Jeremy Baker
provenb0f341
Auckland train and bus to the airport
Auckland airport from Britomart station by train and bus transfer at Puhinui station - transfers every 10 minutes. Total cost $8 - compared to $70+ via taxi or rideshare. Similar travel time.
(Normal trip cost is $5.40; the $8 included a new AT Hop card. It was also Santa Parade day and central Auckland was gridlocked. Uber was quoting $122 to get to the airport - and it would have taken 1.5 hours....)
Rufus Du Sol
Went to the Rüfüs Du Sol concert in Tāmaki Makaurau last night. It was pure joy and wonderment.
The crowd at the Vector Arena seemingly stretching to infinity under a blizzard of white confetti.
Sam surrounded by confetti.
Rusty and Melissa - who we met at the show - enjoying the vibe.
Turns out my sister was at the same concert - neither of us knew till we saw each other in the crowd!
Rüfüs Du Sol member and singer Tyrone Lindqvist thanking the crowd.
Watching sheep quietly graze the green pastoral landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand is remarkably soothing. This one is a Pitt Island sheep - a rare breed from an island in the Rekohu / Chathams group.
Plants and rocks at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Pōneke.
The aluminium window frames of many modern buildings in Aotearoa have terrible thermal efficiency. But I think our heritage cast iron frames are even worse! #mbnov
Reasons to get out of the office in Pōneke today ….
#Pōneke #harbour #Wellington #YCBWOAGD #sun #summer #raumati
Captivated and transported by Red Leap’s interpretation of Janet Frame’s “Owls Do Cry” this afternoon. It is now 65 years since the book was published; this performance gave it fresh relevance.
#writer #book #modernist #novel #autobiography #JanetFrame #Aotearoa #OwlsDoCry
In Aotearoa NZ today, a “Minister” is a member of the governing Cabinet, with responsibility for oversight of one or more portfolios and Ministries or Departments. The religious use of the term is very much secondary; nearly half of all Kiwis now profess “no religion”. #mbnov
I’m pretty certain that this is one of the best days in Pōneke this spring.
#pōneke #wellington #aotearoa #YCBWOAGD #mbnov
An oasis in the city. Gardens, seats, trees, and the Bucket Fountain. Cuba Street, Pōneke, Aotearoa. Well done, WCC.
The weather in Pōneke (Wellington), Aotearoa is utterly foul today, and I’m still in recovery mode - so I’m taking it as a licence to stay home and rest properly. #mbnov
Matariki and the European Bronze Age
Aotearoa NZ is about to celebrate Matariki - the appearance of a constellation of stars that herald the Māori new year. New Zealand will have its first public holiday for Matariki this Friday 24 June.
Many cultures around the world and across history have used the Pleiades star cluster as calendrical markers.
As the recent book "The World of Stonehenge" (p145) notes, the Nebra Sky Disc (from Bronze-Age eastern Germany c1600BC) features this symbolism:
"There is a distinctive rosette of seven stars clustered between the full and the crescent moons. These are identified as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters (fig. 3.22), recognised by many world cultures as calendar stars, since they are last seen in the night sky in March and only reappear again in October."
"The Greek poet Hesiod, writing in c. 700 BC, noted that 'when the Pleiades rise it is the time to use the sickle, but the plough when they are setting'. Their disappearance and appearance has been seen historically a marker of the beginning and end of the farming year in Europe, and the Skidi Pawnee people of North America used these celestial markers as a sign to prepare rituals and ceremonies connected to the agricultural cycle. In the region of eastern Germany where the disc was found, the Pleiades is last seen in the sky on 10 March, alongside the young, crescent moon. The full moon accompanies the reappearance of the constellation on 17 October. On the disc, the Pleiades is tellingly placed between the crescent and full moons, suggesting an awareness of this celestial rhythm."
This is a fascinating connection between a prehistoric Bronze-Age world, and the resurgence of te ao Māori in contemporary Aotearoa.
