Hotel (St Bathans)

Dunedin

Seacliff Asylum
Chalet Backpackers
Globe Theatre
Leviathan Hotel
Larnach Castle

United Kingdom

The Drovers Inn – Scotland
Traquair House – Innerleithen
Ancient Ram Inn – Wooton-Under-Edge
30 East Drive – Pontefract
Boleskine House – Scotland
Ballachulish Hotel – Glencoe
Chillingham Castle
The Golden Fleece – York
Bunchrew House – Scotland
Oswald House – Kirkcaldy
Halston Hall – Carlisle
Airth Castle
Dalhousie Castle
Barcaldine Castle – Oban
The Witchery – Edinburgh
Edinburgh Vaults – Scotland
Touchwood House – Scotland
Greyfriars Kirkyard – Scotland
The Hellfire Club – Ireland

Australia

YHA [Katoomba] – Hartley Village [NSW] – Quarantine Station [Manly] – The Russell Hotel [Sydney]

Cryptozoological Field Research

YOWIE RESEARCH: Blue Mountains [ Australia] – Kanangra Ranges [Australia]

MOEHAU RESEARCH: Coromandel Ranges [New Zealand] – Urerewa Ranges [New Zealand]

LAKE MONSTER RESEARCH: Loch Ness [Scotland]

… as well as many private home visits around Auckland and surrounding towns and extensive investigation internationally.

Some of the services and experience we have on offer:

Research and Investigation of buildings, historical locations and businesses

Photo & video analysis

Photographic enhancements

General paranormal consultation

Historical Research

Conferences / Public speaking

Educational talks & fundraising for historical locations

Media interviews

Paranormal New Zealand

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