We recently hosted the Spirit Talk event at the very retro-decored Manukau Cruising Club. An iconic, white, curved building to the west of State Highway 20, where a fraternity of the fishing and boating community built its headquarters. The building itself screams marine Man-cave.
You walked in and felt welcomed in the wide open, ocean-view event room. A member’s lounge looking over the main floor and a former apartment, currently being used as storage, is tucked away in the east wing.
When Mark and I arrived, we went upstairs to place our overnight gear on the couches. My bed for the night. As we left the room, Mark leading the way, and I followed, a creaky floor board echoed an extra set of footsteps behind me, off beat to ours. I don’t usually turn in haste, but this made me spin around to check if anyone was behind me. It really did sound like we were being followed. We had only just got there, and it was already giving us hints of a fun night.
The Event –
The crowd was receptive and excited as they arrived. First up was Te Oka Toia, an extremely passionate and knowledgeable Maori historian and owner of Auckland Ghost Tours. He presented us with a history, normally unspoken, but essential to be passed on, of the Maori tradition of “mokomokai”(shrinking heads), Maori mythology and folklore, Cryptids, burial beliefs and the importance of the “Wairua”; the spirit. It was all so eloquently delivered and showed his enthusiasm to passing on information related to traditions and culture.
Next up was Psychic Medium, Hetty Mentzer. An interesting factor she mentioned, which I thought connected the two talks, was that she had seen a group of Maori wahine enter the room as Te Oka started talking and fill it with a chorus of song. This was not new to the venue, who have apparently experienced this very thing in the past.
Hetti explained how the spirits present themselves to her and how they choose to make contact. Her demonstration of her gift gained a lot of interest. Much head nodding, A few tears, and some comfort brought to a few guests. Each spirit she tuned into while talking to each unsuspecting guest brought along messages of concern and solace. Something each of the audience was able to take away with them. Doing what they wish with it.
Our third guest speaker was our own Sam, the debunker man. Sam asked us not to always blindly believe everything presented through a video uploaded to a media platform. These can sometimes misconstrue our own beliefs in what we think we are seeing. Suggesting that a caption for an EVP can sometimes direct your brain to being influenced, instead of you deciding for yourself, choosing what is logical to your own ears. About taking the time to search all avenues before concluding something already unexplained as just that. You can usually explain the event without the guidance of someone’s need for attention. He provided many convincing examples.
Last up was our Squad leader, Mark, who, casually and effortlessly as usual, paced his stuff on stage to bring his many years of paranormal investigating to life. He shared his inspirations and influences with the crowd and what led to him starting a team. His love for the unfairly categorised pseudo-science and why he calls it, nearly-science was well demonstrated and showed why he still does it today. His need to ask questions is as strong as it was when he was a child.
The whole night was thrilling and captivating, and we really felt the community support as they said goodnight, thankful for a well-spent evening.
We sat down to grab a moment to breathe before setting up for an overnight investigation. Marie sat with the team and delighted us with an array of stories; recently experienced. It excited our senses and left us with some thoughts about what was in store for us.
The Overnighter –
Bella and I slept upstairs in the members room on an L-shaped couch. (where Kevin Cruikshank sat while Mark picked at his brain during a recent interview).
The boys slept downstairs in the main room on air mattresses. We set up our beds and grabbed our tools for the night. The most active area of the night seemed to be the upstairs apartment bathroom, where a tragic event left a tenant passed away in the bathtub and wasn’t found for a few days after.
Bella took position on a chair that was in the bathtub, and I stood at the bath’s end with a Data Logger / EMF meter pointed towards the bath as we asked questions in the hope of making a connection or finding an answer or two. Interestingly timed, at my request, the temperature would rise. One degree each time as asked. This was almost on demand. We gave a few minutes in between questions to give the equipment time to adjust and settle. The temperature changes could also be explained by the rising heat of being in an enclosed room with the five of us crammed into it, so we kept this in mind. If it was related to a response, I gave thanks for the experience.
We moved on to the lounge of the apartment, where shuffling noises were repeatedly being heard in an adjacent area but could not be pinpointed. These noises were heard and acknowledged by all members.
We tried our luck downstairs. At first, it was very quiet. The temperature soon dropped rather quickly, due to the building being situated so close to the water. Into the night, as we announced our bedtime, three big loud knocks were heard by all. This piqued our interest, and our attention was again directed towards the apartment upstairs.
An interesting occurrence. Earlier that night, Bella had requested for any entities to make a photo drop from a big photo collage board on the wall in the members room. Sam ventured upstairs towards the knocks and came across a photo that had fallen onto the cabinet, pin still intact. The photo, with its long steel pin still attached, lay below where it was attached to the cork board.
This had our tails wagging as we documented the discovery. Asking Marie the next morning, she remembered back to when the photo was taken, and one of the pictured males was known to have passed away. His ashes were spread in memory among the waves of the inlet.
The occurrences of the night gave us much to think about concerning each talk and story that had been shared this night.
Another fun and rousing investigation for us to document and share with you all.