Before I even have time to write another blog about whats going on in the rest of NZ I'm back in shakey city. I think life down here has mildly grown one me till we were leaving this abandoned freezing works, and this man approach's us, broom in hand, no shoes and announces he's the caretaker,  he wants to know what we are doing? I chuck some story how we are cutting through the property to get to the park, he then goes on to in-from me that we'd have to cross the railway tracks,  He then spots my mate who had been there days prior and tells us he had seen us before, I told him I was from Wellington (not wanting to admit I was from Auckland as the Southerns really don't seem to like the North) he mumbled how we were trespassing so I walked on, but my friend was far to kind and stayed behind talking to Mr barefoot.  As I walked away he was swearing and making comments along lines of typical fucking Wellington people haha thank god I didn't say I was from Auckland I thought, might have found out where that broom could have gone. 

With Christchurch's CBD still under major development,  the city still lacks serious  resources in the center but is vastly growing. It is ashame to see suburbs are slightly getting left behind,  a friend mentioned to me that Chch reminded him of Berlin, perhaps this will be so. I just wish the council would better spend there money on beautifying the city to make it more appealing to tourists. Besides Urbex I found little tourist things to do,  I did like the fact that there was a playground being  constructed  in the name of Margaret Mahy.  

On my second to last night, we spent the evening visiting about 10 houses that where hit by the quake up on a cliff (wont mention where ) but this was the first time I got the impression anyone from the public for along time had been inside these homes, they where quite out of reach and near for demolition, million dollar views and alot of them had stunning architecture to match the view,  pool houses and large balcony's. 

You can often hear someone say "shit this is such a waste" when you walk through a building, and I honestly couldn't get over what was left behind in the Design and Art school.  Sawing machines, computers, mannequins, desks, paint and paper etc. The further I walked through the school I become more disappointed, state of the building only added to it, such a gorgeous old girl standing tall, and what was left behind really sadden me, but this time it wasn't just our group taken by surprise, we had company,  the Police! As we quickly all huddled into toilet cubicle's all 4 of us,  as the Police climbed through the window after a report someone had broken into the building, listening to there banter as they worked there way through the building, this wasn't the first time I've had to wait it out while the Police searched an abandoned building, but I have to admit I forgot what the adrenaline rush felt liked, not to mention my stomach kept making these awful grumbling noises everyone could hear and person next to me kept cracking up laughing, It was embarrassing, I closed my eyes as they flashed there torches around, heavy boots stomping above us. After about half an hour they where gone.  And one of the girls said out loud "I'm taking a pee" I've been stuck in a toilet for half an hour dieing to go toilet haha everything was back to normal, that was for sure.

On my last night I meet up with Jade  who's into fire eating and dancing whom I had meet on my last visit and I also asked Michelle who I'd meet previously that week exploring.  Invited  them both out that night, this made for some really wicked photos. Check them out. Big thanks to Michelle for the photos and Jade for Fire. 

Few things to remember when visiting Christchurch.
-Tinder does not come with a fairy tale ending (he may pee  your bed at 5am after beers)
-Lesbian experiences should not be followed by a date
-Never take advice from you're mother or you'll have to meet her whole family 
- Be curious and less cautious, you may discover the most coolest place you've never been.
FINALLY
-If anyone asks I'm from Eketahuna, I am not owning up to being a jaffa ever again.  


Nathan,

What a cool time to go back to Christchurch, so many new developments where under-way, from Justice and Emergency Services Precinct to the new Bus Terminal and this time round things seemed far more established and less on edge.  While remaining well-known buildings such as the Catholic Cathedral, former Forsyth Barr, Rydges Hotel and many buildings along Hereford street which we managed to explore, still remained,  some old favourites (old Bus terminal, Library, Oaks to name a few) were long gone to make way for the future.  The Re:START mall had grown extensively. I really fell for Christchurch this time, spending 80% of my stay Urban Exploring and the other 20% making friends with the locals and sleeping on their sofas, eating weet bix and muesli bars  while hitting abandos with whoever was keen the next day. 

This time around I got to visit alot of more places thanks to a young local explorer who is also right into his street art,  I'm really quite fond of graffiti and have some friends in Auckland who like to go out and paint,  so spending long days and late nights out with this dude was just up my ally and was lots of fun and together we pushed each others boundaries of what we both enjoyed and were capable of, we'll I think so anyway.  Photo below are his.

Spending much of my time in Sumner, one of the worst hit areas, I never got to experience Sumner last time. I found a few places that hadn't been overly explored/lottied which was quite exciting. 

Hiding away up upon some of Christchurch's highest roof's late at night

But my highlight really was sleeping a night in the abandoned apartments out by the Casino, said to myself if I came back to Christchurch I'd sleep it rough, but it was way to cold this time round.  Catching up with the lady I made friends with at the backpackers last year was awesome, she's a real character,  she really made my last trip to Christchurch a good laugh and I wasn't going to leave her off my inventory for a decent catch up over her midweek wines.

I was a very reserved quiet shy child growing up, especially at school, looking back I must have had terrible anxiety for a child. I'm a completely different person to who I was back then. Children are quite accepting and understanding, Adults are not always so good at keeping an open mind. Becoming involved in a group like Urbex NZ has taught me many things in life and I've also meet some unique/crazy/awesome people, to which each brings something of their own to the group. But it's also subjected me to harassment/slander for my opinions, choices and actions. A Wellington Urbex group disagreed because of our connection to graffiti artists and tagging, and started making videos of themselves removing the tagging/stickers and then using my real name (which was really scary) in there YouTube videos and ripping our videos off, while spreading them throughout the Urbex community internationally. I would get constant Facebook messages from fake accounts and see my videos appear slandered on other pages/forums, yes I'd reply even though friends would tell me to let it go, but you can't not when your being attacked, I'd become to defensive. All these messages would go on about what sort of person I was and run me down, and it's frustrating because you just want to set them straight and meet them in person. This person had so much power behind a computer! Our YouTube videos would have sour comments by people I didn't even know, dislikes. They even brought a .com domain similar to ours to attempt to steal our website traffic. All of a sudden it was a competition to see who could post latest locations up the fastest, I gave up posting content online. 

Within our group it had drawn serious conflict whether graffiti should even be associated. It was a really stressful time, especially for my ex, this isn't the first time I've been bullied for Urbex. Back in 2008 I was attacked online and someone put fake naked pictures on a forum and tried to say they were of me. 

I do leave my name in a place sometimes when I explore, if that makes me a vandal, that's your opinion. Urban Exploration doesn't have a code of conduct (nor do we have any, were all grown up's and trust one another) it only takes common sense to do this hobby. I have never once cited 'take only photos leave only pictures' because I'm an explorer not photographer. I don't think you could find anyone else who would respect abandoned places more than myself in this country. After all I started this group. I do like to bend the rules and do things differently, it’s an illegal hobby. Can't put rules on that. 


My Nana ended up in Wellington hospital mid last year (old girl nearly died on me) and I pretty much had a break down, were quite close and I grew up with her. I contacted one of the members of the group and after many emails exchanged they removed the videos. I still get casual Facebook message from one of the members. It's like common banter now. But it hasn't always been and online bullying really is degrading and pathetic. NetSafe tell me that currently there is legislation going through Parliament for a bill called the Harmful Digital Communications Bill, which will (if it is passed in the form it is currently suggested) strengthen measures able to be taken against people who harass and harm people online. Fingers crossed! The thing that troubles me the most about the behaviour of this Wellington Urbex group is, where really big on anti-bullying in NZ. 

I hope these people aren't role models or have children.

Nathan,

The biggest trouble with Urban Exploration is the legality. The most common question I'm asked (and yeah it does get old) "can you tell me some abandoned locations". So I thought out a list of the most common places I could think of that might scrap the barrel when it comes to legal and less likely to get you in trouble. In no particular order here is my top 10 of easy to possibly legal places to explore (not saying you wont get in any trouble, so this is all at your own risk) Good luck, and don't forget a torch and common sense.

1, North Head Tunnels: Auckland
Probably the most obvious especially if you live in Auckland or travel there regularly. Set up in the late 1800's North Head is worth the visit if not for the history to learn that this large defence complex was built to defend Auckland from a feared Russian attack (maybe choose a day when half the tourism sector wont be there) Drop by over to Mt Victoria too, it's even better at night. This location is on the North Shore, managed by DOC and is open to the public daily. 


2, Whatipu/Bethells beach: Auckland
The first time I discovered the caves at Whatipu, we where staying at the gorgeous old historic Lodge (original homestead utilized for accommodation built in 1870). Upon the grounds there is also a large camp site (damn cheap I must say) and short distance to the beach aswell as the rather unique large sea caves which I was told in the 60's used to have a wooden dance floor and at the time this was the place to come and get your groove on.  Many many years later, sand sadly has covered over it. Just a short walk past those few and you'll find the caves camp site managed by DOC. Probably only 10-15 minutes walk.

If your heading out to the beach and it's summer time and you're feeling inclined for caves and waves. Check out the sea caves at Bethells, pretty cool for first timers or kids. I like that you can walk over to Piha if you feel like a change of scenery. 

3,Fort Ballance: Wellington- Shelly Bay Rd
Is a 1885 artillery battery, which was built with fears the Russians would attack. Fort Ballance is different to North Head with the exception it still remains in the heads of the Government and public access is "meant" to be sought from the Army. It is also a known graffiti/painting spot, so this would give some people mixed feelings for it's preservation, but after the short walk to the top you can appreciate why anyone would visit this place. The views on a fine day over the Bay are stunning .


4, Drains, Auckland- Anywhere
I'm not sure if encouraging people to go in drains really is the most intelligent thing to do, but nonetheless. if you don't try it.. The Australian urbex group Cave Clan have a quote "when it rains no drains". Just common sense really, perhaps don't go alone either. But drains can be alot of fun, always with a torch. People ask me, why the hell would you want to go down there? But its like a hidden set of tunnels, just never know where you'll come out. Alot of graffiti writers paint in drains, so if you come across drains like these, your probably safer exploring these ones as there probably explored regularly. My first drain and a well known in Auckland is near St Lukes, at the end of Norgrove ave. 





5, Taonui Viaduct, Old Coach Rd Horopito
This has to be one of my favourite places due to just how dangerous looking it is. Completed in 1907 as apart of the North Island Main Trunk. It's about a 15-20 minute walk along a path to the Viaduct, which is now a historic gem. Climb it if your dear. You can park in a paddock on DOC land and enjoy the surroundings of the Tongariro National Park.  



6, Horopito Motors, Horopito
Known infamously as "Smash Palace" due to the film. Horopito Motors is a collection of old vintage cars, the owner back in the day operated a garage and had a no scrapping policy. This is a popular place with photographers and I do see many photos from Horopito at festivals etc. If you're doing Taonui Viaduct the two together are worth the time. Entry is by donation. 

7, Carlile House, Grey Lynn
Carlile House is just one of those places that should have never been allowed to waste away. Built in 1886. With such unique Italianate architecture for Auckland, which can especially be seen in the downstairs of the house. I could happily admire Carlile from the outside if it wasn't for the hideous power lines and the Tongan church next door. Carlile is owned by the Tongan church which they built in the 70's, and neglected the house. It is said, by approaching the church sometimes they may give permission. My tip would be not telling them your taking a camera.

8, Christchurch, Holy Grail of NZ
This might sound a little bit er harsh but it honestly is, theres so much to explore in Christchurch. I spent 4 days there in June and every single local I spoke to, had even explored there own city. It's never going to happen again in our life time. I really can't provide any tips as a few of us have been down there and had different experiences when it comes to security and locations. But from high rises to the old bus station and brothel (complete with whips and chains, don't ask) I think I almost saw it all.  Early one morning after much to drink I was with the most eccentric 50 odd year old lady from the backpackers who kept sneaking my booze from the fridge when I'd go out, so in return I'd pinch her cooking when she'd be flirting with the younger guys. She took me to this theatre, only half remained. I wasn't that keen on Christchurch till my visit, now I'm looking forward to going back.

9,Cement Works, Wilson Rd Warkworth
Built around 1903, employing over 180 men during its operation.  Sitting on grounds next to a water hole popular for swimming, the works closed 1928 not before leaving behind the impressive ruins. Pack lunch and sit by the lake or maybe venture closer,  be weary people live on the surrounding property if they actually have anything to do besides bark at you, (some sort of long term camp site or of sort) The old ruins themselves have a worn down wire fence around them so don't trip.












10, Challenge House, Auckland
I wasn't sure about including Challenge house, because it's just one of those places that everyone in Auckland knows, but it's a luck of a draw whether it will be open or not. Brought by a investor in 2005 I believe, with intentions to build a Hotel but Stamford Plaza opposed consent so it sits earning property value. 3 buildings on one title, Link, Challenge and Yates house, Yates being the seed company which in the early 1900's ran there business from the building. Challenge house is well known for its graffiti and I've also spotted pictures of it in international magazines, not everyday you get a abandoned 5 storey building that large in the middle of the CBD.  It's also been home to some dodgy characters over the years. I know before Wilson took the parking over again, homeless people where living downstairs and often see them take off as we'd arrive.  I've never had any problems with hobos, just say hi and do my thing, although one guy did try to get $5 out of us so we could go into this abandoned house he lived in. Declined err politely. 

So I hope this helps, because when people ask for locations, its abit like giving away my Urbex bible. You feel obliged to protect these places to a degree, because I have had owners email me before and vandals troll website for places, plus I enjoy doing this with people I know I can trust which is why we formed our group. The more you do this the more places you'll find and you can then share them with others etc.

As I planned my trip to Hong Kong, I thought that it would be devoid of any adventure or any abandonment because land is really rare and expensive there and any abandonment would be taken down to build new things. That’s true for 99% of Hong Kong.

I meet up with Hong Kong Urbex crew. They took me to an island called Cheung Chau, dubbed Death Island. It used have lots of people living on it, but many people have moved out due to it being so inconvenient (an hour boat ride back to Hong Kong CBD) and many suicides that took place during the early 2000's. Cheung Chau like many other small islands are the 1% of slightly more rural places filled with abandonments. We first hit the old theatre. Built in 1931, it had been running till the 1990’s but closed due to a lack of demand. Half the roof was missing, but many electrics like fans, lights and electric boxes were still intact. The folding chairs still worked but we had to wade through puddles to get through to the back stage. Through the back door there were half a dozen of other abandoned houses that weren't as interesting as the theatre.

We then headed onto a mountain that was a complete ghost town. There were hundreds of abandoned houses, this was like Urbex heaven, some from long ago and some recently. We could only get into the older homes where all the doors were knocked down. We went into a "haunted" house where there was a murder in the 70’s but after 5 minutes I got chased out by a whole army of angry mosquito's.

Next on the list was “Fong Bin” Hospital literally translating into “Convenient” Hospital. It wasn’t really convenient that inside lived a bunch of crackheads…. And the morgue was too overgrown with leaves to even see!

Rooftopping in Hong Kong was what I really looked forward to. But it was a pity most doors to the rooftops had an “alarm will sound when pushed” button. But never the less I took an elevator to a hotel’s 30th floor and took pictures… (you can barely tell it was behind glass)

Last year was a great teaser and I'm heading back early this year so I can't wait to take on HK again now having scoped some stuff out and having experienced what it's like to Urbex over there. 

-Traffiklite
You can follow me on my blog http://littlegirlforgottenworld.blogspot.co.nz

During June I took a trip to Australia to catch up with family and hang out in some abandoned spots I had badly missed out on every other holiday. Spending large portion of my time in Melbourne ( has to be my favourite city, with the street art and what the city has to offer). I was treated to a wide variety of Gothic inspired architecture. I found myself inside one of Melbourne's well known Psychiatric hospitals which shut its doors in 1999 for a community approach very similar to what we did here in NZ. Surrounded by a residential area and local shops, people just casually strolling around these tall abandoned structures as they headed home from work, this was one of the most bizarre things I had ever seen. They where such a eye sore to be living next to. Pending demolishing, the place looked like a scrap yard.

I also made my way that afternoon to the old Yorkshire brewery in Collingwood, built 1880, with a brick romanesque architecture for which made it a landmark. It is currently being converted into apartments. 

Mean while on my last day I was trying to squeeze in one last location (two to be honest but the hotel we caught the tram to had been demoed) so we headed down to the old Carlton Brewery. Just a few weeks earlier and a few of the old walls had collapsed and killed 2 passing pedestrians and putting a third in hospital. It was reported wind gusts of 115 kilometres per hour were which where believed to have caused the collapse.

While in Adelaide I caught up with the guys from Urban Exploration Adelaide, real awesome down to earth aussie bunch, who I had been conversing with online for awhile and it was nice of them to show me a few spots. Exploring a massive factory that was we'll known for graff and a historic old building in the city that easily dated back to 1900's with a gorgeous facade, they knew how to impress a kiwi. As it started to get dark we popped into a old folks home that was pretty wrecked, my day was complete! Before I flew out, my brother and I headed out to Murray Bridge where there's an abandoned amusement park, tonnes of slides, giant rocking giraffe, random puzzles (think ill let you guess the name) and even a maze. This place closed in 2007 due to sales and public liability issues, and is now to be developed into a retirement village. 

I wanted to try something different, maybe ill never do it again but I wanted to write about a exploration we did. Take a read of one of our recent shenanigans, definitely one more of the more interesting ones which is why I choose to write it up. Its honest, detailed and gives you a idea of what where like, normal people :) I've choosen not to name the location!


01:30 That numb feeling of being trapped inside somewhere you can't escape, feeling hopeless and sorry for yourself, most of all the emotion of regret slowly sinking in. It was the funniest thing even though we where trapped, there was six storeys of massive unused complex to hid upon, just how we played it out and whether our hunters decided to check every level for us was there business.

Climbing over the fence crawled with barb wire, I joked to Robert saying I wouldnt be going down for this one and didn't want another pending conviction for unlawfully been in a building, what's the worst that could happen a few alarms go off and the security arrive. As we approached the building we did notice windows had since been smashed and boarded up on a lower level which we used as an exit another once before, mindless shit I thought smashing windows is just wasteful we said to one another. So clearly some vandals had paid a visit since our last explore. This really is the cycle in abandoned places, building becomes vacant and unused, decay sets in and vandals drop by and decay worsens. Oh and then theres us. I have a terrible sense of direction and been at night time I was sure I was going to get lost (again). As we walked around the buildings using as little light as possible, we decided we'd enlighten our evening by bringing along a bottle of Countdowns finest wines from under $10 each. I was quite depressed to discover the bottle shops where all closed in this place at 7pm on a Monday. I popped my top announcing we where here, took a few sips and we where off. I wanted to see the laundry room, last time we couldn't get in and since then Robert discovered how to slid his Czech ass through an above window that was open. I followed suit, thanking god I didn't put on to much weight over summer because there was a very small tight beam on the other side to catch our drop. In the dark it made it feel like we where acrobats but im sure the ground was really only a meter away and we could have jumped.

The laundry consisted of large commercial machines, there was very little left bar the washers. It was a large open concrete dirty dusty place, but its was really fascinating seeing washing machines and driers that you could squeeze one another inside of, pity we couldn't flick the button and spin it right round. Some where so big they required power to be opened with massive arms on the sides. After stumbling back up the window for fresh air we made our way to the back of the complex in hope of finding the basement, after staring at a map for about 5 minutes, we decided it was the building to the left (they both looked similar and it was hard to tell at the end of the day) we hunted around for a possible entry point, they become limited by the second, this place was pretty well held down. Most of the bottom floor windows where boarded, we found one that had become neglected over the years and pushed it aside and jumped on in, thinking we where rather clever as we had spent the last 20 minutes searching over the windows and now we where in, we got inside and discovered this end had been closed off, which looked like many years ago and where the door way to the other half of the building was, it was plastered over. From there we couldn't get we'll, anywhere but maybe 30 meters of a empty room that smelt funky. Kicking the wall a few times in the “I can't believe it we where so close” manner, we climbed out the window and I pulled the bottle of wine out of my bag and took a skull.


We carried on and went down a window and discovered the next board had been quite neglected too and we could bend it enough to get through, the windows where quite long and had been boarded up sometime ago which was working in our favour, so I held my breath and sucked it in, through the window I went, the room was rotting, wall paper was peeling everywhere and it was becoming mold central. Wet weather coming in through this window had clearly done some major damage in the past, so the carpet by now had become something from a horticulture experiment. We crept out into the hall and no alarms seemed present, the character of the building its self you had to enjoy from the inside, native timber in the structure and it had this cool old laundry shot and the doors reminded me of something out of an American tv show how they that had the slit in middle, so the top half was closed in one room so we had to do the limbo to get in. We wondered around this room and found the top floor access still looked like no one knew we where on site, so we made our way to a corridor where from the outside we spotted the sky walk. But just as I was about to push open the door there was a sensor and we backed off, we left that building and the board over the window and headed for the front of the complex not before poking our heads into a few windows and realizing that even if this place didn't have alarms, I reckon we'd be lucky to see 30% in one night.

We figured we might aswell go for the main building now, a spot light, shines upon the centre area where some construction has began, very minimal though and inside it shows slow if nil progress. Gazing up at this almost sky scraper of a building my mind wondered for a few seconds and I had a flash, you always imagine what these places would have been like active, I looked down to a glass corridor below which ran along and linked up to another set of buildings, people walking through and making there way ran through my head. Then Robert started climbing up the side of the corridor so I quickly pulled myself up knowing this wasnt going to be a quiet experience. Walking along the tin roof wasn't the most stealth way in but we had little to no other option, taking the same entry as we did last time we climbed in so far avoiding any problems. We walked down a dark long hall way and at the end was a big piece of machinery, power still running to it, it was cool to see the machine again. I poked around at the machine and buttons, I have a thing for pushing buttons so pushed all the buttons I could find while in my mind encouraged myself not to then sit on the machine for the fear it actually still might work after I went on my button pushing tangent, we hesitated to head down to the other end of the corridor as there is a sensor, Robert was telling me where going to set it off maybe we shouldn't go, last time I told him security just came don't worry don't worry. He so badly had wanted to avoid alarms all evening but he knew now was the one time we could no longer do this, we walked out from underneath the sensor and bam the bugger lite up.

But no siren this time, must be silent we both said, after all where already here why waste a good thing even if security where on there way. Whats the worst that could happen, they chase us out or call our mummys? We continued on cautiously, as familiar parts coming to me, entering the hallway we decided to go downstairs, examining the windows from the inside, it was a pity about there smashed state and now we had no easy exit. We headed down to basement area where the rooms where dark dusty but most of all concrete and no windows or light, the first room to the left was a phone server , I suppose you would call it and up a room but now empty inside written on the door “records”, if only I thought. Few other rooms where maintenance and one held the main power switches for that building, humming away loudly as I strolled past it as if I knew what each box meant, Robert was off in the distance with his camera. These large big boxes had levers that where calling out to be pushed and pulled, I reached my hand out and jiggled it a little thinking hmm maybe it will cut the entire power to everything.

I learnt my lesson to never do that again, there was incident at an abandoned location where we got quite carried away and thought we where at the circus or something, with similar looking levers. So my self control won this round. We ventured off through double doors, this took us into a ground floor area, I had no idea where I was and I liked it. Following a random phone cable we headed upstairs, it must have been temporary erected for the construction, it went across the floor just laying there as if where the only visitors it had in the past few months, then looped up some stairs where it took us into some main lobby where the lights filled the room. Looking out the doors I could see the phone cable running outside, I turned around and looked at Robert he was fixated on his looking for sensors buzz, I was giggling inside, appeared to be none and it was a new part we hadn't discovered so was exciting. We knew where we where from the outside view, as we gazed around deciding where to go next, hopefully up, some lights shone from outside, torch? Street light? God knows there was enough light surrounding this place at night. There, the light shined through the glass doors again, my heart raced, oh shit security have arrived and they where fast, must be a slow night in this town yo. The adrenaline immediately kicked in and we knew we had to make a move, Robert headed for the stairs I wasn't far behind him, I then stopped. I slowly headed back up to poke my head up, he was yelling at me in the most quiet and polite way to get going but there was something about the rush and wanting to know how far away the security was. I stood there eyes racing backwards and forth, feeling like the lights getting closer, whether it was is anyone's guess, but it had now become a game of cat and mouse especially if they where to open that door and come flying in.

It seems slightly silly because what could they do, hug on us, there only security tight? There not police. But we still knew we weren't meant to be there, yet we defy that. And I wasn't helping my own situation, as I had recently been charged for unlawfully been on a property while exploring else where, I guess after 7 odd years my luck was running out but as for tonight I wasn't keen to hang around to explain what we where doing, because the Police never understand Urbex and its probably best kept that way, and security where hot on our heels for trouble. We run off down the stairs making our way back through the dark basement and up the stairs, we headed for the level we came in on, but as soon as we started to climb the stairs which are on the covered outer part of the building, lighten up by the many street lights, we both froze. I looked out and got a sick feeling, pain hit me, weak, my friends where here. Two to three police cars surrounding the front of the building. They made me want to vomit, I could already foresee the outcome, feeling that every part of my body was weak. I was 100 percent sober all of a sudden and my most super stealth serious personality that had been on hiatus kicked in. Robert and I both got low, hugged the floor and took those stairs like Jackie Chan on crack.

Fuck was I wearing cuffs tonight or listening to some cop tell me I need to get a new hobby. We slid in the door of the level which was about half way up, and I couldnt bare to look out the window. From here we could also see the back of the building. Robert went and checked and said they had the dogs aswell. I sighed and abit of panic set in because shit started to get serious. He said we should try to get out the back window and make a run for it, I stood there gob smacked by the lengths the police had gone, I mean ok we could be stealing, but we weren't, but bringing in the dogs. What a waste of taxes payers money. Most of all why haven't security come and just done there job and we would have just been on our merrier damn way. Some Police station was bored tonight. I knew there was no way we where leaving this building while my friends loitered on the outside, I knew they'd have the whole complex and exits surrounded, sure enough we went to another side of the building which over looked a public road and another exit tapped with barb wire and there was a cop car parked there. See I said where trapped we have to sit it out, or until they find us I mumbled. We where pretty sure they where coming inside any moment. By now I was beyond caring, if they had dogs, they'd find us, so I headed for a bathroom to my right, to just sit on the toilet and feel sorry for myself, go write a facebook status while I await the outcome and cross my fingers. It had all caused abit of conflict between us both and it was quite stressful. We both found the police unnecessary but couldn't tell them that and Urbex is all about alittle law breaking baby. Robert told me I wasn't allowed to hide in the bathroom on my own. So I turned around and said to him, we need to go up then, far from them and to hide. He was off, some place had popped into his head, back onto the stairs and the sinking feeling rocked my stomach, go away stomach. Taking the stairs freaked me out, and felt like we where vulnerable to the police.

Top floor and following behind my now ninja partner. I closed the door quietly as if a baby was sleeping. We did window checks again, I told Robert off for using his torch, I'm sure he wished he had duct tape. Walking along the brown carpeted hall I felt a little safer been higher up, holding the wall for guidance, he took me to some room towards the end that held the air vents, explaining to me when he came here on his own exploring last time he found this room and thought it might end up been helpful, amen I thought. Over some dodgy pipes and bending down to miss our heads, we climbed our bodies inside some vent box that was big enough for us both, closing the metal door behind us the room became pitch black. Inside it was full of chipped all sorts of materials lingering on the bottom, could be paint, could be asbestos, I was just pleased to be in what felt like a vault right now. We sat there not having expectations of what the next hour or so might bring, but knew we'd have to sit quietly and could be for some time.

As our bums grew numb and the need to move became apparent in this confined space, it almost was a small dose of entertainment when one of us wiggled or whispered something. We become suspicious of sounds and eventually adjusted, I started to doze off then Robert said something, and we both swore we heard something outside, I just kept quiet. Minutes pasts, this turning into 15 then half an hour. I just wanted the sun to come up, might sound ridiculous but I was over the dark, surely the police wouldnt hang around very long. In our heads it was such a silly extent just to find us and we just wanted them to be gone. We where both exhausted, in wondering what the time was I knew Robert didn't want to spend all night here and my safety conscious side had claimed down by now. I suggested we take a peak, opening out the door on the vent it screamed at us, if there was anybody nearby they would have surely heard that bloody door. We both made our way into the hallway stepping over the pipes and dodging the ones above our heads as our eyes adjusted in the dark. I stood back heart racing a little I wont lie. Robert walked forward to the window, peered to the side of the curtain and looked out, lighting up the area below us was the ugly orange street lights flashing, they stood there so peacefully as if they had been watching this hole time. No cars about, foot path was empty and the sun wasn't even anywhere to be seen yet. A great sigh of relief! I joined him at the window and we both checked from a few different angles. We paced ourselves just in-case security where doing checks and headed straight down the stairs for the exit off the building onto the ground, running across the lighten up yard, then over the fence where had the biggest smiles on our faces since our arrival.


I did ask while heading there if we could have a sleep over and bring out our sleeping bags but someone wasn't keen, wet blanket. Next time ;)

Nathan..

So it turns out I don't write enough of these, and it gets really tough between working, Urbex, and chucking up photos maintain the facebook and forum I know its not all that active but we do slide in on there and say hey, be brave and drop a post, feel free to be the first one, we all don't bite and thats what I like with our Urbex folk where all like family. If you ever wanna ask any of questions drop a comment or contact us or where open to speak to you via facebook but please don't hit us up about where locations are because where sick of repeating "Explore more Ask less". Did you consider we might be keen on you coming along with us if your really that interested? show dedication and enough interest and we'll name the time :)

These last few months have been some of the best of my life, massive  old bank Vaults, live web cam streams and 15 story buildings, abandoned theaters, I'm pretty sure none of this will ever get to be repeated ever again quite like this. If theres on thing we like to do thats chill out and enjoy ourselves, and we've done that and grabbed many great photos along the way and made a few great friends who have jumped alone for the explorations.

Something cool we've been trying, yes yes I know the first was a kinda of semi failure but, Live Cast. Live Urbex on the go. How wicked is that, if you joined us the first time then you will know that I was slacking off and security caught us haha and I left the camera streaming for all to watch, they where pretty average about it and there manager was a good dude, second time it went off without a hitch, sweet. So now where sampling what and how we can use next to better improve the Cast if you have any suggestions or can help please do email as this is something we have no idea about but its fairly basic technology, been around for years, if its there we want to utilize it and share what we do with the world. Live Cast Urbex has to atleast be a world first. You can find out more about when we go online from our facebook I always chuck up a link about 30mins prior I know its not alot of warning but take into count our risks :)  the great part about Live Cast is we get to interact with an audience and speak and show you around an abandoned location you perhaps otherwise are unable to visit. All locations names are kept confidential.

Its Summer time woo, who knows what we all have installed but no doubt some crazy adventure. I have a New Years party planned for us all so catch more antics with Urbex NZ in January and thanks all for dropping by.

before I'm out I found this quote tagged on a seat near an abandoned building and its stuck in my head
"Only do what you do not regret"

Go be merry, have a good one. Merry Christmas!!
Nathan,

So recently our home was burglarised pretty much all of my Urbex content went with it. What a shit year right! Which has put me behind big time, which means they stole the photos I took while I was down in Palmy and Welly earlier this month, which was going to be for this blog update :P There was so much yet to be shared online, locations we had visited over the years yet to be seen and it's a huge pity especially the random videos we had shot, so the photos built up and I never sadly found time to edit them all, it sort of became the more exploring we did, had a photo overload and I have this rule not to delete even if there crap. At times I think we probably where abit slack and this now gives me a good reason to revisit a few locations this summer.

Moral of the story back up all of your photos/stuff on the externals and your computer 3 times if you appreciate it as much as I did, I thought I was clever having my Urbex photos on externals out of sight, but these are what where taken aswell. And then keep them in a safe place. Hidden! I was perhaps naive to leave stuff that freely laying around and have learned a strong lesson but it wont be happening again. Theres online services to back up photos utilise these, I will be from now on, most of you probably do. It's not a nice feeling the thought that someones been in your home, which I guess I already knew from Urban Exploration, "You always get the how would you feel if someone came onto your property" from people or Police Lol I've been burglarised before so its not nice, its the feeling of not getting your gear back and some assholes taken it especially the family photos of the deceased members.

On a more positive note...
I managed to escape and meet JDX from Tasmania. If anyone asks hes the master of light painting in Tazzy! I dragged him through abandoned Hospital during the early morning, Hamiltons disused train station, and a massive rusting old industrial site which was pitch black by the time we left, to name a few. Oh and he got to learn where Orewa was thanks to not knowing the motorway exits, haha hes the man if you ever need a driver to Orewa, just becareful because you could need up in Wellington :)

You can find out more about JDX and his chill shots on his FB, some of photos from his time with me is on the FB.. And I'll upload a few below to show off
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jda-Seymour-Photography/120297141350480

Have you seen the new location Bradd put up? Check out Liberty Land, we had our beady eyes on it from the moment it shut down in 2009, Me nan used to buy her underwear's here and it has tonnes of history, Pacific brands who make Bonds and more brought the place in the 80's I believe, so for me it's pretty cool to have stuff like that made in my hometown and then visit this location.

Can't wait for Summer, remember your always welcome to drop us a line if your generally interested or currently exploring, we like hearing what other Urban Explorers are up too..

Thanks for reading =D
Nathan (Tansix)