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The Moa

The Moa

Moa were large, flightless birds that lived in New Zealand until about 500 years ago. There were 10 species of these extinct birds. They belong to the ratite group of birds, in the order Dinornithiformes, which also includes ostriches, emus and kiwi. Moa were hunted to extinction by Māori, who

Possible spirit communication at Kingseat Hospital Nurses home, Aka Spookers – April 7th 2013

Possible spirit communication at Kingseat Hospital Nurses home, Aka Spookers – April 7th 2013

The Haunted Auckland group returned to the Spookers building at Kingseat to look further into incidents which had happened on the previous investigation sessions, looking for explanations and to gather more evidence of the paranormal activity in this former psychiatric hospital. On the lower level they seemed to be having

Tennis, Anyone? – Old Tennis club, Waiuku.

Tennis, Anyone? – Old Tennis club, Waiuku.

Abandoned Mini Golf – Auckland.

Abandoned Mini Golf – Auckland.

 

Haunted Toys

Haunted Toys

Thought I’d introduce you to a few from my ‘haunted’ family of toys that I’ve been collecting through the years. The porcelain doll (her name is Maryanne), was given to me about 10 or so years ago. She was from a deceased estate auction amongst a truck load of other

Rural Hideaway – South Auckland

Rural Hideaway – South Auckland

The missing link

The missing link

I have been a paranormal investigator for over a decade now and I have conducted hundreds of investigations over that time, however, it is safe to say I have yet to find and or experience that ground-breaking moment that would truly convince me of the existence of spirits, ghost and

Stanmore Bay Spirits

Stanmore Bay Spirits

I lived in a house in Stanmore Bay a couple of years ago. When we first moved in everything was okay, nothing weird had happened. About 2 months into living there felt like there was someone watching all the time and we didn’t really know why but we shook it off

Derelict Milking Shed – Huntly

Derelict Milking Shed – Huntly

What are your thoughts on the theory that ghosts are actually inter-dimensional travellers?

What are your thoughts on the theory that ghosts are actually inter-dimensional travellers?

This is what we spend half our time trying to determine as paranormal investigators. What happens when we die? Is there an afterlife and what form does it take? What exists beyond our known reality? Why do some souls/spirits (which we tend to refer to as ghosts) seem to linger

Editor's Choice
The Queen Mary – California , USA
The Queen Mary – California , USA11/03/2011America / InvestigationsReport by Haunted Auckland investigator, Barbara Caisley The Queen Mary is a retired ocean luxury-liner, which had been converted to a floating hotel, conference, and wedding venue and tourist attraction at Long Beach, California. It houses three different restaurants as well as bars and shops and retail areas. It has become an icon of Southern California and is considered to be one of America’s most haunted locations. The ship offers various ghost tours including twilight tours and séances. Construction of the ship began in 1930 in Clydebank, Scotland and Cunard Line spared no expense in the build. As a result by the time she took her maiden voyage in 1936 the Queen Mary  boasted five dining areas and lounges, two cocktail bars and swimming pools, a grand ballroom, a squash court and even a small hospital. Among facilities available on board Queen Mary, the liner featured two indoor swimming pools, beauty salons, libraries, and children’s nurseries for all three classes, a music studio and lecture hall, telephone connectivity to anywhere in the world, outdoor paddle tennis courts, and dog kennels. The largest room onboard was the cabin class (first class) main dining room (grand salon), spanning three stories in height and anchored by wide columns. The cabin-class swimming pool facility spanned over two decks in height. This was the first ocean liner to be equipped with her own Jewish prayer room – part of a policy to show that British shipping lines avoided the racism evident at that time in Nazi Germany. The cabin-class main dining room featured a large map of the transatlantic crossing, with twin tracks symbolising the winter/spring route (further south to avoid icebergs) and the summer/autumn route. During each crossing, a motorised model of Queen Mary would indicate the vessel’s progress en route. Woods from different regions of the British Empire were used in her public rooms and staterooms. Accommodation ranged from fully equipped, luxurious cabin (first) class staterooms to modest and cramped third-class cabins. The ship was thought to have supposed to be named the Queen Victoria as history dictated that ships from the Cunard line had names that ended in “ia”. It is said however, that when the Cunard directors went to ask King George for his blessing of the ship’s proposed name they said “We have decided to name our new ship after England’s greatest Queen,” (meaning Queen Victoria, the King’s Grandmother) and the King is reported to have stated, “My wife (Queen Mary) will be delighted that you are naming the ship after her.” The Queen Mary sailed the North Atlantic Ocean (from Southampton to New York) from 1936 till 1967 and was considered to be the grandest ocean liner in the world and to be the only civilized way to travel. However in late August 1939 the Queen Mary returned to Southampton from New York under escort by the battle cruiser HMS Hood. She set out again for New York on 1 September but by the time the ship arrived in New York, WW2 had started and the Queen Mary was ordered to remain in port until further notice. Later the ship went Sydney, Australia where she, along with the Queen Elizabeth and the Normandie (the three larges liners in the world at that time) were converted into troopships to carry Australian and New Zealand soldiers to the UK. Stateroom furniture and decorations were removed and replaced with triple-tiered wooden bunks, which were later replaced by standee bunks. The wooden interior was covered with leather and the carpet, silver, china and crystal, along with the artwork and tapestries were removed and stored in warehouses.   The ship was also used to transport Winston Churchill across the Atlantic for meetings with the allies and was used to return American troops home after the war. The Queen Mary’s hull, superstructure and funnels were painted navy grey and she became known as the “Grey Ghost”.     She was the largest and fastest troopship and could transport up to 16000 men at a speed of 30 knots. She often travelled unescorted as her speed made it difficult for enemy U boats to catch her. After the war the ship underwent a ten-month refit to be made ready for passenger service again. The Queen Mary initially, once again dominated the transatlantic passenger trade, however when transatlantic flights commenced in 1958 her popularity faded and she was retired from service in 1967. By the time the ship sailed her final crossing from Southampton to Long Beach where she is now moored, the Queen Mary had completed her 1,000th crossing of the Atlantic and had carried 2,112,000 passengers over 6,102,998kms. She was then auctioned off and Long Beach, California beat the Japanese scrap metal merchants to her. The ship was put on a permanent mooring, encased in concrete and converted to house restaurants, office space, a hotel and a museum, which were all owned and managed by different companies. The individual businesses did not do well and struggled financially for many years. Eventually the entire ship was forced to close its doors to visitors and tourists on 31 December 1992. Fortunately in February 1993 the Queen Mary reopened with the City of Long Beach holding the lease. It was to be run as a single entity and although it has had several changes of owners and management it is still open as a tourist attraction, hotel, conference and event centre. The ship is reportedly haunted and this has been part of the promotion and marketing of the attraction, with the Queen Mary now being rated by some as “one of the top 10 most haunted places in America”.   The swimming pool is reputedly haunted by children, visitors have reported the apparition of a young sailor, the sound of young children playing have been heard in the nursery area, shadows have been seen in the corridors and Cabin B340 is allegedly haunted by the spirit of a person who was murdered there. At least 49 crew and passengers are recorded as having died during the Queen Mary’s service as a liner but it is not known how many died aboard the ship during her military service, as this information has not been released. Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures and Most Haunted have all done shows on board. The ship offers ghost tours and séances, which explore the haunted past of the ship and paranormal events, which have been reported onboard. There is also a Haunted Encounters tour, which explores the ship inside and out and tells the ghost stories about the ship. A Personal Recount of My Visit: I have always been intrigued by the Queen Mary and the stories of apparitions, shadows, haunted cabins and especially the alleged paranormal activity around the old swimming pool area. At one time there was a “ghost-cam” set up in the pool area of the ship and I spent many hours over a period of years watching for any possible paranormal activity on that cam. Little did I know that this would become a common activity for me years later as a paranormal investigator! You can imagine my delight then, when I realized that, as part of a trip to the US, my husband and we would have two nights in Los Angeles and that Long Beach with the Queen Mary Hotel was a very short distance away. We booked for two nights and settled into our very comfortable and luxurious cabin and spent the first day exploring the ship with the other day tourists. This was interesting and the audio tour revealed a lot of information and history of the ship.   Later we had dinner in one of the restaurants on board and enjoyed a few drinks in the bar. The great thing about staying in the onboard accommodation was that after everything has shut-up shop and all the tourists and diners had gone for the day the place was almost deserted! It felt like we had the whole ship to ourselves and I was able to spend some time investigating the public areas, corridors and decks. We were investigating an area just off reception when my husband asked me if I felt ok. He said that he had seen an orb shoot out of the wall as I neared it and that it had gone up my arm and then disappeared (as if into me). My husband had never before and has never since seen an orb but he insisted that that was what he had witnessed that night. Interestingly, the reason that I was drawn to that area was because I felt that there was spirit activity there and when we did the ghost tour the following day our guide pointed that area out as being a place where the apparition of a woman had been seen! The following day we did the ghost tour which included a tour of the engine room and the bowels of the ship (which included seeing the propeller which is still in the water but is enclosed by concrete). There have been reports of the apparition of a young sailor seen there. It is thought it may be the ghost of a young seaman who was crushed in one of the engine room doors. We saw the corridors where shadows have been reported and went into the cabin that is reputedly haunted. The highlight of the tour for me was going into the swimming pool area where the cam that I had spent so much time watching had once been set up. The cam had been taken down months earlier as a result of the public tours commencing. To see this area in person seemed incredible to me and I was shocked to find that I actually knew more about this area, the history and reported activity than the tour guide did! The tour guide informed us that a medium had recently advised them that there was a portal in the old dressing room area and told us that if we wanted to, we could go and take some photos of that area. The only problem was, that there were no lights there so it was literally pitch black. Most of the tour group were reluctant to go near the darkened area and once a few of us had got to the dark doorway the group stood peering into the black. Of course the paranormal investigator in me came out and I was first in and to the end where the portal was reported to be. A couple of my fellow tourists followed me down but did not linger and I soon found myself alone in the pitch black area of the Queen Mary pool area where the spirit children supposedly came from!!! This was absolutely my idea of heaven and I really did think that nothing could top that experience of my visit to the Queen Mary. Little did I know that that would actually pale by comparison later that day! I was hoping that if I stayed there quietly that I would not be missed and that I might actually get left behind in this area but unfortunately the tour guide urged me to come out so he could relock the doors and we could move onto the next part of the tour. The group continued with the tour and walked through restaurants and bars while hearing stories of apparitions and paranormal activity. Once the tour was over we were once again able to wander the boat ourselves and after a shopping trip to LA we continued our inspection of the ship. This time we concentrated on the forward section and discovered something interesting. We were in a retail area and at the back of the shop was a set of double blackout curtains, which seemed to be covering a large hole (double doorway size). Being a naturally inquisitive person (and with no staff apparently in the area) I put my head through the curtains and found that the scene was familiar. It was a corner of the locked swimming pool area!!! I could not help myself, and was through those curtains before even thinking!! If I was amazed at being in this area earlier that day, I was absolutely ecstatic to have the whole lot to myself to explore at my leisure!!! I spent at least an hour in the darkened area just looking, feeling, sensing and trying to talk to any spirits that may have been there. Unfortunately due to the clandestine nature of my visit I didn’t dare take photos in case the flash of my camera was detected and alerted staff to my presence in the locked area. When it was time to leave I was mildly worried that my departure through the curtains and into the store may be detected but once again there was no one (not even a staff member) in the store so my escape was easy. Unfortunately this retail area was closed that night when I tried to return so I had to once again cruise the halls, restaurants and decks in my search for paranormal activity. The following morning I talked to staff onboard the ship and most (but not all) had a ghostly story to tell. Some told of shadows and apparitions, while others told me about cutlery being thrown and chairs being moved, another told me of footsteps being heard where no-one was seen. It was with great sadness that we left the Queen Mary and with even more sadness now when I recall my explorations and encounters at a time when I only had the most basic of equipment. I will return to visit this grand and elegant ship one day and this time I’ll bring my equipment! Barbara Caisley [...] Read more...
“A doll named Sue” PART 1: The Introduction, An experiment into haunted items.
“A doll named Sue” PART 1: The Introduction, An experiment into haunted items.13/07/2014Ghost Hunting / Hauntings / Opinions and TheoriesMid July we got a call from a woman explaining that her 91 yr old grandmother was having problems in her apartment and needed assistance. As always we were happy to oblige! Getting a distress call from someone in their 90’s is not a typical call for us. Most service calls we get are from people who seem to range anywhere from their teens to maybe their 50’s. I imagine this maybe because of how generations view the paranormal. Most 90 yr olds are not influenced by popular television, as the newer generations are. So to get this call, we immediately were fascinated in finding out the details. To keep this from being a long drug out blog I will break this down into a couple segements. Click here for Part 2. On this investigation are Scott Wolf, Anna Hill, Faye Navarro, and Roxi Rodriguez. Client History and Impression: The client is a very sharp 91 yr old female who resides by herself. No noted signs of any cognitive issues, no history of mental deterioration. Her health only includes some aches and pains due to her age, but is otherwise healthy. During conversation, she never repeats herself and stays on point with all conversation. She has lived in her one story apartment for 12 years. She has never had a paranormal experience in her life, up until 7 weeks prior. She is tearful when speaking of her current experiences. We can see that she is worried that people will not believe her, and has not received much support from anyone except her granddaughter who has called us. She is very convinced that whatever is in her home IS in fact of paranormal nature. She has called a psychic which has done a remote reading via telephone. The client reluctantly has paid the psychic for their service, but feels that they are “full of it” The fact that the client is in tears and visibly shaken by these events, makes us feel that she is genuine in her experiences and is not fabricating any details. Claims: – Client is kept awake by music like old gospel, and Johnny Cash. She hears this music low but audibly. It keeps her awake. She only hears this music when she is in bed. If she gets up to look for the music it stops as soon as her feet hit the ground. – The clients name was said out loud on a few occasions, she also heard the sentence “I’m so tired help me help me help me help me!” she says it sounds distressed. Once again audibly. – Phantom touching. Client is touched and pushed while in her bed. –  TVs being turned on and off . – Very loud bangs through out the home. This has the client most frightened. – A remote that was disassembled being reassembled. The client’s remote had stopped working, she opened the back, put new batteries in and was having a hard time putting it back together. Knowing her granddaughter would return the next day, she left the remote sitting batteries exposed facing up with the compartment door sitting beside the remote. The next morning she awoke and found the remote sitting with the compartment closed and the remote was sitting upright. Interventions by others (not associated with ALPS): A psychic was called they charged the client a consult fee. The client was told that this is possibly a male Indian in the home. – We got an EVP of what maybe a male protesting this claim. A couple from the Catholic church, came in to do a blessing on the home. Before leaving the wife turns to a doll in the living room and says “AND YOU BEHAVE!” she then turns to the client and tells her, “that doll is no good, I would not have it”. – Doll impression. It immediately catches the attention of a couple of team members, Anna and Faye, upon entering the location. It’s easy to be drawn to it, although it isn’t necessarily creepy in nature. Even when you are not looking at the doll, or it is out of your peripheral vision, its easy to feel hyper aware of it. Not sure what to make of this doll as this point. (During this observation we have yet to be made aware of the blessing done by the previous) Client feels uneasy about the doll. So upon putting together pieces of the puzzle, we have to ask ourselves a few questions: 1) What would this woman of 91 years have to gain by fabricating a story? We’ve concluded, absolutely nothing. This has gained her no positive attention. Anyone she attempts to talk to immediately disregards her story, and tells her it is impossible. “Ghosts do no exist”. This makes her feel sad and isolated. 2) At 91 years old can she cognitively be going through some sort of medical condition that is causing her experiences? Possibly, but we see no outward signs of mental deterioration, whatsoever. I have personally been in the skilled nursing facility field for most of my life and have worked with the high-100’s of senior citizen. Our client here is by far one of the most mentally intact 91 yr olds I have had the pleasure of working with. Although she seems stressed, I believe her claims. 3) What’s changed in the past 7 weeks to cause this woman who has lived in her home for 12 yrs to suddenly have paranormal occurrences? We asked the client to think hard about anything that has changed during the onset of these experiences. After being asked, she perks up and points to some records, and then the doll. These items were given to her by a friend, a pastor, who’s wife (a friend of the client 50 years) had passed away. The husband himself is terminally ill and is clearing belongings out. The doll nearly meets a dumpster, but the client asks to keep it. Immediately strange things begin to happen in the house. Investigation time: We conduct a very short 2 part investigation of the clients home. Because of her age we are unable to conduct long sessions. She is very leery of the doll. Next question, if this doll is removed, will occurrences still occur? The client has asked us to please remove the doll from her home. We are reluctant because this is not something we typically do, and we DO NOT advise teams to remove anything from a clients home unless specifically asked to do so. Never claim an item haunted and remove it, this in our opinion is unethical. We do not have the right to deem any item haunted without proper investigation and research into such item. A Doll Named Sue So the question we are left with is, is it possible for items to hold and retain spiritual energy? The only way we feel our team feels we can know for sure whether this item is attached by anything otherworldly, is to conduct a series of experiments, record results, and to basically “keep an eye on it”. Our team has agreed to do an ongoing research project into this item to see if we can validate our clients claims. (Part 2 of this blog will detail the journal we keep for “Sue”, as well as more information about her)     “Sue” at our team meeting. Everyone getting acquainted. Since “Sue” has been removed many of the claims have stopped. Some still went on. The client has decided to move from her apartment to another to escape her fear she has associated with her current home, and has since thrown away the records obtained during the same time as this doll. We met with her yesterday (July 12th) and she says all activity has stopped. We will continually meet with her until we have a consistent record of no activity. *** this case remains open and inconclusive. We make no claims that this doll is haunted…..yet……  Click here for Part 2 [...] Read more...
The Vulcan Hotel, St Bathans
The Vulcan Hotel, St Bathans28/11/2015Historic Buildings / Hotels and BusinessesThe former gold and coal mining town of Saint Bathans, lies deep in the heart of the Maniototo District in New Zealand’s Central Otago Region. The town was named for the Scottish Borders village of Abbey Saint Bathans by early surveyor John Turnbull Thomson; the Scottish village was the birthplace of Thomson’s maternal grandfather. The area had previously been known as Dunstan Creek. The town itself once boasted over 2000 miners and no less than 13 pubs. Today the only remaining Hotel – the Vulcan Hotel dating back to 1882 – is the primary tourist attraction for the area. It still provides accommodation and meals for passers-by. Close to the Vulcan Hotel is the Blue Lake, a legacy of heroic gold miners. Beginning in 1864, miners chipped and sluiced their way through the quartz rock of the 120 metre high Kildare Hill. From the 1880s the miners used hydraulic lift technology – like a giant vacuum cleaner – to suck water and gravel out of the pit to where it could be worked for gold. They kept working until, in 1934, the hill had become a huge 68 metre chasm. Later, the chasm filled with water. Mining has long since ceased, and it is now a sleepy and tranquil holiday escape. The Vulcan Hotel is a restored, and reputedly haunted, public house, located on the main street of St. Bathans. Originally called the Ballarat Hotel, it was built in 1882 of mud brick. The shamrock, which can still be seen on the front facade, is a relic from the times of the rivalry between the Irish settlers from St Bathans and the Welsh settlers from Cambrian just down the road. This rivalry was known locally as “The War of the Roses” and at one time the acrimony between the two villages was quite bitter. Some years ago a television film crew claimed to have encountered the ghost. They were sufficiently frightened that they left St Bathans without finishing their filming – and never returned. “Rose” Room One of the hotel is reputedly home to the spirit of a young woman, thought by some to be a prostitute known as Rose, who was strangled to death in the hotel in the 1880s, and allegedly still appears from time to time. The thing is – she only haunts men. One night, back in the town’s gold mining days, an itinerant prostitute called ‘The Rose’ rented the front room of the hotel. In the morning she was found raped, robbed, and strangled to death. Over the years, Rose has been seen and felt by staff members and guests alike at the hotel. I’m told of a few male patrons reportedly being woken, and held down with hands around their throats, and an overwhelming sense of fear. These are the more common reports. A theory being that The Rose might be getting back at men for causing her death. There have been many reports of lights going on and off, doors creaking, drops in temperature, phantom footsteps, ghostly apparitions, and mysterious shadows seen at the foot of the bed. Groaning is heard in hallways, kettles boil without being turned on, and doors lock themselves. The spirit is often seen reclining on a chaise longue in the dining room. Male guests staying in Room One, the room in which The Rose met her untimely death, have reported feelings of being held down and throttled. An overnight investigation of the Hotel was conducted on Nov 28th 2015. This investigation, along with some intriguing revelations and findings were reported quite extensively in Mark Wallbank’s Haunted New Zealand Roadtrip book. (New Holland Publishers)   [...] Read more...
The Junction Hotel – Thames
The Junction Hotel – Thames20/05/2017Haunted Locations / Hotels and Businesses / InvestigationsLast weekend a few of the team roadtripped down the line a couple of hours, to the beautiful (and refreshingly friendly) little town of Thames, on the Coromandel Peninsula to conduct an overnight investigation of the reportedly haunted Junction Hotel. A huge thanks to the hotel management and staff for being so welcoming and helpful during our visit. Thanks also to all those that joined in with our Facebook live feed. We reached an overwhelming 300 watchers at one stage! Our most viewed feed yet, so thanks for helping out and taking an interest in what we do. We are currently working our way through the video, audio and gathered data and will have a full report of the visit sometime in the near future. At this point, due to the interesting occurrences we experienced, we feel a return visit is warranted so will be heading back for further research soon. For now though, here’s a bunch of photos taken by us of our time in the Junction Hotel. [...] Read more...
St James Theatre, Wellington
St James Theatre, Wellington02/12/2016Haunted Locations / InvestigationsThere are numerous ghosts reported to haunt this beautifully kept and much loved, iconic theatre. The St James Theatre was opened on Boxing Day, 1912. During the theatre’s first months, it was used primarily to play silent movies, but was later adapted to present live performances as well. The St. James has had a long history, with its success in its early years, a near demolition in the 1980’s and to its return to the city’s cultural light in the late 1990’s. One of the more regular sightings is the ghost of Yuri, a Russian performer who supposedly fell, or jumped from the fly-floor above the stage, to his death, although another claim is that he was pushed by another Russian performer, an actress named Pasha. It is said that Yuri was infatuated with one of the dancers, who avoided his advances in favour of a theatre electrician. It is not known whether he committed suicide out of despair from rejection, was pushed, or simply fell accidentally. Yuri has been encountered playing with the lights; in particular, switching them all back on again once the theatre has been locked up for the night. A theatre projectionist reckons Yuri has saved his life twice whilst working in the theatre. While searching for the light switch one night when the lights suddenly went out in the auditorium, the man claims he was pushed backwards by what he believed was Yuri. When the lights turned back on, it was then he realised he was standing only inches from the deep orchestra pit, and if not pushed back, would’ve fallen in causing serious injury or even death. Another terrifying incident was when the man was standing on stage with his infant son. Suddenly, a beam overhead collapsed and fell. The projectionist was pushed backwards by an unseen force, with his son carried about 3 metres through the air. The man believes it was Yuri that saved them that evening. There is also the ‘Wailing Woman’, a frequent apparition who is said to wail and moan in the dark of night. The story goes that the woman, a struggling actress, was booed off’stage one night. She took it hard and committed suicide that night, by slitting her wrists. it is thought that is it her ghost that causes many of the unfortunate accidents and mishaps around the theatre as vengeance. other actresses have suffered sprained ankles, falls from ladders and steps, and sudden colds and throat infections, rendering them unable to perform or sing properly, or at all. Even prolific film maker, Peter Jackson has made claims of encountering the mysterious Wailing Woman, many years ago, standing at the foot of his bed in his apartment which was situated across from the St James Theatre. The alleged ghost of Stan Andrews is also supposed to be residing within the theatre and is often heard wheezing as he lurks around the backstage corridors during performances. An unknown tall, thin man, aged about thirty has been seen in the theatre numerous times outside of performance times. Even more intriguing, though highly unlikely, is talk of an entire boys choir, also said to haunt the theatre. The current story regarding this, is that the choir played their last song at the St. James Theatre during Second World War, before heading off on tour by boat. No more was ever heard from the boys again, and the ship never reached its destination. Staff often hear their music emanating from up in the stands. [...] Read more...
Waimiha School
Waimiha School08/09/2018Abandoned Buildings / Locations of Interest  [...] 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.

In our time, the team has successfully raised many (much needed) thousands of  dollars, to assist with the upkeep and general running of these wonderful historic locations. Something we are very proud of.

We are also very proud to have worked alongside and assist 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.

We don’t make bold claims we can’t back up with evidence or reliable data.

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