The Zuiyo-maru carcass

The Zuiyo-maru carcass is a creature caught by the Japanese fishing trawler Zuiyō Maru off the coast of New Zealand in 1977. The carcass’s peculiar appearance led to speculation that it might be the remains of a sea serpent or prehistoric plesiosaur. Although several scientists insisted it was “not a

Waitoreke – Giant Otter

Tales of strange Otter-like creatures have come from the South Island of New Zealand and persist to the present day. What is this strange creature? Is it an undiscovered remnant mammalian species or a stranded and forgotten link to New Zealand’s past. New Zealand is believed to have had no mammals when

Only one NZ UFO sighting investigated [The Press]

Among the hundreds of UFO sightings in New Zealand, only one was fully investigated. Public and media interest in the infamous Kaikoura UFO sightings in 1978, coupled with strong personal interest from Prime Minister Robert Muldoon, led to a detailed report being prepared by the air force. This is the

Private Residence – Edinburgh, Scotland

Our last spooky place of dwelling for a night before we head off to the airport tomorrow morning. Can’t say I’m very pleased about all that! Oh well, at least our last destination in Scotland is another spacious stunner. This one’s a private residence in Edinburgh that was offered to

Explore the McCaw Homestead

On 20th February 2021, Haunted Auckland had the opportunity to explore the McCaw Homestead in Matamata. An interesting location with a rich and varied history. Investigation team members for this session: Mark, Sam, Aimee and joining us, guest investigator Clint Lawson. For a full history of the McCaw Homestead and

Waitomo Caves Hotel

Location & History Waitomo Caves Hotel was first originally called Waitomo House, then in 1905 the Tourist Department bought it & renamed it the Government Hostel. Waitomo Caves Hotel is situated upon a natural high-point in an area of limestone rock honeycombed with natural caves and underground streams. Many of

Derelict House – Morrinsville

Sitting alone on a corner at the entry road to the Morrinville Refuse Station are the abandoned remnants of this old farm house. This iconic piece of real estate is one of the regions most photographed old buidings.

Gunni

The Gunni is a wombat-like cryptid with antlers, purportedly formerly found near Marysville, Victoria, Australia. A stuffed one was on display in the Marysville Visitors’ Information Centre, along with other local wildlife including a Lyrebird and Leadbeater’s possum, prior to the February 2009 Victorian bushfires which destroyed the centre. Reportedly,

Stephenville: Texas’ latest UFO Hot Spot?

It appears as though a dozen or so UFO sightings that were reported to San Antonio police earlier this month have been explained. A local news station broadcast the story about illuminated globes that were spotted floating over the Alamo City by several residents on the evening of May 17.

Here lies Janie Seddon – Motueka

The derelict rusted remains of the once proud Steamer Janie Seddon sits off the Motueka foreshore and has been a feature of the local seascape for years. She was the first fishing boat purchased by the Talley’s fishing group, but also served the New Zealand government as a military vessel

“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 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!