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Bishops Palace, Western Australia

Bishops Palace, Western Australia

When the first Anglican Bishop of North Western Australia, Gerard Trower, moved into his new residence the ‘Bishops Palace’, he was not expecting it to be already occupied. One night Bishop Trower awoke to find a ghostly figure illuminating his bedroom. Although Bishop Trower described the figure as dressed in

The Echoes of Carlile House

The Echoes of Carlile House

After the death of my mother and seeing her spirit, I felt like something opened up within myself making me a sensitive and seeing things that were not to my understanding at first. One of my stories is from a year or two ago when I asked two of my

PSI Theories: Seeking the Sources

PSI Theories: Seeking the Sources

If you’ve caught one of my psi Theory posts previously then you’ll know these are the posts where I kind of download some of the ‘stuff’ floating around my head for you to read. How kind of me right? Hang on is it download or upload, never mind it’s not

Secret UFO files revealed

Secret UFO files revealed

Secret Defence Force files reveal hundreds of UFO sightings, details of a top level Government investigative body, and previously unseen reports into the infamous Kaikoura mystery. More than 2000 pages of formerly classified files were released yesterday The files include: Sketches of a “spacecraft” sighted over the Wairau Valley. Letters

HAPPY KRAMPUS DAY!  Dec 5th

HAPPY KRAMPUS DAY! Dec 5th

HAPPY KRAMPUS DAY! Today is Krampus Day, when many around the world celebrate an entity that appeals to my own twisted tastes more than that over-weight, old, Coca Cola sponsored toy giver. Krampus (or Krampuslauf) are definitely a thing. The word Krampus derives from the old Germanic word “Krampen” which

Fortune Theatre, Dunedin

Fortune Theatre, Dunedin

New Zealand’s Fortune Theatre is on the corner of Moray Place and Upper Stuart Street, in the heart of the southern city of Dunedin. The theatre lays claim to being the world’s southernmost professional theatre company and is the sole professional theatre group in Dunedin. The Fortune Theatre building is

Tell us what you really think: The Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film

Tell us what you really think: The Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film

Tell us what you really think. This Monday evening we take a step away from the famous ghost photos and take a dive right into the world of Cryptids with what is arguably the most well known, analysed, and disputed piece of footage since being filmed in 1967. The Patterson-Gimlin

UFO website will record mysterious encounters

UFO website will record mysterious encounters

By Errol Kiong Scientists are welcoming a new website that encourages people to record their UFO sightings. Veteran Hamilton air traffic controller and pilot Graeme Opie is behind the UFO Focus New Zealand Research Network, which aims to document sightings of unidentified objects in the sky. He says the network


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Brunner Mine Site – West Coast, South Island
Brunner Mine Site – West Coast, South Island31/05/2017Abandoned Buildings / Locations of InterestLocation Brunner Mine was a coalmine on the banks of the Grey River in an area known as Coal Gorge which is between the towns of Taylorsville and Stillwater and is an 11 km drive from Greymouth. Coal was discovered on the West Coast by Nelson surveyor Thomas Brunner while searching for land suitable for agriculture. The coal found in the region was of extremely high quality and it did not take long before it attracted interest. The added attraction of gold mining in the West Coast which offered many employment opportunities during the difficult economy of the time. Disaster The mine is the site of New Zealand’s worst mining disaster where in 1896, 65 miners were killed following a gas and coal dust explosion in the mine. It is most likely that the explosion was caused by firedamp, a common hazard in coal mines when a pocket of methane gas is accidentally ignited and explodes. Firedamp is all the more hazardous because of the after effects of the explosion. Gases known as “afterdamp” – carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide produced by the explosion – often prove to be just as deadly and can kill miners unhurt by the explosion itself. Rescuers entering the mine after the explosion found themselves suffocating on the afterdamp gas and had to return to the surface, often unconscious, carried by other rescuers, however the determination was such to find the bodies, and to find any survivors, that the rescuers – mostly miners from nearby mines – would insist on returning to the airless mine as soon as they had been revived on the surface. Brunner Mine today Today, a monument to the men and boys (aged from 13 to 70) who perished at the site, the ruins of the Brunner Mine and the support industries around it can still be seen while visiting the site. It is an interesting 2 km walk and can be easily done within an hour (although we spent a lot longer there). Although the actual entrance to the mine is now covered by thick bush and to this day emits toxic gas you can still see the remains of the mine, the coke ovens, brickworks and other support buildings. There is also a historic suspension bridge (built in 1876) to cross the Grey River and link with a walk up to the historic Tynsdale Mine chimney. If you do visit the Brunner Mine you will find it greatly enhanced by downloading the visitor guide. [...] Read more...
The Saurian Monster – New Zealand Herald, 1st October 1886
The Saurian Monster – New Zealand Herald, 1st October 188604/04/2017Cryptozoology / Cryptozoology News / Investigations / Kiwi Cryptids / News ArticlesThe Saurian Monster New Zealand Herald, 1st October 1886, Page 5 Hamilton, Thursday. This creature’s appearance has created quite a sensation. Yesterday, mounted Constable Wild visited Mr. Castleton’s farm, examined the locality, and questioned the boys, with whose veracity he states himself perfectly satisfied. Mr. Castleton this morning informed me that yesterday morning early, while away on his business, the boys, who have kept up a continuous watch for the reptile, were standing at a spot whence they could see a large stretch of the creek, and again observed a commotion in the water, and saw the creature swimming down the creek, its head alone being above water. It has been flippantly suggested by the local paper that it is one of Qualtrough and White’s pigs which has escaped from the slaughter yards, but both Mr. Castleton and his boys ridicule the idea that they could have made any such mistake, the more especially as the boys have been used to hunt these pigs off their father’s farm, and are not likely to be deceived in the appearance of a pig. The natives say that stories are extant amongst them of a very large kind of animal, like an eel, which has come out of the water at times and chased them, even seizing their legs in its teeth. This beast is called by them the Tuna-roa, and they say that a large one inhabits a deep pool formed by the Waipa River, near Fraser’s farm. Mrs. Castleton states that the boy who first saw the creature, and was chased by it to the house, was so frightened when he entered as to be almost in a faint. [...] Read more...
Lake Alice Hospital – Manawatu
Lake Alice Hospital – Manawatu01/05/2017Abandoned Buildings / Haunted LocationsLake Alice Hospital was once a rural psychiatric facility situated in the Manawatu region, catering to the full mental health spectrum, from troubled youth and the criminally insane to the elderly with dementia. The sprawling complex, opened in August 1950, spread out across 56 hectares of land consisting of ten two-level villas, each with eleven beds for patients, four two-level villas housing 50 beds, a maximum security wing, morgue, chapel, library, staff quarters, administration building, landscaped grounds complete with vegetable gardens, sporting areas and two swimming pools. The hospital even had its own fire station. The facility slowly shut down during the mid 1990s, with plans to assimilate patients back into the community. It was an idea that divided many in the community, as public safety concerns came into question. Full closure of the hospital was implemented in October 1999. Former patients of the hospital’s child and adolescent unit have made allegations of abuse that happened at the hospital during the 1970s, including the use of electroconvulsive therapy and paraldehyde injections as punishment. The New Zealand government issued an apology in 2001, and has so far paid out a total of $10.7 million in compensation to 183 former patients. Auckland accountant and property developer’s group Lake Hicks Ltd purchased the buildings and grounds in July 2006, though redevelopment plans came to a halt after the new owners fell into financial difficulties and could go no further with it. Lake Alice was sold on once more in December 2008 with plans to demolish most of the buildings to make way for farmland after plans for a subdivision failed. At this time, only a handful of buildings remain, abandoned and derelict, having been vandalised by trespassing urban explorers and thrill seeking teens looking for a spooky place to party. Much of the complex has gone and the remaining villas, which had asbestos roofing, are being carefully demolished one by one.   There are many stories that have circulated through the generations of the Lake Alice Hospital being actively haunted by spirits. Staff working their shifts have told of mysterious apparitions, voices, being touched by invisible hands, surgical equipment moving without human interaction and figures seen wandering the halls. [...] Read more...
Lake House Art Centre session
Lake House Art Centre session05/08/2022Haunted Locations / Historic Buildings / Investigations / Paranormal New ZealandOut investigating again this weekend. Keeping busy and staying active as usual, on this chilly Friday night. We returned to one of our fav’ local haunts for some further experiments and another five or so hours sitting in the dark talking to the air (and each other, of course). The beautiful and historic Lake House Art Centre in Takapuna, has been welcoming and generous to us in many ways. There’s always a friendly ”someone” there to greet us when we visit and we look forward to spending time there when we can. Natasha stayed on after we left around half twelve, to spend the rest of the morning going it solo. It was her turn to take the challenge and we think she took it rather well. Past and present Haunted Auckland team members that have spent nights alone doing this manner of research will agree, that it’s not always easy to do when the building is making sounds all around you that really make you feel you aren’t completely alone! Here’s our usual selection of random investigation session photos (and a few spooky team selfies), taken by us through the night. Enjoy! [...] Read more...
Cameron Blockhouse, Whanganui
Cameron Blockhouse, Whanganui14/03/2015Historic Buildings / Locations of InterestThe Cameron Blockhouse is a timber blockhouse in Wanganui, New Zealand, built during the New Zealand Wars in the mid-1800s. Farmer John Cameron built this blockhouse at Marangai in 1868 as a place of refuge for his family. Though war never actually reached this locality between Whanganui and Turakina, fears at the time were well-founded. That winter and spring, the growing forces of the Ngati Ruanui leader Riwha Titokowaru won a series of stunning victories over the small New Zealand army in south Taranaki. In November, with Titokowaru just west of Whanganui, the colony was rocked by Te Kooti Rikirangi’s raid on Poverty Bay, in which about 30 Maori and a similar number of Pakeha were killed. The blockhouse was typical of structures that were built in haste around the lower North Island at this time. The blockhouse consists of a floor of compacted earth, double-skinned totara walls with clay infill and a corrugated iron roof. Clay was used in the walls for protection against bullets and the threat of fire. It is a rare surviving example of a privately constructed redoubt from that era.   [...] Read more...
The Lyttelton ghost girl
The Lyttelton ghost girl07/09/2022Haunted Locations / Paranormal New Zealand / True Ghost Stories / Urban LegendsThere’s a suburb in Lyttelton that is thought to be haunted by a young girl who was horrifically murdered in 1875, her body was dumped in the bushes along Ripon St. The local newspapers called it, “The most horrible murder ever perpetrated in Canterbury.” Eleven-year-old Isabella Thompson, happily wandered from her house in Dampier Bay in the late afternoon (4.45 pm) to walk to her school to purchase tickets to attend an upcoming Picnic Day event in Riccarton, a popular and much anticipated day in the community. She never returned home that day. She was never seen alive again. A passerby stated they had seen Isabella walking alongside an older man, crying. Around 6 pm, two brothers noticed what looked like a white handkerchief or sheet poking from behind a fence close to the Lyttelton Anglican Cemetery. A scramble down a bank for closer inspection revealed the horrific blood-stained face of the little girl. Her dress had been shredded and her throat was cut. A man was caught soon after and the jury took just 12 minutes to find him guilty of murdering Isabella. On the 8th of May 1875, John Mercer was the third man to be hung at Lyttelton Gaol. A small girl is sometimes seen standing in the general area where she was murdered. The voice of a young child is also heard calling out at night. It is thought that the child in white might be Isabella. Locals stop to ask if she is OK or needs help, but she just disappears from view. [...] 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, attended his early 90s discussion events, received the quarterly newsletters, subscribed to his popular mid-2000s online 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 researchers, 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.

Our primary reason for existing as a team is to experience first-hand and document any perceived paranormal activity so that we may learn to better understand the phenomena and the misconceptions surrounding it. Our aim as a research team is to study these phenomena as closely as possible to form more educated opinions via experimentation, documentation, and simply being present at the moment to record and respond accordingly to it and wherever it may lead us.

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.  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.

We are also very proud to have worked alongside both the NZ Police and NZ Fire Services with our work.

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. We tend to stay away from the mainstream gadget fads.

Research time in 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.

Why we don’t offer Clearings and Banishings

We decided many years ago to stop offering clearings and cleansings, as the more we learned, the more unethical (even damaging) we could see it was on a few levels.
We wanted to experience and observe these ”beings” and learn about them. Learn from them directly, if such a thing is possible.
To hopefully interact and document as much as we could of it to advance the study of the paranormal.

If the theories on spirits are correct, then clearing, or ”banishing” becomes nothing more than a punishment, torture, an eviction from a home, or even a death. Death to a person (possibly living in an alternative dimension we are yet to even understand or comprehend), that has as much right to exist as ourselves.
Until ghosts, spirits, negative energies, and demons have been sufficiently verified to actually exist, (to which they as yet haven’t, outside of belief, possible misinterpretation, and superstition) it would be unethical to assume a position of knowledge and superiority enough to think we have rights that far outweigh theirs. That we may enter their home and try to evict or eradicate them as if they were cockroaches or some other household pest.

It’s about respect, understanding and compassion; on both sides.

What we are, is “real world” researchers. Learning by doing. 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:

Auckland

Wellington

Northland

                                                                    Dargaville Central Hotel

Coromandel

Waikato

Hawkes Bay

Central North Island

  •                                                                Chateau Tongariro Hotel                                                               Jubilee Pavillion – Marton

 

Northern South Island

                                                                                 Trout 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

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
  • The Skirrid Inn – Abergavenny
  • 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
  • Ostrich Inn – Slough
  • Caynton Caves –  Shropshire
  • Four Crosses Inn – Staffordshire
  • Torwood House – Scotland
  • Dalhousie Castle – Scotland
  • Windhouse – Yell, Shetland
  • Swan Hotel – Wooton-on-Edge
  • Weston Hall – Staffordshire
  • Clava Cairns – Inverness, Scotland
  • The Queen’s Head Hotel – Troutbeck
  • Haunted Antiques Paranormal Research Centre – Hinkley

Australia

YHA [Katoomba]

Hartley Village [NSW]

Quarantine Station [Manly]

The Russell Hotel [Sydney]

Maitland Gaol [NSW]

Kilmore Gaol [Melbourne]

Aradale Lunatic Asylum [Melbourne]

 

Hawaii

Kaniakapupu Palace Ruins – Nuúanu Pali – Manoa – Oahu Cemetery [Oahu]

Norfolk Island

New Gaol – The Crank Mill – Bloody Bridge

Cryptozoological Field Research

YOWIE RESEARCH: Blue Mountains [ Australia] – Kanangra Ranges [Australia] – Blue Mountains Exploration: Research Area – Bullaburra [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 and exploration 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