Shine bright
The clarity of New Zealand’s night skies has been celebrated since the Māori first marked the new year with the rise of Matariki (the Pleiades) hundreds of years ago. Since then the South Island’s Mackenzie Region has become the literal poster child for stargazing. (Visit the International Dark-Sky Association’s website and you’ll see Lake Tekapo’s church backlit by the twinkling night sky.) Now there are even more opportunities to wish upon a star, including at the Dark Sky Project. The $11 million facility combines Māori astronomy with science, allowing visitors to feel the “heartbeat” of the stars, visualise how Polynesian voyagers found their way to Aotearoa using constellations and see the nine-metre-tall Brashear Telescope, built in 1894. On clear nights it’s also worth booking a tour to the…
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The Australian Women's Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2022