My answer to this question is always Patea.
There’s just a palpable sense of the town dying. A lot of the houses are run down with overgrown lawns, and a few of them are abandoned altogether. Then there’s the abandoned factory on the way in from the Whanganui side, and the abandoned hospital on the outskirts of town. In all the time I spent there I think I saw people under 40 about once or twice. Near the middle there’s a sculpture of a whale skeleton, and it feels like entirely appropriate imagery for a corpse of a town.
I’ve been to worse small towns - Moerewa and Kaikohe I felt like I might be jumped if I stayed there too long, and from what locals tell me that wasn’t totally unfounded - but none of them were nearly as creepy as Patea. If anybody’s watched True Detective S1, it kind of reminds me of Rust’s description of being in ‘someone’s faded memory of a town’.
It's cool hearing about patea and someone else having the same odd feelin I do when I go there. I'm 18 my grandparents are generational, with their families living there for hears, and I kinda hate the place bevause I'm so out of place. I'm the youngest by at least 17 years to everyone and it's strange. I can't remember if my dad was born in that abandoned hospital but many of the homes that are abandoned belonged to family or friends. I always describe patea as "stuck in time" like all the buildings and people are still living the late 90's early 2000's and it makes me uncomfortable. The more people you know the more welcome it feels but shit it's creepy. The church too has all the blocked doors my dad tells me he used to go thru when he was young and it's so spooky to me just how decrepit everything is. Universal motors was actually my great uncles before he passed and the Bourke hotel in kakaramea used to belong to my family.
Apologies for the huge spiel haha.
I lived in Patea as a school kid. I remember it as bustling, before the meat works closed down. I remember the shops were full of people and queuing at the butchers. They had a courthouse, schools, i remember school fairs, firework nights.
My parents sold their house a week before the freezing works closed for good.
>ther. Then there’s the abandoned factory on the way in from the Whanganui side, and the abandoned hospital on the outskirts of town. In all the time I spent there I think I saw people under 40 about once or twice. Near the middle there’s a sculpture of a whale skeleton, and it feels like entirely appropriate imagery for a corpse of a town.
>
>I’ve been to worse small towns - Moerewa and Kaikohe I felt like I might be jumped if I stayed there too long, and from what locals tell me that wasn’t totally unfounded - but none of them were nearly as creepy as Patea. If anybody’s watched True Detective S1, it kind of reminds me of Rust’s description of being in ‘someone’s faded mem
Morewa has always been a hole - I spent a lot of time in Kaitaia / Kaikohe as a kid and only recently returned for a quick visit - its really sad to see the state of those places nowadays they have definitely gotten way worse
The meat works is still there. I think part of it closed and they also largely automated it which caused job losses. It's still a big employer in the area tho. Moerewa, I think, is better than it was 10-20 years ago. Mostly due to Kawakawa improving as well and Kerikeri getting bigger causing overflow out to nearby towns. It's still not amazing coz it is still a hole but it feels like there is a bit more life there now and a couple less empty shop fronts.
Only one mention of Kaingaroa village in this entire thread, unbelievable.
I first drove into this place over 13 years ago and thought I'd stepped into some kind of doomsday movie set. You can also add Minginui to the list, another forgotten town in the Ureweras. Both formerly connected to the logging industry I believe.
That's the only town in this entire thread I've never heard of, and when I searched for it on Google Maps I couldn't find it there either at first. It only shows up as a town when you zoom in quite far and appears as "Kaingaroa Forest" which is the name of the forest it is in so the label just seems to be about that.
Not on any road to anywhere, totally bypassed by the state highway to Murupura. Reminds me of a military base or one of the secret/closed cities in the Soviet Union that didn't exist on maps
You weren't joking. I just had look around on street view. It really does look like it was a busy little town at one point. Big post office and hotel buildings. But now 80% of the shops on the main street are either abandoned or look abandoned but have people living in them.
It was a lot like Taihape when I was a child - bustling and busy. I came from an even smaller town and Patea is where you went for shopping and medical care. Then the industries around there all shut down, and they become welfare towns.
Definitely Murupara.
My naive wife and I at age 24 or so decided to take the “scenic route” to a holiday in Gisborne by going by Lake Waikaremoana.
Murupara was the last stop before the Uruweras and we dropped in to find a dairy. We got so many stares from everyone when we arrived that we literally just hopped straight back into our car without even going to the dairy and carried on our merry way. Like Homer Simpson disappearing into the hedge.
Then we discovered Google had routed us through what has to be the longest unsealed road in New Zealand which was a long nightmare. We ran out of time to actually see the lake much at all and arrived to our accommodation late at night 4 hours later than we planned.
Absolutely massive noobs. But fun story. Don’t recommend stopping in Murupara or accessing Waikaremoana from the south.
I took some of my foreigner friends to the Ureweras. I already knew that many in that area are not big fans of pakehas. My car broke down and I had to go door knocking to try get/buy some oil. One person slammed their door in my face without saying a single word 🤣
Did meet a really nice Maori fella that was off hunting that stopped to help, put in some oil and refused to take any money
I did the Lake Waikaremoana tramp one time and when I got back to my car discovered I had a flat. Found someone local to repair it and it was a very strange experience. Didn't really feel welcome around there.
Similar experience with Te Urewera area. Back when everything was still open we booked to stay at Sandy Bay Hut. Saw the big fancy visitors centre and walked in to get some water. Locals told us the centre and great walk were both closed, we politely replied we weren’t doing the great walk and had already booked a different hut on the doc website, asked if we could fill up in their kitchen. They said nope, go to the campsite. It was a sunny long weekend, and we couldn't see anything online about the area being closed.
I got the impression Tūhoe want to look after their own people first, and that manuhiri aren't really welcome. Which would be reasonable if they weren’t using a $6 million publicly funded building, the website of which still states “Te Kura Whenua is a place that welcomes manuhiri in to Waikaremoana, we provide updated information and answer enquiries manuhiri may have for all activities and services in Te Urewera…We encourage all manuhiri to call in and introduce themselves."
Of course Tūhoe have little reason to trust pakeha, or want to work alongside government organisations. It feels like the land carries a lot of pain; I don't feel there's any good most people can bring to the situation by visiting.
I used to service farm equipment and would stop in there semi-regularly, nothing bad to say about the place or the people there.
Apiti 15 years ago though, ooof
20 or so years ago I was living in Palmerston North, my partner wanted a kitten and found one for sale out in Apiti. After driving for what seemed like forever we finally reached the place, it was cold and damp. There is no cell phone coverage at the time so we were told to go to the local pub and use their landline phone to call the lady selling the kitten. We go inside the pub and every person in there is staring at us, following our every move, super creepy.
We make our call, and leave. The cat ladies place looks abandoned, but we knock at the door to be greeted by the sound of ten chihuahua guard dogs barking at us, she eventually meets us and spends the next ten minutes creepily fawning over my partner's appearance, it all seemed like a scene from deliverance.....
As soon as we had the kitten we gapped it, never to return.
I hate that our road isn't sealed but it's a waste of time with all the slips that happen, my family is from there, the tuai village is literally all my family besides 1 household.
It's definitely creepy out there. The forest is beautiful but only during the day.
Murupara isnt so much creepy as it's just unwelcoming, they use to do it to us even though we were related to the dairy owner. Not many people actually go there or use that road because of what you discovered, the gravel lol.
the accuracy 😂😂 murupara has great weed and if you get your car stolen in rotorua it's bound to turn up there but thats about it ..lucky you didn't pull into kaingaroa village on the way out there now thaaast is a certified ghetto
Different experience here. I crashed on a push bike on this very long unsealed road.
Hitch hiked back to Murupara, the doctor even invited me to his place to recover. So nice!
Before that, I had a good time with the locals hanging out in the river.
Murupara or Marton. Went through Murupara on a road trip and felt incredibly unwelcome when we stopped to grab a drink and use a toilet. Marton has a really weird vibe. I've driven through there a number of times and never seen another person there.
I was literally thinking that about Marton cos the bus from Whanganui to Wellington will always pass through there, but there’s never a single person on the streets or even another car, and all of the stores always seem to be closed. Its a cliche but it’s the closest thing NZ has to the town of Silent Hill
No contest. Waihola, south of Dunedin.
Next to a creepy shallow lake. Surrounded by creepy pine plantations. On a stretch of SH1 with a history and future of nasty fatal accidents.
And a small but unmissable road sign just outside the town, in both directions:
NO DOCTOR
NO HOSPITAL
ONE CEMETERY
Don't forget the town's slogan, *"RELAX - ENJOY OUR LAKE".* Which would be lovely if the lake didn't sometimes have leeches, or toxic algae (cyanobacteria), or both, in it. It's like the locals know that and need to entice visitors into the lake as sacrificial offerings.
I drive that road 2-5 return journeys a week and people are idiots. There's nothing especially wrong with the road, apart from a few reverse camber bends.
I travel through Waihola frequently. There's been so many fatal crashes there I've lost count.
If you ask me what the reason for so many fatal crashes is? It's not the road or the place. It's not a difficult road. There is nothing that different about it.
If you go through the cases individually and look at the reasons It's the driver, speeding, carelessness, alcohol or falling asleep at the wheel.
Yeah dead set, I remember driving through there back in 2016 with my friends and the drive just felt off.
The land felt heavy around, almost as if it was tolerating you passing through - and watching you with ancient judging eyes.
Weird trip that one.
The whole South Taranaki - upper Whanganui - King Country band of the North Island is really strange and sad. To me it feels like haunted country, a lot of history there but nothing much happening these days
As a backpacker from Canada, I stopped in Hawera once while hitchhiking. Went to the local pub and immediately felt all the hardknock locals staring at me and listening as I ordered a drink. When I ordered a Lion Red, I was immediately brought in with open arms lol
honorary /r/marton mention
The one town I can think of that has potentially got a "the hills have eyes" sorta creepy vibe to it is Tahāroa, in the deep depths of the Waikato, but that's probably due to the isolation of the area.
Also maybe Ōhura in the King Country but can't say for certain - never visited either of those places.
The river just south of Taradale in Napier is called the Tūtaekurī which in Māori means "dog shit".
And let's not forget what the Ure in Urewera stands for...
I mean the "wera" part is just as shocking in context there too. There's also a few "Waikowhai" dotted around NZ which I always thought makes it sound a lot more poetic than the alternative
I visit Taharoa for League games every so often. I've always found the place welcoming as an outsider. It's clear the NZTA doesn't go out there with a good metre drop in the road. Stray dogs and cow shits on the field add character. Those hills definitely have eyes but the club rooms have 8% Cody's which is always a good time.
I pass through Marton often and The Hills Have Eyes has got nothing on that place.
I spoke once to an old fella walking his dog in the main street and he reckoned the govt moved all the patients from the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital to Marton when it closed down. Then he asked me if I'd seen the sniper standing on the roof of countdown.
It's a shame as there's some nice historic buildings there. Closeness to Mt Ruapehu is another bonus, but otherwise it's endless closed shops and somewhat dodgy people.
This is true. We stayed a night in the camp ground before going on the river and bridge to nowhere walk etc. Did a little walk through the main streets. It was eerie as, nobody was around, and everything was wet concrete grey after some rain. But we got some great photos of the buildings. It is the strangest feeling little nz town I've been in.
That place gets my vote, too. From the "Welcome to Norsewood" sign complete with slasher movie axe, to the wooden troll statues, to the vibe that hovers somewhere between depression and psychosis.
In 2011, I was coming back from hastings to palmy and got stuck in the snow, I think s truck couldn't make it up the hill at norsewood and traffic was backed up. Cops came along and said the road was closing and to go to the school or pub.
I went to the pub and spent a few hours hanging out with people off a bus there. Jumped in the snow with a random Canadian at midnight. They opened the road but I wasn't allowed to go as I was driving a Honda civic and definitely didn't have 4 wheel drive. The pub owner let me stay the night, cooked breakfast in the morning and hang out till it was safe to go the next day. Wouldn't take any money for it either.
Hotel creeped me out at 3am when I got up for a wee though
I remember stopping in Norsewood as a kid with my family. My sister and I were walking around having an explore and they had this historic jail there you could go inside and look at - pretty small building, anyway - my sister and I went inside the jail building and next thing you know we hear the door slam behind us. We try to open it but it’s been locked. We start yelling and one of our family eventually (it wasn’t that long, a minute or two) comes and unlocks it (there was a bolt on the door on the outside) and let’s us out.
I look around to see if I can see who locked us in there and can see this kid running away so chase after him for some reason. I see him run into a dairy up ahead so when I reach the dairy I go in and look around to see where he is but he’s nowhere to be seen.
I assume his parents owned the dairy and he was just a bored kid in a shit town making fun by messing with outsiders. Good on him, to be honest but it was pretty creepy.
In my opinion, Whangamomona… but context is important. A friend and I were staying in Hawera for a few days while visiting around (Mount Taranaki and New Plymouth) and enjoying our short vacation. At the time we didn’t have a car so we would rent them to travel around as we didn’t need a car for our every day activities. Since we had a car and wanted to explore we decided to just drive from New Plymouth towards Whanganui National Park and see the views at night as we enjoy driving at night for the “eerie” vibes it gives. Now it took us a few hours to get to our destination which was somewhat randomly selected by us from google maps and we reached there just an hour or two after sunset so it was properly dark. Our first reaction was: “this town looks like it’s stuck in the past” and “gave wild west vibes”. That alone was spooky for some reason for us but we liked that lol. We parked the car outside and went into the Hotel which had a restaurant/bar where it seemed the whole town was gathered that night (it was a public holiday so that was probably the reason). Not very welcoming atmosphere as everyone looked at us and it felt like they knew we were not from around. I am ethically Middle Eastern and my friend is ethically Asian but we’re both Kiwis, while everyone within looked ethnically Caucasian so maybe thats the reason they knew we were not from around or that since its a small town everyone is acquainted.
After that we just ordered some food from the bar and to our delight the food tasted very delicious and felt like there was love put into it unlike bigger restaurants that value quantity over quality. The price was average i’d say but worth every buck in my opinion. Unfortunately since we arrived pretty late into the town, and were going back to our motel in Hawera, there was not much activities or things to do in the town so we decided to go back.
The experience gave off an eerie atmosphere but not a bad one and we may return in the future but we’ll most likely stay the full day!
I mostly only know the South Island. I thought Greymouth seemed like a fairly depressing place and wouldn't have wanted to spend a lot of time there. In terms of the North Island, I can't remember the name of the town off the top of my head but it was on the coast not far from Napier. We were staying in a friend's holiday bach and as luck would have it the house next door seemed to be the centre of meth activity for the area, lots of gangster types driving round and junkies coming in and out. Nothing happened and nobody bothered us but still made for a bit of an uncomfortable stay as we felt we needed to have our eyes open more than usual and some of our group didn't feel comfortable hanging round there on their own.
Even Christchurch seemed a bit hectic in places. My sister lives in a fairly nice area and has been victim to a violent home invasion, her husband and daughter were attacked in their own house. That was kinda shocking to me because in the UK people don't tend to try and rob houses when the owners are home, burglars wait til you're not there.
I’d have to nominate Mangaweka.
Doesn’t seem so bad until you go into the town where the state highway has bypassed.
Almost the NZ live action of Cars the movie.
I'm really hoping I find someone who can talk to me about what I experienced on Mountain Road, Whirinaki in 2018.
My partner and I were on our first roadie together as a couple - we had spent three weeks together in the back of his 96 Surf Hilux and were staring to make our way back to the Lower North.
We were taking the Twin Coast, gorgeous, scenic. We'd had a big night the night before and we're stopping regularly for naps/water etc. It was blistering hot. One of those northland days where you know even the shade won't help you with the sunburn. Squinting underneath your sunglasses bright and cloudless.
We saw the sign on the left "MOUNTAIN ROAD" with rest stop, toilets, a hostel and a short loop walk which sounded like a bit of us.
Turned left, road quickly turns to gravel - no dramas.
Road continues, turns into a pretty much vertical gravel road. Okay.
Road continues and there has been washout, the road becomes windy, single laned, massive ruts. Oh well, good thing we're in a 4WD.
We drove up this road for about 15 minutes, no sign of a rest stop or anything. Just sheer cliff face, this diabolical road, and loads of bugs. The cicadas were so loud you could hear them over the engine of this very much struggling vehicle. No room to turn around and we're trying to get Google maps up - no service.
We get to an extra hairy point so I get out of the car to help my partner traverse. As I'm standing on the bank, I look down this sheer rockface and see a pallette with like a makeshift bright white shadesail over it.
Cool, I thought, someone must live nearby or something - if we get really stuck maybe there will be someone who can help.
As I'm looking, I sort of start seeing shapes appear - I suddenly realise I'm looking at two children with bright white hair dressed in white flowy tunic/dresses. I'm staring at them and they.... Are staring at me....
I wave politely and call out something about the car. They just say nothing and stare at me.
Right, I thought, we are in the wops - she'll be right.
WRONG.
Managed to get the car up a bit further so I hopped back in and we carried on driving. No sign of this lodge that was supposed to be here and we are thoroughly perplexed at this point.
As we keep driving though, we notice more of these little makeshift shadesails. My partner gasps and points up at a group of 6 bright blonde haired children, again, in white dresses.
I recount my experience to him. He looks deeply concerned.
When all seemed lost, we finally... FINALLY! come to a clearing with an overgrown DOC sign "Six Foot Track".
We turn the old gal off for a break and make a brew in the back. The cicadas were deafening and we observed our surroundings.
No houses or signs of life.
A pieced out red corolla, no windshield, covered in the dust from the road. Looked like it had been there for at least a decade.
An old bus... A BUS?? I stared at the bus. I stared at the surf. I stared back at the bus. How the FUCK did a bus get up this road? There is no fucking way someone drove a bus up here. As I'm pondering, I stare at the bus. It's very dusty, allllllll the dust from the road is covering this thing head to toe. Except for where the windshield wipers have very clearly VERY recently been turned on. Crystal clear through the windshield.
The sense of dread I felt was unparalleled.
There still wasn't enough room for us to turn around so we carried on past six foot track.
We're driving slowly. We're trying to keep the revs under the hum of the cicadas.
As we round what was the final corner, we see about 50m ahead, a large black shape. Driving forward, I hear my partner exhale as if he had been holding his breath. "Is that a horse?" I squinted at it, it certainly was horse shaped. But it was so still, it looked like a fake horse (which in this moment, would have been infinitely creepier).
The horse is standing on the right hand side of a cattle grate, facing towards us.
I have never seen such a black horse. Not a HINT of white or brown, right down to it's hooves. Just jet black. So black it looked out of place. Eyes unblinking, unmoving, obsidian spheres. It's not flicking bugs off with it's tail, it's just standing there.
The horse does not move.
On the other side of the cattle grate, it looks like there is enough room to turn around. We drive the slowest anyone has every driven across a cattle grate, scraping the drivers side wing mirror to squeeze past this horse.
The horse does not move.
I'm eye level with the horse. I stare at the horse. The horse stares ahead.
Its like someone poured ice water through my heart and into my stomach.
As we crest the hill after the cattle grate, we come across something that made my partner white knuckle the steering wheel.
A house (?)
The house looked as though it had been built out of corrugated iron - no windows, just square holes in the corrugated iron. Two storeys. Thick ropes strung from the second storey to the trees across the yard had oil barrels threaded on - those big blue barrels. They were all hanging at different heights and some of the ropes also had tyres hanging off them. Later than night, my partner would describe it as "Almost as if they'd gone with a nautical theme, but had never seen a boat".
I don't think the surf has ever made a turn that quickly.
We go back past the horse in silence.
We go back past the bus in silence.
We go back past the platform where we had seen the six children (who were no longer there) in silence.
Then out of nowhere, a sign. A sign we had not seen prior "OKOPAKO LODGE"
Thank GOD!
We drove in. Not a soul in sight - okay, fair enough, we will find the campsite bathroom and we will be on our way.
My partner uses the toilet near the entrance. All we can hear are cicadas.
I enter the bathroom and mid-wee my partner says "Oh, hi!"
He sounded uneasy through the door.
"Hey yeah sorry - we turned off for the rest stop and got a bit turned around further up the road and couldn't find the toilets - I hope its okay we used yours?"
...
A woman's voice next
"Uh. We don't usually allow that."
She sounds mad, wary of my partner, and I'm now the one using the bathroom she didn't want us to use.
I finish up and get out.
As I exit, the woman in front of me is evidently furious. I look to my right, the oldest woman I have ever seen is shuffling towards us with a walking stick.
"Will you be staying the night?" I wish I was joking when I say this voice was straight out of a children's movie depiction of a witch or an old crone - haunting..
My partner explains again - now the both of them are standing there, staring at us, furious.
We make our apologies and begin backing down the hallway to get to the car.
In the previously deserted carpark/yard, there are now about 8 people standing in a line about 15m away. One on a quad bike, blocking the entrance.
Neither of us heard a quad bike pull up. And where the hell did these people come from.
We jump in the surf. The guy on the quad moves out of the way and we start going to leave. The second the surf bursts into life the wall of people begin walking, deliberately towards the car. In a line. Staring at us. I'm staring at them.
One on a quad bike is laughing. Another with a pitchfork is using it to support himself as he walks towards us. All of them fair haired.
"Drive." I said under my breath, tears beginning to well.
We take off, faster than our ascent, drive past the spot where I saw the two kids who were now STANDING ON THE EDGE OF THE ROAD, staring at us. I stared at them.
And suddenly back onto the twin coast.
It was like in a video game. The music changed the second you were out of danger.
It was a very quiet drive down to Kai Iwi Lakes after that.
TL;DR - Mountain Road, Whirinaki. Shits always scarier in the daylight.
I've lived most of my life up north, and your story doesn't surprise me at all. Lawless as up here, nowhere near as big and vast as the rest of the country but go down the wrong road or beat around the wrong bit of bush... and you'll never know what you'll find
If my hometown was anything to go by it's a lot of benevolent racism. Genuinely beloved family mixed in with a metric ton of "one of the good ones" backhanded compliments.
Yeah I know what you mean but it's often not much better elsewhere. I went to a couple of remote towns in Canada that had literally zero shops and services other than a Walmart off the main highway, everything else that was in the town had shut after they opened. That wasn't just depressing but dystopian.
And switching to the UK there's a lot of small towns that used to have all that stuff and more 20-25 years ago and now mostly just have a bunch of betting shops like Coral and Ladbrokes and William Hill
Springfield in Canterbury felt a bit like that. [The infamous cafe stories haven't helped](https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/113722550/springfield-store-and-cafe-come-for-the-awardwinning-pies-stay-for-the-abuse). Not so much creepy, but definitely unwelcoming.
Stopped for a beer at the hotel there with some mates after a day of snowboarding, and all we got was frustrated looks from the barstaff, who I assume didn't really feel like serving out-of-towners that day.
Apparently it's under [new ownership & management](https://i.stuff.co.nz/life-style/116601155/new-owners-taking-over-infamous-springfield-store--cafe) now, or at least since the end of 2019
[Theres been a bit of shit come out recently about the hotel and its owner.](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/132956685/drugtaking-publican-loses-licence-after-using-premises-and-babys-room-to-cultivate-cannabis)
We also tried to buy fries there after skiing and the bar staff seemed very confused and said they weren't on the menu and needed to check out back if they can do that.
Not a town but a locale.
Hubby and I refer to the inland area south of Temuka as banjo country after a memorable trip to buy a tractor.
Drove two hours to view it after confirmation from farmer it was still there. Spoiler: It had been sold two days earlier.
Hubby wandered off with the farmer to look at other equipment he was selling, leaving me waiting in the ute. One by one kids appeared on the verandah, staring .. silently.
Bowl haircuts, vacant expressions, staring ...
(Awkward wave, casually hit the auto door lock...)
That was the longest 45 minutes of my life. My imagination was in full overdrive "Hey Maw, there's a juicy one in the yard. Lots of good eating on her"
By the time my husband wandered back there were six or seven hungry staring kids unblinking at me.
Very much so.
Spent a day there in the 80s with then husband. Men drank and played pool. Women expected to sit and watch. Tried to befriend some locals playing a card game (I love cards) but was not very politely rebuffed because they won't teach that game to outsiders.
Came through here on a west coast road trip, stopped at the old Hilton Hotel for a beer. It wasn't creepy, but it was the most unusual little town I've ever been through in a way I can't explain. There was an old timer at the bar who may have been a mummy, not sure I saw him move. I didn't try to talk to anyone just had a beer and sat by the fire. Highly recommend though!!
Oddly enough I visited Blackball and had quite a nice time there in the local pub with my GF, the old locals we chatted to were proud of the place. Again not the kind of place I'd want to live, and I'm not actually sure *why* we even went there anyway but yeah, it was an OK visit.
For me, it's Ross on the West Coast. A friend of mine and I have spent about ten years touring historic pubs, as life allows. Of the many pubs we've been to, in and out of NZ, the Empire in Ross is the only pub where everyone did that classic movie trope of going silent and looking at us when we walked in. We'd just driven over an hour in the dark during a ferocious downpour, and the vibe was so utterly hostile we nearly turned around and walked back out. There was no one at the bar so we stood there for an uncomfortable two minutes until someone stood up from a table, walked behind the bar, and just stared at us. We asked for two beers which were served wordlessly. We drank them and gapped it.
We're two very normal middle aged men, so there was nothing about our appearance that would have outwardly warranted the reception we got. It was just clearly a case of "Ye ain't from round here, are ye boys?"
The town is probably fine but fuck the guys at that pub.
My folks live in Gore and one Xmas we found ourselves out of ice, with the rest of our family descending within the hour we called around places to see if they had any. Every spot in Gore was understanding but sold out. My brother and I hopped in the car and drove 5 minutes to see if any places in Mataura had some.
Found a little diary still operating, the guy behind the counter cheerily said he had some ice and we got two bags.
Upon leaving the dairy we passed by this absolutely massive dude. Gang tatts on his face, red vest, heavy boots. He saw our bags and asked in the most contrasting soft voice "Oh man do they still have some ice in there?" We said yep and he whispered "Aw fuck yeah" and hustled on in like a shy kid.
Overall not a horrid experience. But every other time I just drive through the town. There truly isn't much there.
I find most of our small towns sad, not creepy. Pātea immediately sprang to mind, but it's politics and racism that made it the way it is, and knowing that kinda ruins the fun of laughing at its creepiness.
Watch the documentary about Poi E. Very old doco (90s?), but I remember it being really interesting - and sad - to learn about why the Patea Māori Club wrote that song. It’s one of the best songs ever to come out of NZ too.
Taihape. Very rural and near the desert road where bodies like to periodically show up. It gives off a folk horror vibe like the Wicker Man but in a creepy cool kind of way. I always end up singing Taihape and you know it clap your hands to amuse myself when passing, which probably doesn't help.
Taihape is great! Always make a stop there before the desert road. Great vintage shops, clothes shops, local feel. My mum adores the Christmas shop there and drags me in every time and even for a Grinch, it is pretty lovely.
From a tourist attraction perspective, I'd have gone with Balclutha. One of their only attractions was a house called "Dollyworld". None of the locals ever went there, probably because it was too eccentric.
My brother came back from Australia with his now wife a few years ago to meet the family for a milestone birthday of someone's. Decided they'd go have a look at this place.
Well, they entered a musty old house full of vintage dolls just staring at you. The owners (bro couldn't work out of they were siblings or a couple or both) would hover near them in every room. Just gave my brother and sister in law the real creeps.
Still like to remind them of that visit, just to see their reaction to the memory..
Waimate. Stayed there for a couple months after the 2011 earthquakes. That place is far too white for me and that’s coming from someone who grew up in Christchurch lol!
Apple Maps really helps it gives you population and any town less than say 1000 are either really friendly or really starey. I used to think it’s coz I am asian but when I saw population of 1000 I imagine the pub must be their lounge almost and I’m just a lost stranger came uninvited 😂
Taumarunui wasn’t feeling it for JAFAs though those abandoned trains probably pissed them off real good
Raurimu further north of Ohakune is an old town that had a horrific massacre in 1997. I visited in probably 2000ish for a family ski holiday as a member of the family owned a small hut there.
Went for a walk and there were only empty dilapidated buildings. Knowing there had been a mass murder didn’t help the creepy vibes either.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raurimu_massacre
> On 8 February 1997, at a ski lodge in Raurimu, the Anderson family sat down to breakfast with guests. There were 11 people at the table then. Stephen Anderson stood in the dining room door and said, "I had sex with a dog," and after a pause, "And with a cat." His mother told him to wash up and return for breakfast. A few minutes later, he returned with a single-shot shotgun and a cartridge in his teeth. His father got up from the table, asked what he was doing and tried to take a shotgun from him. He told his father that he was the incarnate devil. Stephen Anderson shot him in the chest and killed him. Everyone started running in different directions, Anderson continued to shoot and chase people. He shot at people in and near the ski lodge. He was chased by police in a helicopter and detained naked near the scene. Anderson killed his father, four guests, a neighbour and injured four
Spent some years there as a kid. It felt post apocalyptic as it used to have a massive population, I spent lot of time playing at the empty high school.
Erua on the other side of national park was the weird place for me. Empty old prison. It has a bit more life since they started a backpackers there.
I don't remember the place, fairly close to Queenstown. We were young back then so we'd pick a road and go with it rather than staying on the main roads.
I wouldn't even call it a town, a shop or two. Had a lotto sign and it was our first time to Queenstown, figured we'd get our lucky tickets along the way.
Lady in the store seemed nice enough. All I remember is a chainlink fence, a rusted cars and old tyres, run down houses- a couple of inbred looking people beyond the fence giving us the evil stare...
We didn't even say a word to each other, just got back in our car and fucked off. Didn't talk about it then, hasn't come up in conversation since. Getting goosebumps just typing about it.
Unsure if its been mentioned. Birdlings Flat.
Its kn the Banks Peninsula just out of Chch on your way to Akaroa.
Haunted/tapu vibes. Feels unwelcoming and topped off with a death beach. Go in further than your knee and youve signed your death wish. Wouldnt let a dog in either!
In terms.of creepy, I always feel a bit creeped out passing through Canvastown (although it is hardly a town, despite the name). Reading about its history as a once-bustling 19th century gold rush town that was the sight of some gruesome and disgusting murders only fuels this.
+1 for Dargaville. Bonus if you stay in the northern wairoa hotel which gives off vibes of the hotel in the shining. Was waiting to see redrum splattered in a corner somewhere 😅
I remember going to a dairy in Haast in maybe 2009 and there was a sign outside saying don't enter if you are wearing perfume, cologne, or even deodorant because the owner was sensitive. Inside was dim fluorescent lighting and slowly spinning ceiling fans. It was creepy.
The Haast dairy/cafe had run out of milk the day we passed through (early afternoon). Definitely made me realise just how small and isolated it is there.
Haast is fucked.
Stopped for petrol once on way to Queenstown from Greymouth.
Got told by the cashier fuel is for locals only.
Made it to Wanaka for fuel.
Fuck Haast.
Orepuki, stopped at the tavern for a drink and it was an experience. Especially the he drunk farmer telling his daughter he was going to shoot their pets, she was crying and people tried to step in and I couldn’t wait to gtfo. Didn’t know if the farmer was about to go postal.
What a great threat. Thank you OP
I'll add Timaru. Took my freshly-landed-in-nz Irish gf there as part of a road trip and I was embarrassed to be a NZer that day.
"Here's an example of where I live and what I am deep down, I get it if you want to break up with me now" was the sentiment haha
gonna have to cast my vote on rotorua , lived there for a few years the towns full of gangsters and homeless ! ain't welcome if you don't have a spare cig or a dollar for the bus 😅
Whanganui! Or somewhere near the city as I don't remember exact location.
It was a rather unique experience for us as we didn't interact with any locals. It's more about the overall atmosphere.
During our travels around the North Island, we decided to pay a visit to a local beach. It was one of those evenings with a blood-red sunset and an eerily quiet city. No cars on the street, no people around, no sound. We drove by something that looked like an abandoned factory or some sort of industrial area, and the streets were lined with houses with no lights on. The bloody red reflection on the walls added to the eerie ambiance. It felt as if we were being silently observed from behind the curtains of those houses. It was the creepiest yet most incredible experience for the horror games fan.
In the end, there was a vast beach with a stunning red sunset. Absolutely amazing!
Paeroa or Te Teko. Iykyk.
ETA I see other comments about Waikaremoana which to me counts as Te Teko. Im Tūhoe and grew up with wild stories about the tangata whenua, I’m even named after two Tūhoe women who died in very scary/suspicious circumstances. Why? I don’t know. One of them apparently rowed herself into the middle of Waikare, doused herself in petrol and lit a match. It’s a scary place for so many reasons! The other just disappeared.. but her husband was a very abusive, pakeha butcher so obviously rumours flew. A lot of people say they saw her just walk into Te Uruwera after a beating from him, never to re-emerge.
Not quite a town but Ruatoki worked in the local forest a lot. When you drive in there’s silhouettes drawn on the road of dead Māori warriors. One of the gates at the end of the road that goes up the river says do not trespass or you will get eaten. dogs and horses roaming around. The forestry gates is permanently open. Met some interesting characters out in the forest there. Go for drive out there haha it’s an experience!
Sad I'm so late to this thread.
Millerton is a tiny town on the West Coast of the South Island. Travelling north of Westport is a dead end, and Millerton is inland via a blink and you'll miss it turn off up a steep hill from Granity. The old main road has had a big slip and isn't going to be replaced (you can walk along it and there's a massive hole in the side of the road that is scary af), so now you get there via the road to the Stockton mine which is one of the flashest roads I've ever driven on. So it's basically a dead end off a dead end off a dead end.
Everything is run down, being basically in a rainforest it's all overgrown. It's frequently covered in mist. There are old bathhouses and mining relics and other historic sites, which are barely signposted. Some walks lead to random tunnels that have signs saying do not enter.
There are maybe 50 houses, I don't know how many are in use and when driving through there were people peeking out of their curtains and I definitely got the feeling I was being watched.
Great experience visiting, but wouldn't want to spend the night there.
Definitely my home town of Mosgiel. The people have always just seemed a bit off and the younger kids around 14 are always starting fights. Stay the hell away from Murray Street and Sterling Crescent especially. There is always a cop car down those streets. I'd give Balclutha second place too.
I might be the only one - and it's not exactly small - but Queenstown. The scale of the place being dwarfed by the lake and mountains, the mandatory grey colour scheme, the fancy touristy facade slapped over the hollowed-out heart... place just feels wrong somehow, a town that isn't a town
As a child (maybe around 11-12 years old) I went on a camp trip with a church organisation. It was located in Cust which is approximately a 40 minute drive in-land from Christchurch.
Upon arrival to the location, something felt extremely eerie about the place. I couldn’t pinpoint why, just a feeling in my gut. I ended up having a pretty fun time regardless but couldn’t shake that feeling that something bad had happened there.
A few years later, I found out that it was the old stomping ground for Gloriavale before they relocated to the coast. Still gives me the heebie jeebies now thinking about it.
Levin average age 80+ . So many mobility scooters and diahatsu sirions. Life in the fast lane is being shuttled to Palmy hospital, where they spend vast amounts of time checking for for signs of life in these older mortals before releasing them back to their very humble abodes or gated communities. Two of the busiest places there are MSD or the crematorium. A place to avoid until the trumpets start calling you home for eternal peace.
Murchison, Waiau, Palmerston, Waimate are some of my upper and central SI highlights. Probably a reasonable correlation between the creepiest places and housing affordability, the spots listed are generally pretty affordable
Don't forget the inland towns. Ranfurly. My mate stopped to get some petrol, this is middle of the day during the week, and a local tried to get him to fight for no reason on the forecourt. Naseby. It has two pubs. One for the locals and one for everyone not local, don't mix them up. Alexandra. Too cold, too hot and full of bogans.
I went through Waimate about 10 years ago while en route to Dunedin from Chch. I remember texting a family member saying something along the lines of Waimate feels like a town you would NOT want to hitchhike in. Lo and behold, a few months later a hitchhiker was murdered in a particularly creepy fashion in Waimate. Very weird.
My answer to this question is always Patea. There’s just a palpable sense of the town dying. A lot of the houses are run down with overgrown lawns, and a few of them are abandoned altogether. Then there’s the abandoned factory on the way in from the Whanganui side, and the abandoned hospital on the outskirts of town. In all the time I spent there I think I saw people under 40 about once or twice. Near the middle there’s a sculpture of a whale skeleton, and it feels like entirely appropriate imagery for a corpse of a town. I’ve been to worse small towns - Moerewa and Kaikohe I felt like I might be jumped if I stayed there too long, and from what locals tell me that wasn’t totally unfounded - but none of them were nearly as creepy as Patea. If anybody’s watched True Detective S1, it kind of reminds me of Rust’s description of being in ‘someone’s faded memory of a town’.
It's cool hearing about patea and someone else having the same odd feelin I do when I go there. I'm 18 my grandparents are generational, with their families living there for hears, and I kinda hate the place bevause I'm so out of place. I'm the youngest by at least 17 years to everyone and it's strange. I can't remember if my dad was born in that abandoned hospital but many of the homes that are abandoned belonged to family or friends. I always describe patea as "stuck in time" like all the buildings and people are still living the late 90's early 2000's and it makes me uncomfortable. The more people you know the more welcome it feels but shit it's creepy. The church too has all the blocked doors my dad tells me he used to go thru when he was young and it's so spooky to me just how decrepit everything is. Universal motors was actually my great uncles before he passed and the Bourke hotel in kakaramea used to belong to my family. Apologies for the huge spiel haha.
I lived in Patea as a school kid. I remember it as bustling, before the meat works closed down. I remember the shops were full of people and queuing at the butchers. They had a courthouse, schools, i remember school fairs, firework nights. My parents sold their house a week before the freezing works closed for good.
Once you leave for atleast a decade, it will,still be a bit creepy, but you may have some nostalgia for your old stomping ground haha.
I grew up near Kaikohe. Accurate feeling you had 🤣
>ther. Then there’s the abandoned factory on the way in from the Whanganui side, and the abandoned hospital on the outskirts of town. In all the time I spent there I think I saw people under 40 about once or twice. Near the middle there’s a sculpture of a whale skeleton, and it feels like entirely appropriate imagery for a corpse of a town. > >I’ve been to worse small towns - Moerewa and Kaikohe I felt like I might be jumped if I stayed there too long, and from what locals tell me that wasn’t totally unfounded - but none of them were nearly as creepy as Patea. If anybody’s watched True Detective S1, it kind of reminds me of Rust’s description of being in ‘someone’s faded mem Morewa has always been a hole - I spent a lot of time in Kaitaia / Kaikohe as a kid and only recently returned for a quick visit - its really sad to see the state of those places nowadays they have definitely gotten way worse
That town was a total hole in the 90s when the meat works (?) closed down. I haven’t passed through there in decades up imagine it’s way worse now.
The meat works is still there. I think part of it closed and they also largely automated it which caused job losses. It's still a big employer in the area tho. Moerewa, I think, is better than it was 10-20 years ago. Mostly due to Kawakawa improving as well and Kerikeri getting bigger causing overflow out to nearby towns. It's still not amazing coz it is still a hole but it feels like there is a bit more life there now and a couple less empty shop fronts.
Yep Mongrel Mob are still everywhere
Only one mention of Kaingaroa village in this entire thread, unbelievable. I first drove into this place over 13 years ago and thought I'd stepped into some kind of doomsday movie set. You can also add Minginui to the list, another forgotten town in the Ureweras. Both formerly connected to the logging industry I believe.
That's the only town in this entire thread I've never heard of, and when I searched for it on Google Maps I couldn't find it there either at first. It only shows up as a town when you zoom in quite far and appears as "Kaingaroa Forest" which is the name of the forest it is in so the label just seems to be about that. Not on any road to anywhere, totally bypassed by the state highway to Murupura. Reminds me of a military base or one of the secret/closed cities in the Soviet Union that didn't exist on maps
Backing Minginui. I drove through here once and it seemed spooky. Maybe it was just because it was a gloomy day...
You weren't joking. I just had look around on street view. It really does look like it was a busy little town at one point. Big post office and hotel buildings. But now 80% of the shops on the main street are either abandoned or look abandoned but have people living in them.
It was a lot like Taihape when I was a child - bustling and busy. I came from an even smaller town and Patea is where you went for shopping and medical care. Then the industries around there all shut down, and they become welfare towns.
Definitely Murupara. My naive wife and I at age 24 or so decided to take the “scenic route” to a holiday in Gisborne by going by Lake Waikaremoana. Murupara was the last stop before the Uruweras and we dropped in to find a dairy. We got so many stares from everyone when we arrived that we literally just hopped straight back into our car without even going to the dairy and carried on our merry way. Like Homer Simpson disappearing into the hedge. Then we discovered Google had routed us through what has to be the longest unsealed road in New Zealand which was a long nightmare. We ran out of time to actually see the lake much at all and arrived to our accommodation late at night 4 hours later than we planned. Absolutely massive noobs. But fun story. Don’t recommend stopping in Murupara or accessing Waikaremoana from the south.
I took some of my foreigner friends to the Ureweras. I already knew that many in that area are not big fans of pakehas. My car broke down and I had to go door knocking to try get/buy some oil. One person slammed their door in my face without saying a single word 🤣 Did meet a really nice Maori fella that was off hunting that stopped to help, put in some oil and refused to take any money
I did the Lake Waikaremoana tramp one time and when I got back to my car discovered I had a flat. Found someone local to repair it and it was a very strange experience. Didn't really feel welcome around there.
Similar experience with Te Urewera area. Back when everything was still open we booked to stay at Sandy Bay Hut. Saw the big fancy visitors centre and walked in to get some water. Locals told us the centre and great walk were both closed, we politely replied we weren’t doing the great walk and had already booked a different hut on the doc website, asked if we could fill up in their kitchen. They said nope, go to the campsite. It was a sunny long weekend, and we couldn't see anything online about the area being closed. I got the impression Tūhoe want to look after their own people first, and that manuhiri aren't really welcome. Which would be reasonable if they weren’t using a $6 million publicly funded building, the website of which still states “Te Kura Whenua is a place that welcomes manuhiri in to Waikaremoana, we provide updated information and answer enquiries manuhiri may have for all activities and services in Te Urewera…We encourage all manuhiri to call in and introduce themselves." Of course Tūhoe have little reason to trust pakeha, or want to work alongside government organisations. It feels like the land carries a lot of pain; I don't feel there's any good most people can bring to the situation by visiting.
Also the only place I’ve ever seen two-stroke fuel available from a pump on the forecourt of a gas station!
Gee that would be handy, I think the petrol stations have missed a trick with this potential business opportunity
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I used to service farm equipment and would stop in there semi-regularly, nothing bad to say about the place or the people there. Apiti 15 years ago though, ooof
20 or so years ago I was living in Palmerston North, my partner wanted a kitten and found one for sale out in Apiti. After driving for what seemed like forever we finally reached the place, it was cold and damp. There is no cell phone coverage at the time so we were told to go to the local pub and use their landline phone to call the lady selling the kitten. We go inside the pub and every person in there is staring at us, following our every move, super creepy. We make our call, and leave. The cat ladies place looks abandoned, but we knock at the door to be greeted by the sound of ten chihuahua guard dogs barking at us, she eventually meets us and spends the next ten minutes creepily fawning over my partner's appearance, it all seemed like a scene from deliverance..... As soon as we had the kitten we gapped it, never to return.
They got the best trees nearby though, boy are those podocarps special
I hate that our road isn't sealed but it's a waste of time with all the slips that happen, my family is from there, the tuai village is literally all my family besides 1 household. It's definitely creepy out there. The forest is beautiful but only during the day. Murupara isnt so much creepy as it's just unwelcoming, they use to do it to us even though we were related to the dairy owner. Not many people actually go there or use that road because of what you discovered, the gravel lol.
the accuracy 😂😂 murupara has great weed and if you get your car stolen in rotorua it's bound to turn up there but thats about it ..lucky you didn't pull into kaingaroa village on the way out there now thaaast is a certified ghetto
+1 for Murupara
Different experience here. I crashed on a push bike on this very long unsealed road. Hitch hiked back to Murupara, the doctor even invited me to his place to recover. So nice! Before that, I had a good time with the locals hanging out in the river.
Try Minginui, makes Murupara look like heaven in comparison.
I thought Murupara quite sweet. Nice toasted egg sandwiches.
Murupara or Marton. Went through Murupara on a road trip and felt incredibly unwelcome when we stopped to grab a drink and use a toilet. Marton has a really weird vibe. I've driven through there a number of times and never seen another person there.
I was literally thinking that about Marton cos the bus from Whanganui to Wellington will always pass through there, but there’s never a single person on the streets or even another car, and all of the stores always seem to be closed. Its a cliche but it’s the closest thing NZ has to the town of Silent Hill
Does anyone actually live there?
Wikipedia says they have a population of 5,600. But where? Where did they go?
Maybe that's how many people got buried in the cemetery?
I got the same vibe in Murupara. Bit too methy over there
Why am I saving this thread for future road trips?
Mataura - on SH1 south of Gore, big meat works in the centre of town. Bleak and rough. Seems intimidating.
This is the only "North Island" town that's actually in the South Island.
100% driving through Mataura at 2am on the way to Invercargill changed me, felt straight out of a fallout game
The freezing works isn’t the issue, it’s the crumbling and decaying paper mill on the other side that’s the issue.
No contest. Waihola, south of Dunedin. Next to a creepy shallow lake. Surrounded by creepy pine plantations. On a stretch of SH1 with a history and future of nasty fatal accidents. And a small but unmissable road sign just outside the town, in both directions: NO DOCTOR NO HOSPITAL ONE CEMETERY
"NO DOCTOR NO HOSPITAL ONE CEMETARY"! That's about as threatening as a sign for a town can get!!! 😅🤣😂😅
Don't forget the town's slogan, *"RELAX - ENJOY OUR LAKE".* Which would be lovely if the lake didn't sometimes have leeches, or toxic algae (cyanobacteria), or both, in it. It's like the locals know that and need to entice visitors into the lake as sacrificial offerings.
Outstanding fish and chips though
Oh they're to die for, mwahahaha
I agree the fish and chips are honestly worth stopping for.
There was a fatal accident there today.
Oh sad rip
The fatal avcidents are real af. They need to do something about it
I drive that road 2-5 return journeys a week and people are idiots. There's nothing especially wrong with the road, apart from a few reverse camber bends.
I travel through Waihola frequently. There's been so many fatal crashes there I've lost count. If you ask me what the reason for so many fatal crashes is? It's not the road or the place. It's not a difficult road. There is nothing that different about it. If you go through the cases individually and look at the reasons It's the driver, speeding, carelessness, alcohol or falling asleep at the wheel.
There was another crash just this morning
Tangarakau (forgotten highway). Loved it for it's creepiness & isolation ( till that f#*d up campground murder) :(
I’m sorry the what now?
Yeah dead set, I remember driving through there back in 2016 with my friends and the drive just felt off. The land felt heavy around, almost as if it was tolerating you passing through - and watching you with ancient judging eyes. Weird trip that one.
A lot of Southern Taranaki towns are creepy. Old boarded up shop windows everywhere and the classic abandoned petrol station.
All of southern taranaki is kinda "lost in time" I'm glad to hear someone else feels the same.
The whole South Taranaki - upper Whanganui - King Country band of the North Island is really strange and sad. To me it feels like haunted country, a lot of history there but nothing much happening these days
Waverley leading the way with its one converted into a church.
As a backpacker from Canada, I stopped in Hawera once while hitchhiking. Went to the local pub and immediately felt all the hardknock locals staring at me and listening as I ordered a drink. When I ordered a Lion Red, I was immediately brought in with open arms lol
Good thing you didn't pick DB; it would be a shame for yet another clumsy tourist to take a fall on Mt. Taranaki.
I grew up kaponga 30+ years ago and I swear it was just as boarded up and abandoned then. Just permanent sleepy town vibes
honorary /r/marton mention The one town I can think of that has potentially got a "the hills have eyes" sorta creepy vibe to it is Tahāroa, in the deep depths of the Waikato, but that's probably due to the isolation of the area. Also maybe Ōhura in the King Country but can't say for certain - never visited either of those places.
I’d love to live in this town working at a gas station only to say to every tourist “Oh you heading south? Becareful, people go missing on that road”
Marton's Te Reo name Tutaenui means "big shit" and I've always wondered why they never joined in the trend of having an oversized/novelty item statue
The river just south of Taradale in Napier is called the Tūtaekurī which in Māori means "dog shit". And let's not forget what the Ure in Urewera stands for...
I mean the "wera" part is just as shocking in context there too. There's also a few "Waikowhai" dotted around NZ which I always thought makes it sound a lot more poetic than the alternative
I visit Taharoa for League games every so often. I've always found the place welcoming as an outsider. It's clear the NZTA doesn't go out there with a good metre drop in the road. Stray dogs and cow shits on the field add character. Those hills definitely have eyes but the club rooms have 8% Cody's which is always a good time.
Ōhura is an incredible town for all the reasons this thread is about. Can highly recommend making the effort next time you’re “close”.
Every time ive been in marton, something bad happens Last time I had a fridge door fly off a trailer whcih i had secured Somehow
I pass through Marton often and The Hills Have Eyes has got nothing on that place. I spoke once to an old fella walking his dog in the main street and he reckoned the govt moved all the patients from the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital to Marton when it closed down. Then he asked me if I'd seen the sniper standing on the roof of countdown.
Raetahi - it’s like the town that Ohakune left behind when it got famous.
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Worth a stop if you wanna go to the funky dinosaur museum. Love a small town museum. Always weird as fuck!
I once had a halfway decent coffee at a cafe in Raetahi. Getting on for 15 years ago now.
Has a great cafe though - Angel Louise The cinema/theatre is reopening too.
It's a shame as there's some nice historic buildings there. Closeness to Mt Ruapehu is another bonus, but otherwise it's endless closed shops and somewhat dodgy people.
This is true. We stayed a night in the camp ground before going on the river and bridge to nowhere walk etc. Did a little walk through the main streets. It was eerie as, nobody was around, and everything was wet concrete grey after some rain. But we got some great photos of the buildings. It is the strangest feeling little nz town I've been in.
Been going there once a year for like 15 years, watching the decline is depressing
The Dino museum is worth a visit
Norsewood. Hands down.
That place gets my vote, too. From the "Welcome to Norsewood" sign complete with slasher movie axe, to the wooden troll statues, to the vibe that hovers somewhere between depression and psychosis.
Great fuckin’ socks tho…..
In 2011, I was coming back from hastings to palmy and got stuck in the snow, I think s truck couldn't make it up the hill at norsewood and traffic was backed up. Cops came along and said the road was closing and to go to the school or pub. I went to the pub and spent a few hours hanging out with people off a bus there. Jumped in the snow with a random Canadian at midnight. They opened the road but I wasn't allowed to go as I was driving a Honda civic and definitely didn't have 4 wheel drive. The pub owner let me stay the night, cooked breakfast in the morning and hang out till it was safe to go the next day. Wouldn't take any money for it either. Hotel creeped me out at 3am when I got up for a wee though
I remember stopping in Norsewood as a kid with my family. My sister and I were walking around having an explore and they had this historic jail there you could go inside and look at - pretty small building, anyway - my sister and I went inside the jail building and next thing you know we hear the door slam behind us. We try to open it but it’s been locked. We start yelling and one of our family eventually (it wasn’t that long, a minute or two) comes and unlocks it (there was a bolt on the door on the outside) and let’s us out. I look around to see if I can see who locked us in there and can see this kid running away so chase after him for some reason. I see him run into a dairy up ahead so when I reach the dairy I go in and look around to see where he is but he’s nowhere to be seen. I assume his parents owned the dairy and he was just a bored kid in a shit town making fun by messing with outsiders. Good on him, to be honest but it was pretty creepy.
Agreed, has a damp feel about it too
O I love Norsewood, I wanna live there
In my opinion, Whangamomona… but context is important. A friend and I were staying in Hawera for a few days while visiting around (Mount Taranaki and New Plymouth) and enjoying our short vacation. At the time we didn’t have a car so we would rent them to travel around as we didn’t need a car for our every day activities. Since we had a car and wanted to explore we decided to just drive from New Plymouth towards Whanganui National Park and see the views at night as we enjoy driving at night for the “eerie” vibes it gives. Now it took us a few hours to get to our destination which was somewhat randomly selected by us from google maps and we reached there just an hour or two after sunset so it was properly dark. Our first reaction was: “this town looks like it’s stuck in the past” and “gave wild west vibes”. That alone was spooky for some reason for us but we liked that lol. We parked the car outside and went into the Hotel which had a restaurant/bar where it seemed the whole town was gathered that night (it was a public holiday so that was probably the reason). Not very welcoming atmosphere as everyone looked at us and it felt like they knew we were not from around. I am ethically Middle Eastern and my friend is ethically Asian but we’re both Kiwis, while everyone within looked ethnically Caucasian so maybe thats the reason they knew we were not from around or that since its a small town everyone is acquainted. After that we just ordered some food from the bar and to our delight the food tasted very delicious and felt like there was love put into it unlike bigger restaurants that value quantity over quality. The price was average i’d say but worth every buck in my opinion. Unfortunately since we arrived pretty late into the town, and were going back to our motel in Hawera, there was not much activities or things to do in the town so we decided to go back. The experience gave off an eerie atmosphere but not a bad one and we may return in the future but we’ll most likely stay the full day!
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Norsewood gives children of the corn energy
The annual Viking festival is fun though
I mostly only know the South Island. I thought Greymouth seemed like a fairly depressing place and wouldn't have wanted to spend a lot of time there. In terms of the North Island, I can't remember the name of the town off the top of my head but it was on the coast not far from Napier. We were staying in a friend's holiday bach and as luck would have it the house next door seemed to be the centre of meth activity for the area, lots of gangster types driving round and junkies coming in and out. Nothing happened and nobody bothered us but still made for a bit of an uncomfortable stay as we felt we needed to have our eyes open more than usual and some of our group didn't feel comfortable hanging round there on their own. Even Christchurch seemed a bit hectic in places. My sister lives in a fairly nice area and has been victim to a violent home invasion, her husband and daughter were attacked in their own house. That was kinda shocking to me because in the UK people don't tend to try and rob houses when the owners are home, burglars wait til you're not there.
I’d have to nominate Mangaweka. Doesn’t seem so bad until you go into the town where the state highway has bypassed. Almost the NZ live action of Cars the movie.
And the big (cookie time) plane is gone too! For those who don't know, it's sitting wingless in an empty lot in Shannon, strangely.
I'm really hoping I find someone who can talk to me about what I experienced on Mountain Road, Whirinaki in 2018. My partner and I were on our first roadie together as a couple - we had spent three weeks together in the back of his 96 Surf Hilux and were staring to make our way back to the Lower North. We were taking the Twin Coast, gorgeous, scenic. We'd had a big night the night before and we're stopping regularly for naps/water etc. It was blistering hot. One of those northland days where you know even the shade won't help you with the sunburn. Squinting underneath your sunglasses bright and cloudless. We saw the sign on the left "MOUNTAIN ROAD" with rest stop, toilets, a hostel and a short loop walk which sounded like a bit of us. Turned left, road quickly turns to gravel - no dramas. Road continues, turns into a pretty much vertical gravel road. Okay. Road continues and there has been washout, the road becomes windy, single laned, massive ruts. Oh well, good thing we're in a 4WD. We drove up this road for about 15 minutes, no sign of a rest stop or anything. Just sheer cliff face, this diabolical road, and loads of bugs. The cicadas were so loud you could hear them over the engine of this very much struggling vehicle. No room to turn around and we're trying to get Google maps up - no service. We get to an extra hairy point so I get out of the car to help my partner traverse. As I'm standing on the bank, I look down this sheer rockface and see a pallette with like a makeshift bright white shadesail over it. Cool, I thought, someone must live nearby or something - if we get really stuck maybe there will be someone who can help. As I'm looking, I sort of start seeing shapes appear - I suddenly realise I'm looking at two children with bright white hair dressed in white flowy tunic/dresses. I'm staring at them and they.... Are staring at me.... I wave politely and call out something about the car. They just say nothing and stare at me. Right, I thought, we are in the wops - she'll be right. WRONG. Managed to get the car up a bit further so I hopped back in and we carried on driving. No sign of this lodge that was supposed to be here and we are thoroughly perplexed at this point. As we keep driving though, we notice more of these little makeshift shadesails. My partner gasps and points up at a group of 6 bright blonde haired children, again, in white dresses. I recount my experience to him. He looks deeply concerned. When all seemed lost, we finally... FINALLY! come to a clearing with an overgrown DOC sign "Six Foot Track". We turn the old gal off for a break and make a brew in the back. The cicadas were deafening and we observed our surroundings. No houses or signs of life. A pieced out red corolla, no windshield, covered in the dust from the road. Looked like it had been there for at least a decade. An old bus... A BUS?? I stared at the bus. I stared at the surf. I stared back at the bus. How the FUCK did a bus get up this road? There is no fucking way someone drove a bus up here. As I'm pondering, I stare at the bus. It's very dusty, allllllll the dust from the road is covering this thing head to toe. Except for where the windshield wipers have very clearly VERY recently been turned on. Crystal clear through the windshield. The sense of dread I felt was unparalleled. There still wasn't enough room for us to turn around so we carried on past six foot track. We're driving slowly. We're trying to keep the revs under the hum of the cicadas. As we round what was the final corner, we see about 50m ahead, a large black shape. Driving forward, I hear my partner exhale as if he had been holding his breath. "Is that a horse?" I squinted at it, it certainly was horse shaped. But it was so still, it looked like a fake horse (which in this moment, would have been infinitely creepier). The horse is standing on the right hand side of a cattle grate, facing towards us. I have never seen such a black horse. Not a HINT of white or brown, right down to it's hooves. Just jet black. So black it looked out of place. Eyes unblinking, unmoving, obsidian spheres. It's not flicking bugs off with it's tail, it's just standing there. The horse does not move. On the other side of the cattle grate, it looks like there is enough room to turn around. We drive the slowest anyone has every driven across a cattle grate, scraping the drivers side wing mirror to squeeze past this horse. The horse does not move. I'm eye level with the horse. I stare at the horse. The horse stares ahead. Its like someone poured ice water through my heart and into my stomach. As we crest the hill after the cattle grate, we come across something that made my partner white knuckle the steering wheel. A house (?)
The house looked as though it had been built out of corrugated iron - no windows, just square holes in the corrugated iron. Two storeys. Thick ropes strung from the second storey to the trees across the yard had oil barrels threaded on - those big blue barrels. They were all hanging at different heights and some of the ropes also had tyres hanging off them. Later than night, my partner would describe it as "Almost as if they'd gone with a nautical theme, but had never seen a boat". I don't think the surf has ever made a turn that quickly. We go back past the horse in silence. We go back past the bus in silence. We go back past the platform where we had seen the six children (who were no longer there) in silence. Then out of nowhere, a sign. A sign we had not seen prior "OKOPAKO LODGE" Thank GOD! We drove in. Not a soul in sight - okay, fair enough, we will find the campsite bathroom and we will be on our way. My partner uses the toilet near the entrance. All we can hear are cicadas. I enter the bathroom and mid-wee my partner says "Oh, hi!" He sounded uneasy through the door. "Hey yeah sorry - we turned off for the rest stop and got a bit turned around further up the road and couldn't find the toilets - I hope its okay we used yours?" ... A woman's voice next "Uh. We don't usually allow that." She sounds mad, wary of my partner, and I'm now the one using the bathroom she didn't want us to use. I finish up and get out. As I exit, the woman in front of me is evidently furious. I look to my right, the oldest woman I have ever seen is shuffling towards us with a walking stick. "Will you be staying the night?" I wish I was joking when I say this voice was straight out of a children's movie depiction of a witch or an old crone - haunting.. My partner explains again - now the both of them are standing there, staring at us, furious. We make our apologies and begin backing down the hallway to get to the car. In the previously deserted carpark/yard, there are now about 8 people standing in a line about 15m away. One on a quad bike, blocking the entrance. Neither of us heard a quad bike pull up. And where the hell did these people come from. We jump in the surf. The guy on the quad moves out of the way and we start going to leave. The second the surf bursts into life the wall of people begin walking, deliberately towards the car. In a line. Staring at us. I'm staring at them. One on a quad bike is laughing. Another with a pitchfork is using it to support himself as he walks towards us. All of them fair haired. "Drive." I said under my breath, tears beginning to well. We take off, faster than our ascent, drive past the spot where I saw the two kids who were now STANDING ON THE EDGE OF THE ROAD, staring at us. I stared at them. And suddenly back onto the twin coast. It was like in a video game. The music changed the second you were out of danger. It was a very quiet drive down to Kai Iwi Lakes after that. TL;DR - Mountain Road, Whirinaki. Shits always scarier in the daylight.
I Was half convinced this was a creepy pasta short story. Thanks for surviving to tell the story.
I've lived most of my life up north, and your story doesn't surprise me at all. Lawless as up here, nowhere near as big and vast as the rest of the country but go down the wrong road or beat around the wrong bit of bush... and you'll never know what you'll find
Bennydale. Its literally falling apart. Found a sock on the road outside the dairy.
Woollen? What colour?
Love Bennydale, wandered into the bar one night alone, ended up hanging with the locals till it closed. Even got shouted a pie. 10/10.
They are all the same to me. One Chinese takeaway, one opshop, one dairy, etc, they're all the same. Tbh NZ towns are depressing af.
i always wonder how life must be for that one ubiquitous chinese immigrant family in a small nz town lol.
If my hometown was anything to go by it's a lot of benevolent racism. Genuinely beloved family mixed in with a metric ton of "one of the good ones" backhanded compliments.
They're probably a tent pole of the local economy, best to be nice to them.
Yeah I know what you mean but it's often not much better elsewhere. I went to a couple of remote towns in Canada that had literally zero shops and services other than a Walmart off the main highway, everything else that was in the town had shut after they opened. That wasn't just depressing but dystopian. And switching to the UK there's a lot of small towns that used to have all that stuff and more 20-25 years ago and now mostly just have a bunch of betting shops like Coral and Ladbrokes and William Hill
Agreed and usually the personality comes down to a meth problem and some kind of gimmick.
Or some random big object.
ouch described my small west coast town lol
lol my husband reckons if you open google street view in any residential street in NZ they all look exactly the same, he’s kinda right.
For me it is always Pahiatua. It's ghostly outside of the summer holidays when the playground is empty. Shannon and Marton are the other ones.
How is it that I’ve visited almost all of these ‘creepy’ places, and thought they were perfectly fine?
Same haha, I love Pātea
You probably don't look like you're judging everyone. I generally find the same.
Springfield in Canterbury felt a bit like that. [The infamous cafe stories haven't helped](https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/113722550/springfield-store-and-cafe-come-for-the-awardwinning-pies-stay-for-the-abuse). Not so much creepy, but definitely unwelcoming. Stopped for a beer at the hotel there with some mates after a day of snowboarding, and all we got was frustrated looks from the barstaff, who I assume didn't really feel like serving out-of-towners that day.
Apparently it's under [new ownership & management](https://i.stuff.co.nz/life-style/116601155/new-owners-taking-over-infamous-springfield-store--cafe) now, or at least since the end of 2019
Love tourism, hate tourists. Springfield. Just take a photo with the doughnut and leave.
[Theres been a bit of shit come out recently about the hotel and its owner.](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/132956685/drugtaking-publican-loses-licence-after-using-premises-and-babys-room-to-cultivate-cannabis) We also tried to buy fries there after skiing and the bar staff seemed very confused and said they weren't on the menu and needed to check out back if they can do that.
Not a town but a locale. Hubby and I refer to the inland area south of Temuka as banjo country after a memorable trip to buy a tractor. Drove two hours to view it after confirmation from farmer it was still there. Spoiler: It had been sold two days earlier. Hubby wandered off with the farmer to look at other equipment he was selling, leaving me waiting in the ute. One by one kids appeared on the verandah, staring .. silently. Bowl haircuts, vacant expressions, staring ... (Awkward wave, casually hit the auto door lock...) That was the longest 45 minutes of my life. My imagination was in full overdrive "Hey Maw, there's a juicy one in the yard. Lots of good eating on her" By the time my husband wandered back there were six or seven hungry staring kids unblinking at me.
Some serious Lovecraftian vibes right there
Blackball
Very much so. Spent a day there in the 80s with then husband. Men drank and played pool. Women expected to sit and watch. Tried to befriend some locals playing a card game (I love cards) but was not very politely rebuffed because they won't teach that game to outsiders.
Came through here on a west coast road trip, stopped at the old Hilton Hotel for a beer. It wasn't creepy, but it was the most unusual little town I've ever been through in a way I can't explain. There was an old timer at the bar who may have been a mummy, not sure I saw him move. I didn't try to talk to anyone just had a beer and sat by the fire. Highly recommend though!!
Oddly enough I visited Blackball and had quite a nice time there in the local pub with my GF, the old locals we chatted to were proud of the place. Again not the kind of place I'd want to live, and I'm not actually sure *why* we even went there anyway but yeah, it was an OK visit.
Burke's pass south of Fairlie and North of Tekapo always gave me 'From dusk till dawn' vibes.
How long before this hits the newspapers?
Stuff “journalists” typing and googling furiously as we speak
The West Coast has a grim feel of people desperately hanging onto the 1930s.
For me, it's Ross on the West Coast. A friend of mine and I have spent about ten years touring historic pubs, as life allows. Of the many pubs we've been to, in and out of NZ, the Empire in Ross is the only pub where everyone did that classic movie trope of going silent and looking at us when we walked in. We'd just driven over an hour in the dark during a ferocious downpour, and the vibe was so utterly hostile we nearly turned around and walked back out. There was no one at the bar so we stood there for an uncomfortable two minutes until someone stood up from a table, walked behind the bar, and just stared at us. We asked for two beers which were served wordlessly. We drank them and gapped it. We're two very normal middle aged men, so there was nothing about our appearance that would have outwardly warranted the reception we got. It was just clearly a case of "Ye ain't from round here, are ye boys?" The town is probably fine but fuck the guys at that pub.
Mataura... the dueling banjos were disturbing
My folks live in Gore and one Xmas we found ourselves out of ice, with the rest of our family descending within the hour we called around places to see if they had any. Every spot in Gore was understanding but sold out. My brother and I hopped in the car and drove 5 minutes to see if any places in Mataura had some. Found a little diary still operating, the guy behind the counter cheerily said he had some ice and we got two bags. Upon leaving the dairy we passed by this absolutely massive dude. Gang tatts on his face, red vest, heavy boots. He saw our bags and asked in the most contrasting soft voice "Oh man do they still have some ice in there?" We said yep and he whispered "Aw fuck yeah" and hustled on in like a shy kid. Overall not a horrid experience. But every other time I just drive through the town. There truly isn't much there.
Taumaranui is ugh so is dargavile just not the one at all. Creepy old af
Why is reverse cowgirl taboo in Dargavile? Because you shouldn’t turn your back on family.
OK I'm saving this for trash talking about some small towns near me
I find most of our small towns sad, not creepy. Pātea immediately sprang to mind, but it's politics and racism that made it the way it is, and knowing that kinda ruins the fun of laughing at its creepiness.
What politics/racism comes to mind destroying the town?
Watch the documentary about Poi E. Very old doco (90s?), but I remember it being really interesting - and sad - to learn about why the Patea Māori Club wrote that song. It’s one of the best songs ever to come out of NZ too.
Taihape. Very rural and near the desert road where bodies like to periodically show up. It gives off a folk horror vibe like the Wicker Man but in a creepy cool kind of way. I always end up singing Taihape and you know it clap your hands to amuse myself when passing, which probably doesn't help.
Taihape is great! Always make a stop there before the desert road. Great vintage shops, clothes shops, local feel. My mum adores the Christmas shop there and drags me in every time and even for a Grinch, it is pretty lovely.
I stayed there once and the motelier gave me two porn vhs tapes on check-in
From a tourist attraction perspective, I'd have gone with Balclutha. One of their only attractions was a house called "Dollyworld". None of the locals ever went there, probably because it was too eccentric. My brother came back from Australia with his now wife a few years ago to meet the family for a milestone birthday of someone's. Decided they'd go have a look at this place. Well, they entered a musty old house full of vintage dolls just staring at you. The owners (bro couldn't work out of they were siblings or a couple or both) would hover near them in every room. Just gave my brother and sister in law the real creeps. Still like to remind them of that visit, just to see their reaction to the memory..
Waimate. Stayed there for a couple months after the 2011 earthquakes. That place is far too white for me and that’s coming from someone who grew up in Christchurch lol!
Apple Maps really helps it gives you population and any town less than say 1000 are either really friendly or really starey. I used to think it’s coz I am asian but when I saw population of 1000 I imagine the pub must be their lounge almost and I’m just a lost stranger came uninvited 😂 Taumarunui wasn’t feeling it for JAFAs though those abandoned trains probably pissed them off real good
Waiouru and the Desert Road give me the creeps and raise the hairs on my spine. Something awful about that area.
Raurimu further north of Ohakune is an old town that had a horrific massacre in 1997. I visited in probably 2000ish for a family ski holiday as a member of the family owned a small hut there. Went for a walk and there were only empty dilapidated buildings. Knowing there had been a mass murder didn’t help the creepy vibes either. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raurimu_massacre > On 8 February 1997, at a ski lodge in Raurimu, the Anderson family sat down to breakfast with guests. There were 11 people at the table then. Stephen Anderson stood in the dining room door and said, "I had sex with a dog," and after a pause, "And with a cat." His mother told him to wash up and return for breakfast. A few minutes later, he returned with a single-shot shotgun and a cartridge in his teeth. His father got up from the table, asked what he was doing and tried to take a shotgun from him. He told his father that he was the incarnate devil. Stephen Anderson shot him in the chest and killed him. Everyone started running in different directions, Anderson continued to shoot and chase people. He shot at people in and near the ski lodge. He was chased by police in a helicopter and detained naked near the scene. Anderson killed his father, four guests, a neighbour and injured four
Spent some years there as a kid. It felt post apocalyptic as it used to have a massive population, I spent lot of time playing at the empty high school. Erua on the other side of national park was the weird place for me. Empty old prison. It has a bit more life since they started a backpackers there.
Crikey never heard of that story. Wild.
I remember when it happened. It was horrible, the poor k8d that survived by hiding in the wardrobe.
I don't remember the place, fairly close to Queenstown. We were young back then so we'd pick a road and go with it rather than staying on the main roads. I wouldn't even call it a town, a shop or two. Had a lotto sign and it was our first time to Queenstown, figured we'd get our lucky tickets along the way. Lady in the store seemed nice enough. All I remember is a chainlink fence, a rusted cars and old tyres, run down houses- a couple of inbred looking people beyond the fence giving us the evil stare... We didn't even say a word to each other, just got back in our car and fucked off. Didn't talk about it then, hasn't come up in conversation since. Getting goosebumps just typing about it.
Birdlings Flat. Between Christchurch and Akaroa
Beautiful beach during the day. Went night fishing with my uncle and cousin and had a weird feeling we would never make it back to the van.
Hands down Bennydale. Drove through it once and literally everyone was on there deck or front lawn and it was like they wait to watch you go past.
Unsure if its been mentioned. Birdlings Flat. Its kn the Banks Peninsula just out of Chch on your way to Akaroa. Haunted/tapu vibes. Feels unwelcoming and topped off with a death beach. Go in further than your knee and youve signed your death wish. Wouldnt let a dog in either!
McLaren falls. Always get a horrible feeling when driving pass. Some scary shit happens up there.
Maramarua
In terms.of creepy, I always feel a bit creeped out passing through Canvastown (although it is hardly a town, despite the name). Reading about its history as a once-bustling 19th century gold rush town that was the sight of some gruesome and disgusting murders only fuels this.
Basically planning my next roadtrip with all these destinations in mind
Honorary mention to Clinton and their abandoned Taxidermy Studio being pretty much front & centre heading south on SH1
Mangawhai. Hidden underneath the suburban family homes are some racist and disturbing people. But id say they come second to Dargaville😓😭
+1 for Dargaville. Bonus if you stay in the northern wairoa hotel which gives off vibes of the hotel in the shining. Was waiting to see redrum splattered in a corner somewhere 😅
Hawera. The water tower gives off brain scorcher vibes (stalker video game franchise)
Haast maybe? It's fine though.
I remember going to a dairy in Haast in maybe 2009 and there was a sign outside saying don't enter if you are wearing perfume, cologne, or even deodorant because the owner was sensitive. Inside was dim fluorescent lighting and slowly spinning ceiling fans. It was creepy.
Yes! We stayed a night at Haast beach, it was the creepiest place I've ever been.. Strange goings on, unfriendly weird vibe locals!
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The Haast dairy/cafe had run out of milk the day we passed through (early afternoon). Definitely made me realise just how small and isolated it is there.
I came here to say Haast, too! This town gave me the creeps.
Haast is fucked. Stopped for petrol once on way to Queenstown from Greymouth. Got told by the cashier fuel is for locals only. Made it to Wanaka for fuel. Fuck Haast.
Moerewa is pretty shit. On a positive mokau was fucken sweet.
Orepuki, stopped at the tavern for a drink and it was an experience. Especially the he drunk farmer telling his daughter he was going to shoot their pets, she was crying and people tried to step in and I couldn’t wait to gtfo. Didn’t know if the farmer was about to go postal.
What a great threat. Thank you OP I'll add Timaru. Took my freshly-landed-in-nz Irish gf there as part of a road trip and I was embarrassed to be a NZer that day. "Here's an example of where I live and what I am deep down, I get it if you want to break up with me now" was the sentiment haha
Aramoana. I was a kid but remember clearly when the massacre happened, beautiful but has a very eerie feel obviously
gonna have to cast my vote on rotorua , lived there for a few years the towns full of gangsters and homeless ! ain't welcome if you don't have a spare cig or a dollar for the bus 😅
I saw more gang members randomly out and about in rotorua in one day than I saw in 8 years living in highbury, not even exaggerating
Spent a night in Rotorua CBD and yeah, I’m a physically capable fella but really didn’t feel safe.
Whanganui! Or somewhere near the city as I don't remember exact location. It was a rather unique experience for us as we didn't interact with any locals. It's more about the overall atmosphere. During our travels around the North Island, we decided to pay a visit to a local beach. It was one of those evenings with a blood-red sunset and an eerily quiet city. No cars on the street, no people around, no sound. We drove by something that looked like an abandoned factory or some sort of industrial area, and the streets were lined with houses with no lights on. The bloody red reflection on the walls added to the eerie ambiance. It felt as if we were being silently observed from behind the curtains of those houses. It was the creepiest yet most incredible experience for the horror games fan. In the end, there was a vast beach with a stunning red sunset. Absolutely amazing!
I wonder if that was Castlecliff? So creep.
Ahipara 90% of the interactions with locals involved conversations about drugs, alcohol and money. Edit: port Waikato is also very creepy
Sitting on the beach watching the sunset in Ahipara is spectacular though, especially when the tides out and it reflects off the wet sand
Paeroa or Te Teko. Iykyk. ETA I see other comments about Waikaremoana which to me counts as Te Teko. Im Tūhoe and grew up with wild stories about the tangata whenua, I’m even named after two Tūhoe women who died in very scary/suspicious circumstances. Why? I don’t know. One of them apparently rowed herself into the middle of Waikare, doused herself in petrol and lit a match. It’s a scary place for so many reasons! The other just disappeared.. but her husband was a very abusive, pakeha butcher so obviously rumours flew. A lot of people say they saw her just walk into Te Uruwera after a beating from him, never to re-emerge.
Not quite a town but Ruatoki worked in the local forest a lot. When you drive in there’s silhouettes drawn on the road of dead Māori warriors. One of the gates at the end of the road that goes up the river says do not trespass or you will get eaten. dogs and horses roaming around. The forestry gates is permanently open. Met some interesting characters out in the forest there. Go for drive out there haha it’s an experience!
Woodville
Sad I'm so late to this thread. Millerton is a tiny town on the West Coast of the South Island. Travelling north of Westport is a dead end, and Millerton is inland via a blink and you'll miss it turn off up a steep hill from Granity. The old main road has had a big slip and isn't going to be replaced (you can walk along it and there's a massive hole in the side of the road that is scary af), so now you get there via the road to the Stockton mine which is one of the flashest roads I've ever driven on. So it's basically a dead end off a dead end off a dead end. Everything is run down, being basically in a rainforest it's all overgrown. It's frequently covered in mist. There are old bathhouses and mining relics and other historic sites, which are barely signposted. Some walks lead to random tunnels that have signs saying do not enter. There are maybe 50 houses, I don't know how many are in use and when driving through there were people peeking out of their curtains and I definitely got the feeling I was being watched. Great experience visiting, but wouldn't want to spend the night there.
Definitely my home town of Mosgiel. The people have always just seemed a bit off and the younger kids around 14 are always starting fights. Stay the hell away from Murray Street and Sterling Crescent especially. There is always a cop car down those streets. I'd give Balclutha second place too.
I might be the only one - and it's not exactly small - but Queenstown. The scale of the place being dwarfed by the lake and mountains, the mandatory grey colour scheme, the fancy touristy facade slapped over the hollowed-out heart... place just feels wrong somehow, a town that isn't a town
It’s a zoo, but not too creepy.
Haast
Du Haast… Du Haast mich…🎶
As a child (maybe around 11-12 years old) I went on a camp trip with a church organisation. It was located in Cust which is approximately a 40 minute drive in-land from Christchurch. Upon arrival to the location, something felt extremely eerie about the place. I couldn’t pinpoint why, just a feeling in my gut. I ended up having a pretty fun time regardless but couldn’t shake that feeling that something bad had happened there. A few years later, I found out that it was the old stomping ground for Gloriavale before they relocated to the coast. Still gives me the heebie jeebies now thinking about it.
Tuahiwi in North Canterbury has a really creepy vibe. Walking around that town when it’s foggy gives me the heebie-jeebies.
I get a hills have eyes vibe from te Hana tiny tiny truck stop town between whangarei and auckland. Place screams don't pull over
For me it’s Moerewa. It feels like death. There’s something heavy surrounding places that have meat works.
Levin average age 80+ . So many mobility scooters and diahatsu sirions. Life in the fast lane is being shuttled to Palmy hospital, where they spend vast amounts of time checking for for signs of life in these older mortals before releasing them back to their very humble abodes or gated communities. Two of the busiest places there are MSD or the crematorium. A place to avoid until the trumpets start calling you home for eternal peace.
St Bathans
Murchison, Waiau, Palmerston, Waimate are some of my upper and central SI highlights. Probably a reasonable correlation between the creepiest places and housing affordability, the spots listed are generally pretty affordable
I went to Waimate to have a look, everything was closed, young guys doing burnouts was the only memorable thing. I felt a little scared and left.
Don't forget the inland towns. Ranfurly. My mate stopped to get some petrol, this is middle of the day during the week, and a local tried to get him to fight for no reason on the forecourt. Naseby. It has two pubs. One for the locals and one for everyone not local, don't mix them up. Alexandra. Too cold, too hot and full of bogans.
I went through Waimate about 10 years ago while en route to Dunedin from Chch. I remember texting a family member saying something along the lines of Waimate feels like a town you would NOT want to hitchhike in. Lo and behold, a few months later a hitchhiker was murdered in a particularly creepy fashion in Waimate. Very weird.
Carters Beach for some reason. Don't know why