Urban Exploring – Page 2 – U R B E X C E N T R A L

Abandoned Aquarium

Located in a sleepy town that has had its fair share of earthquakes lies this little aquarium on the wharf, abandoned and closed down due to earthquake damage. In operation, it seems the aquarium was well loved and although small was full of interactive activities for children who visited.

Due to an injury this explore posed a little bit of a challenge to UC but thanks to fellow explorer DerelictNZ we were able to successfully explore this place and enjoy its wonder; such as an inflatable shark, not quite the infamous Melbourne shark but close enough.

March 7, 2019August 10, 2019 by urbexcentral

Waterpark

Late last year we explored the abandoned waterpark “Ho Thuy Tien” near Hue, Vietnam. This place has been fairly well documented by UE and backpackers before, so to mix things up a bit we decided to predominately explore the park via bicycle- and we’re talking about the old school one speed bicycle variety with a basket on the handle bars.

It took 30-40 minutes in the heat & humidity to bike there from Hue city, courtesy of Google Maps. At the main gate we were surprisingly waved through by a guard. We were expecting a “fee” like all other locals and visitors alike. Perhaps he felt because we’d biked all the way out there we deserved the “free” entry- what ever the case it was good karma. Locals we spoke to later just could not believe we’d been given “free” entry.

Closed a decade ago- probably because of the high priced tickets and lack of attractions- the park has over the years become a hang out for local youth, urban explorers, backpackers, and on weekends (in this case) a bus load of students. Apart from getting the neck slit gesture after outstaying our welcome at some local lads bbq on top of the waterslide section- it was a safe and surreal experience- and then we had to bike all the way back to town…

May 20, 2018 by urbexcentral

The Abandoned Supreme Court House, West Coast, New Zealand.

This abandoned courthouse was built in 1913. It was designed to reflect New Zealand’s ties to the British Empire. The building was only used until 1970 as a courthouse and was continued to be used for government buildings till the 1990’s.

Since then it was laid unoccupied and fallen into disrepair although meant to be restored, it is far from that. Hope you enjoy the pictures, it was a solid explore and one of urbex centrals’ most desired locations along the West Coast of New Zealand.

February 6, 2018February 6, 2018 by urbexcentral

Abandoned Lower North Island Hospital

This hospital is one of the most intact abandoned hospitals left in New Zealand. Closed in 2007 and subsequently purchased privately, this hospital has been left abandoned and untouched.
Inside the hospital it’s quite amazing how much is left, from X-ray machines to a fully functioning theater its as if the hospital could open again at any minute although left abandoned 10 years ago.

We first visited this hospital in 2012 and now once again in 2017, not much has changed but it remains one of Urbex Central’s favourite explores in the North Island of New Zealand.

December 24, 2017December 24, 2017 by urbexcentral

Rest in peace Erskine College.

Erskine college built in 1905 is due for demolition this year and any day now the demolition crews will move in. Urbex Central decided to take one more visit back before it is gone forever, come say goodbye to one of Wellington’s most famous abandoned, ‘haunted’ whatever you want to call it, buildings.

November 13, 2017 by urbexcentral

Black Palace

“Black Palace” (Damnak Sla Khmao) was a little summer palace of King Sihanouk, abandoned sometime in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s. It’s located on Bokor Hill Station in southern Cambodia. The “Palace” itself is not on a grand scale, but the overall spectacular location and many outer buildings must have been fairly impressive in its day.

The hill station was built as a resort by colonial French settlers as an escape from the heat, humidity and general insalubrity of Phnom Penh. Nine hundred lives were lost in the nine months during the construction of the resort in this remote mountain location.

The centrepiece of the resort was the grand Bokor Palace Hotel (which has never been a casino) inaugurated in 1925. See previous video- “Casino Rouge”. It was used as the location for the final showdown of the excellent Matt Dillon 2002 movie, “City Of Ghosts”.

Bokor Hill was abandoned first by the French in late 1940s, during the First Indochina War, because of local insurrections guided by the Khmer Issarak. It was only in 1962, for the reopening of the “Cité du Bokor”, that a casino was established in the new hotels near the lake, (Hotels Sangkum and Kiri). Some buildings were added at this time: an annex for the palace, the mayor’s office and a strange mushroomed concrete parasol.

The Bokor mountain was abandoned again in 1972, as Khmer Rouge took over the area. During the Vietnamese invasion in 1979, Khmer Rouge entrenched themselves and held on tightly for months. In the 1990s Bokor Hill was still one of the last strongholds of Khmer Rouge.

November 5, 2017November 13, 2017 by urbexcentral

Abandoned Great Wall, China.

The great wall in China, one of the great wonders of the world.

Although seen as a tourist destination that is well kept and maintained by the Chinese government, the great wall spans for 8,851.8 kilometers. Of this 8000 Kilometers much of the great wall has fallen into disrepair and is subsequently abandoned and falling apart.

It takes about two hours of walking past the vast amounts of tourists before you get to the abandoned and what is arguably most representative version of the huge spanning great wall, we hope you enjoy the shots!

October 22, 2017 by urbexcentral

Abandoned Cement Works, South Island, New Zealand.

Having had this closed down and dilapidated cement works on the radar for a couple of years, the urbexcentral crew alongside wildboyzue (UK) finally got to take a visit!

As we drove the long drive to this location, we had mixed feelings of defeat and curiosity from earlier exploration attempts but we were determined to finally do something epic this road trip.

Now, with our target in sight we quickly worked out the best way to photograph the place and we were soon basking in an oasis of abandonment, from coming across remnants of a past busy workplace, to huge machinery and infrastructure, including a decommissioned coal run power plant!

July 30, 2017 by urbexcentral

Abandoned Cook House

We came across this dilapidated, soon to be demolished house recently after having it on our radar for quite some. After a shall we say, tight crawl we found ourselves surrounded in forgotten belongings and hoardings.
As we crept through the house we came across many memories of the old house owners past and it was quite sad to think that most of the amazing stuff in this place would soon be in the landfill, what a waste!

June 22, 2017 by urbexcentral

Abandoned Mini Golf In New Zealand!

On our recent trip down in the South Island of New Zealand we found ourselves accidentally stumbling across this soon to be demolished abandoned mini golf course in Christchurch, New Zealand.
As we walked through it, it felt barely abandoned and seemingly such a waste; it must have been a pretty cool course once upon a time, it is soon to be bowled over to make way for a redevelopment, most probably housing.

June 1, 2017 by urbexcentral

The Mill

This woolen mill in the South Island of New Zealand had been through troubled times, with it being saved from closure in 2012 until once again facing uncertainty in early 2016 when the company running the business finally went into receivership.
The machines, wool and remnants of the workers have lain dormant since, like everyone just up and left one day!

Our visit here was along route on our South Island urbex trip, never expecting such an intact woolen mill to be just sitting there decaying and forgotten. Subsequently our explore into the mill began cautiously and it appeared the further we ventured into the mill, the more it seemed likely we might suddenly bump into an angry ex worker of the mill (who may not have shared the same passion as we do for abandoned photography) any moment! Enjoy the photographs!

May 17, 2017May 18, 2017 by urbexcentral

Abandoned Wellington Medical Centre

This medical centre located in Wellington, New Zealand suffered an extensive fire recently under suspicious circumstances, everything was still left here like the day of the fire. Inside it felt like the longer we stayed to document the place, the more odd medical supplies we found – needles, vaginal speculums and feces pots.

August 27, 2016 by urbexcentral

Abandoned Forensic Lab, Lunatic Asylum, North Island, New Zealand

This building was originally the forensic’s unit of an abandoned lunatic asylum which closed for good in 2007.

The decay and mold were immense in this building, the place is falling apart. Nature has began taking over this place and it almost seems like there is more vegetation than structure left.

Throughout its years of operation the asylum has had many accounts of violent patients, patient abuse and treatments used such as electric shock treatment.

Forensic lab, Abandoned Mental Hospital, Wellington, NZ.

August 10, 2016August 10, 2016 by urbexcentral

Earthquake damaged pub square, Christchurch, New Zealand.

This hospitality square full of pubs, clubs and a real groovy music store in Christchurch was once a hub of entertainment. Since the 2011 earthquakes devastated the city this square has remained untouched and derelict while insurance claims are disputed.

Exploring the inside of the square I stumbled upon forgotten hipster clubs, lots of pigeon poop and endless amounts of decay and vandalism.

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (32)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (23)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (31)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (24)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (39)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (43)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (25)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (26)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (27)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (28)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (29)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (30)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (33)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (34)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (35)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (36)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (38)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (40)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (41)

Abandoned Sol Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (42)

July 9, 2016 by urbexcentral

Abandoned Wellington Grandstand

This cricket grandstand and its surrounds, built in 1925 were originally built by prison labour and they were a popular recreational spot for colonial settlers.

Ninety one years later the grandstand has been declared ‘earthquake prone’ and has visible damage on its facade of earthquake damage. Due to it’s earthquake prone status the grandstand is closed to the public while assessment on its future continues, hopefully it can be preserved as it holds some of Wellington’s small amount of heritage.

June 3, 2016June 5, 2016 by urbexcentral

Expired

This large (by NZ standards) purpose built former tertiary institute expired at around the same time this Kodak Ektar 64T film did. And just like this 35mm expired film, it is apparently getting another lease of life. There are new owners and supposedly new occupants- but the only life we saw were some homies running their dogs (who tried to have a go at us); an alleged owner who asked what we were taking photos of (selfies of course) & told us to leave; and an elderly security guard who said- just leave. One of UC have a particular connection to this place, having kind of studied (sic) here when it was still a place of education- not stagnation.

May 12, 2016May 12, 2016 by urbexcentral

Abandoned New Zealand Mini golf Park

Located in a tourist town in New Zealand, this mini golf and go kart racing amusement park closed down in 2013, upon reading the reviews it is fairly obvious what caused it to close down, something along the lines of ‘uneven golf course’ and ‘worst mini putt course ever’.

The tourist towns of New Zealand have a limited amount of attractions and which seem to often struggle and sometimes disappear, closing down shortly after they open. The thermal activity in this town probably didn’t help either, as I took photos I couldn’t help but notice the cracks and holes in the grounds surrounding the park which had occurred due to the thermal activity beneath.

May 8, 2016May 8, 2016 by urbexcentral

Casino Rouge

Exploring the ruin of the French colonial era Bokor Casino Hotel in Cambodia recently. The Casino was fought over by the invading/liberating Vietnamese army and the murderous Khmer Rouge from 1979 onwards. Due to it’s strategic place and size on Bokor plateau it was invaluable to either side to gain an advantage over the other. In recent years it has been cleaned up and somewhat structurally improved- unfortunately removing most of its neglected charm, tragedy and history in the process.

May 4, 2016 by urbexcentral

Church : Time

Exploring the abandoned former French colonial era church on Bokor Mountain in Cambodia recently. In 1978 the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia, toppling the murderous Khmer Rouge in a matter of weeks. There was however a stalemate for a time on Bokor (and other locations) as the Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge battled it out- fighting between the church and nearby casino. In recent years the church has had occasional use- it’s first in nearly four decades. “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen…”

April 30, 2016April 30, 2016 by urbexcentral

The Ghost Tower

The Sathorn Unique (aka the Ghost Tower) is a 185 meter 49 story unfinished skyscaper in downtown Bangkok near the Chao Phraya river. The proposed luxury condominium tower was designed and developed by prominent architect and real estate developer Rangsan Torsuwan. By 1997 construction was estimated to be 80–90 percent complete when the Asian financial crisis hit. Bangkok’s real estate market collapsed, and the finance companies that had funded the project went bankrupt and were subsequently liquidated. Building construction projects across the city came to a halt and Bangkok was left with over 300 unfinished high-rise projects. However since then most of these buildings have been completed as the economy recovered- but the Sathorn Unique remains a ghost tower…

There are numerous urban legends and superstitions regarding the Sathorn held by people in the nearby community and Bangkok in general. Some believe the building was doomed from the beginning as the land upon which it sits is a former graveyard. Others believe that due to the Sathorn Unique’s shadow falling over the neighboring Wat Yan Nawa, that this brings it bad luck, resulting in its failed completion. After almost two decades and no completion in sight, perhaps there is something to these superstitions after all.

Over the years the Sathorn has become known a bit of an urban exploration mecca, so late last year while in Bangkok we thought we’d pay it a visit. Despite being officially off-limits to the public, access reportedly could be gained by finding your own way in- or bribing a security guard to let you in- we preferred the former. We found the building easily enough, you just have to look up. Unfortunately our timing couldn’t have been worse and was only out by a month or two, as the surrounding fence had been rebuilt and reinforced and certain security guards sacked- no one can enter now (unless your Spiderman) no matter what bribe is offered.

This appears to have occurred due to a number of factors; the increased popularity of the tower, the number of photos, videos and articles popping up on line- and the death of a tourist. In December 2014 the body of a Swedish man was found hanging on the 43rd floor. The cause of death was determined to be suicide, though the news prompted discussion regarding the safety and security of the building. Then in September 2015, Sathorn Unique Co. made known they had filed criminal charges of trespassing against five people who had posted material on the Web, including a pair of tourists who had created a video of themselves freerunning on the tower. They said that this was done in order to set an example and deter people from climbing the building. They added that the number of people illegally entering the premises had risen sharply during the past year, following an increase in online exposure, with over a hundred people entering on some weekends.

So at present the Ghost Tower seems to have been finally left for the ghosts to accommodate- but perhaps the future will offer opportunities for a return of the living…

March 2, 2016 by urbexcentral

New Zealand’s forgotten miniature village

In a small rural town of North Island New Zealand lives this little forgotten wall and village.

Once a labour of love for the pastor of the church who has now passed on, this little village and its figurines continue to decay without repair or anyone to take care of them.

February 25, 2016 by urbexcentral

Nokor

Not your usual urbex video, but exploring ruins nonetheless. This is the strange fusion temple complex of Banteay Prey Nokor in Cambodia that we visited late last year. Situated in countryside near the town of Kompong Cham, the original 11th century Mahayana Buddhist shrine has been added onto over the centuries and incorporated into a bewildering and sprawling complex of wat’s and stupa’s. Apart from a security guard and a couple of monks we had the place to ourselves. More to come from Cambodia soon…

February 11, 2016February 11, 2016 by urbexcentral

Anatomy Class

The teacher in this Bulgarian classroom clearly wanted her/his students to fully know their surroundings and themselves. Anti-fascist partisan artwork was still on display well beyond the fall of communism from 1987, and about a decade later took on a state of suspended animation with the closure of this village school.

February 8, 2016February 23, 2019 by urbexcentral

New Zealand’s Island Fortress

Another victim of the earthquakes, this historic wartime island was once used as a quarantine station, Maori fortification and a defence against Russian attacks.

On arrival and after a short swim across to the island we navigated our way up the steep barbed wire bank. Once inside the fort we were met by a beautifully designed historic fort which included a labyrinth of tunnels with torpedo and mine stores. The two disappearing guns on the fort were completed in 1895 and were never actually used to fire a shot in their years as part of the island fortification.

We hope they can restore this unique part of New Zealand’s history once again for visitors to appreciate it.

Fort Island

Torpedo store

Fort Island underground tunnel

Fort Island

Fort Island, revolving gun

Fort Island, disappearing gun

Fort Island

Fort Island, bunker

Fort Island

Fort Island, bed

Fort Island

January 27, 2016January 30, 2016 by urbexcentral

Kingdom’s gone!

This derelict and forgotten film set was never actually used for filming as the movie was mothballed after running out of money. The set still stands waiting for its film crew and producers to perhaps one day return.

Exploring this abandoned movie set in the middle of rural New Zealand countryside was quite the experience, as we wandered through the film set which was designed to look more like Jerusalem than New Zealand it felt like we were entering some kind of cartoon world. Everywhere we ventured was artificial and built by film set designers, from the walls and floors to the odd props and building materials that were left lying around and never used.

January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 by urbexcentral

The Mansion

Built out of New Zealand native kauri wood in 1899 and the largest structure in New Zealand around in its time, this grand mansion is slated for demolition following extensive earthquake damage.

The mansion was built lavishly both inside and out for a Scottish immigrant Allan McLean, and its beauty is resounding even in its currently dilapidated state. McLean donated his mansion to women’s education upon his death, a worthy cause – we hope McLean’s can eventually be restored and not demolished.

Exploring one of Christchurch’s last grand mansions still standing brought emotions of amazement and sadness as we looked around its unique beauty and its so-far-decided future, demolition.

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December 7, 2015January 25, 2016 by urbexcentral

Hospital springs

Built in 1916 and located in the heart of the town and next door to the town’s biggest attraction, this old hospital has sat abandoned since 2003.

There is a large amount of decay throughout the derelict hospital which used to treat patients with hydrotherapy, with water leaks and peeling wall paper at every corner.

The hospital is of great historic value to New Zealand and we hope it can eventually be restored to some other purpose.

Abandoned Hamner springs hospital, urbex central.com

October 17, 2015 by urbexcentral

North Korea in New Zealand

The information I had surrounding this location sounded almost mythological, an abandoned North Korean prison movie set in Queenstown?

Since access to the mountain had been closed for the last five years, I had to go in the hard way, straight up the sheer face of the mountain! A few cuts and bruises later navigating dense bush, deer and goat I finally reached the top.

What greeted me felt so out of place, an old North Korean prison surrounding by beautiful Queenstown scenery, Awesome!

September 5, 2015September 5, 2015 by urbexcentral

The Old Marine Zoo

Marine land was a marine mammal park that opened in 1965 and closed in 2009 with some of the animals being relocated and some staying on until they could be rehomed.

It was once home to a number of species including Californian sea lions, leopard seals, penguins, bottlenose dolphins and otters.

Throughout it’s years the park played hosts to big crowds until its decline where the longtime manager of the park resigned in 2009 after allegations of falsifying the documents that allowed them to keep fur seal pups.

This explore was very heavy on the senses, a strong odour of fish and a panicked visit to the park due to an alarm and incoming security arriving. The zoo was once extremely secure for good reason, with 24/7 cctv to protect the animals as numerous break-ins had happened in the past including some vandals who fed a dolphin nails!

Enjoy the pictures.

Pictures here please, looking slighty grim these days.

August 13, 2015 by urbexcentral

Horrors of the elderly

This explore went unexpectedly smooth and what every urban explorer hopes for – easy entry, no interruptions and a location that was full of memories of the past which offered a small glimpse into what went on at this now abandoned rest home hospital for the elderly.

Soon into the explore, I came across scenes akin to a horror movie, grey hairs still sat next to the ‘saloon’ of the old rest home, wheelchairs and toilet seats everywhere and possession’s lying around – even a nurses dress hanging up, sitting idle exactly how they were the day the hospital was closed.

Abandoned Rest Home Hospital New Zealand

July 9, 2015 by urbexcentral

Cathedral

Images of the exterior of Christchurch Cathedral from a couple of months ago. The Cathedral was badly damaged in the February 22nd 2011 earthquake (and other aftershocks) that devastated New Zealand’s third largest city. It’s a surreal experience, the centre around Cathedral Square is mostly unrecognizable, apart from the iconic Christchurch Cathedral.

The Anglican Cathedral was built between 1864 and 1904 in the centre of the city, surrounded by Cathedral Square. It became the cathedral seat of the Bishop of Christchurch in the New Zealand tikanga of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

Repeated earthquakes have damaged the building (mostly the spire) in the course of its history: in 1881, 1888, 1901, 1922, and September 2010. The February 2011 Christchurch earthquake destroyed the spire and part of the tower, and severely damaged the structure of the remaining building. The remainder of the tower was demolished in March 2012. The west wall suffered collapses in the June 2011 earthquake and the December 2011 quake due to a steel structure – intended to stabilize the rose window – pushing it in.

The Anglican Church has decided to demolish the building and replace it with a new structure – a decision which has become controversial in post-quake Christchurch. Various groups have opposed the Church’s intentions, with actions including taking a case to court. As of January 2015 the judgements have mostly been in favour of the Church, with one more judgement pending. No demolition has occurred since the removal of the tower in early 2012.

There has been opposition to demolition, with heritage groups including the UNESCO World Heritage Centre opposing the action. A local character, the Wizard of New Zealand, made protests calling for the cathedral to be saved. Kit Miyamoto, an American-based structural engineer and expert in earthquake rebuilding, inspected the cathedral after the September 2010 quake. He cited his experience in stating that restoring and strengthening of the building was both “feasible and affordable”.

In April 2012, a group of engineers from the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering launched a petition seeking support of 100 colleagues to stop the demolition. They claimed that legal action was also a possibility. In the same month the Restore Christchurch Cathedral Group was formed and sought signatures for a petition to save the cathedral.

June 24, 2015 by urbexcentral

Abandoned Polytechnic

Sitting unused and idle for the last 14 years after closing in 2001 and sitting next to an active military base, this old polytech has been a joy to explore and take photos.

Throughout our many visits to this location over the years we have found ourselves discovering different classrooms and lecture theatres each time, this old polytech used to host courses in dental, engineering, telecommunications and radiation therapy.

Enjoy the photos, this derelict campus has recently been sold by the ministry of education and is about to be redeveloped.

Abandoned CIT Polytech, Wellington, New Zealand

June 16, 2015June 16, 2015 by urbexcentral

Soon to be imploded

Soon to be imploded, this old Police station was built in 1972, it was the 11th tallest building in the city before the earthquakes.

Cautious in our approach and full of excitement and adrenline we found many interesting trinkets of the building’s history as a large police station, it was a miserable place for many throughout the years and seemingly in it’s demolition, due to the large amounts of asbestos removal.

Inside the station we went straight for the roof, wondering what great views of the city we would get, as we walked up the stairways we contemplated the fact there was not much chance of escape if we were greeted by someone at the old station.

Once on the roof we were met by stunning vistas of the city and at one point, the sound of police sirens beneath us – luckily they were responding to another job and not revisiting their old haunt.

Down in the basement we found the cells and huge amounts of old graffiti from inmates, the cells seemed to go on forever like a labyrinth. One of the rooms we found reminded us of a morgue with lots of solid concrete tables and cctv cameras and tv above our heads, we never figured out what that room was.

We hope you enjoy viewing some of the last pictures taken of this place before it’s demolition implosion in the next few days.

Explored in collaboration with http://www.wildboyz-ue.com

May 31, 2015May 31, 2015 by urbexcentral

The Farm

Inside an abandoned former catholic girls school/farm/’rehabilitation unit’ we visited in mid 2013. Founded by a French sisterhood in 1953 -“the girls who came into the care of the sisters often had problems that could not be resolved in their normal environment and needed the loving care of others to restore their sense of self-worth.” The first residents stayed at the ’13’-room Manor built by its previous owner; and over the years the Catholic order embarked on a building program that included a 25-girl dormitory, two-story working/training block, visitor accommodation and sports facility. The last building was an expanded convent for the growing number of sisters at the facility. At it’s peak there were apparently up to 50 nuns in the house, and at least 70 girls. The farm/school/borstal/convent finally closed down in the early 1980’s.

April 10, 2015April 12, 2015 by urbexcentral

Cargill’s Castle

Cargill’s castle is located on a beautiful position overlooking the pacific ocean, it is one of only two castle’s in New Zealand.
Gutted by fire and restored in the 1940’s to be abandoned in ruins till present day this castle is protected by a trust who are trying to fun raise to turn the castle into an attraction, sadly there seems to have been little progress since 2012.

This was a fun little explore and is a well known landmark between locals of Dunedin, the castle used to even have it’s own private access to a beach down a winding staircase, which has now fallen to disrepair, it is rumored the cliffs surrounding have played victim to numerous suicide jumps throughout the years and access to the cliff is now fenced off.

February 16, 2015 by urbexcentral

Hospital Down South

Standing proudly on top of the hill overlooking a lower South Island town, this once-grand hospital now sits decaying and derelict. Little positive future can be foreseeable aside from demolition for this location as the buildings were purpose built as a hospital and not a motel, there are simply too many buildings and grounds for the owners to know what to do with. The hospital-turned-backpackers was opened on 2 December 1872 and closed in 1998, much of the site including its operating theaters, x-ray, psychiatric and emergency departments have been abandoned since.

Abandoned South Island New Zealand hospital

February 10, 2015February 10, 2015 by urbexcentral

Bridge To Nowhere

October 2013: There was no point in trying to talk Gunner out of surmounting yet another obstacle- an historic abandoned suspension bridge.

January 23, 2015January 23, 2015 by urbexcentral

The Holiday Inn

Abandoned and severely crippled by the earthquake this hotel had also played host to an arsonist over the years.

Cautiously venturing around the burnt ruins of this hotel you could smell and feel the wet carpets from when the fire was brought under control. We could hear the faint beeping of nearby smoke alarms and motion detectors for an alarm we thought could surely not work anymore due to the damage.

Further into our explore we finally found what we were searching for the pool, sauna, gym and main reception! Excitement flowed through us as we took our photos quickly, cautious of triggering any alarm. Once we had finished with the pool we entered the reception, an amazing space seemingly untouched with tourist pamphlets from 2011 still sitting there, one step further and we would finally set off the security alarm, piercing our ears letting us know it was probably time to go.

January 17, 2015January 17, 2015 by urbexcentral

‘Devil’s Angles’ Gang House

Urbex Central found this abandoned bar situated in Wellington a couple of years ago, on a recent revisit we noticed the location had been trashed and tagged by the ‘devils angils’. Which were some kind of nazi loving, intimidation gang that can’t spell very well, they were trying to spread hatred with a message they most probably don’t understand themselves.

The explore of this bar was obviously quite intimidating and we kept it brief, the entry to the bar was now rigged up with a rope and some sort of warning system to warn whoever trashed and took over this place that someone was coming.

This has to be one of our most memorable and equally shocking explores of 2015 so far.

January 13, 2015 by urbexcentral

Conduits

Chilling out on a hot summers day (today) in some favorite UC tunnels/conduits…

January 8, 2015 by urbexcentral

Abandoned Doctors Clinic

Hiding down a Wellington side street lies this abandoned doctors clinic, declared ‘earthquake prone’ in 2012, the fate of this building is undecided.
Most things were stripped from this clinic but there was still the odd lamp and drug signs, this was a quick in and out explore, avoiding the sensors for the alarm.

November 22, 2014November 22, 2014 by urbexcentral

Waikune Prison Part two

Abandoned since 1986 this derelict prison camp located in a remote area of the North Island in New Zealand barely resembles a prison. The prison is heavily decayed with surprisingly little vandalism and the prisons strange colour schemes were meant to help calm prisoners. Our road trip taking us to this prison began with a sunny 18 degrees, five hours later we were in snow, this place had a very somber feeling to it.

With thanks to WildBoyzUE who joined Urbexcentral for this explore.

November 1, 2014November 1, 2014 by urbexcentral

Chiller

A video from a couple of years ago- wandering around the creepy ruins of an abandoned cool-stores facility in Taranaki. Happy Halloween folks 😉

October 31, 2014 by urbexcentral

Power Station

This thermal power station was completed in 1972 and was decommissioned between 2001 and 2008, it’s chimney was once the tallest structure in New Zealand, it is now being demolished and in the final stages of demolition.

We began exploring this Power Station back in Easter where after trekking down in the darkness from the top of a hill we eventually reached a shoreline where we met a couple of angry seals who we had to dodge as they tried to attack us. Once we found our way in, avoiding light and the risk of areas with motion detectors we reached the main building, our eyes were greeted with a wonderland of ‘pipe-porn’ and steel. The first thing we knew we wanted to hit was the turbine room and to reach this we needed to scale some ladders through the maze of pipes and steel.

Upon reaching the turbine room we found a gigantic space full of yellow turbines, all fully lit up, the whole place echoed as you walked through it which made us feel on edge. After documenting the turbine room we advanced on to find the control room, from intel we had been given we attempted to enter through to the control room where we were met by locked doors, the control room was not to be seen that visit.

Included in this post are pictures months apart, the second series of pictures were pictures taken when the turbine room was mostly deconstructed but we finally found an intact control panel room :).