Yesterday I went to the really cool cable car and took a ride up to the top of the lookout there where there is a botanical gardens and a planetarium. The botanical gardens were quite beautiful although I didn’t get to see it all since I wanted to do the planetarium show.
I was the only who was there for the 7pm showing so I got a very personalised lesson on the Maori beliefs regarding the stars and stuff. The Maori used the Southern Cross to navigate their way through the ocean since there is not South Star like there is a North Star.
I also had a longer than average show since I was asking all sorts of questions regarding the stars.
whee!
The story I liked the best with Maori folklore is that the Sky Father was naked so one of the gods, I don’t know which, decided to cloak him. He took the stars, buried under mountains, and put them in his giant canoe(milky way). Orion’s belt represented the stern of the canoe and Scorpio represented the curling tail. You watch as throughout the night the canoe tips over and all the stars fall out, spilling over the sky, covering Sky Father with a Cloak.
Bertha