Seeing stars in Sydney
Visitors to Sydney who take time to explore the slopes above The Rocks may wish to direct their steps up Observatory Hill. At...
The Politics of Kulture
Charlemagne’s imperial Palatine Chapel at Aachen, Germany, is perhaps the single greatest example left to us of the cultural renaissance that swept Western Europe...
Ashburton’s enduring clock tower
The next time you have cause to drive through Ashburton on State Highway 1 take a turn across the central rail line.
If driving south,...
Auckland’s big little new Eden
Eden Park has been a sports ground since 1900. It became home to Auckland Cricket in 1910 and to the Auckland Rugby Union in...
Christchurch’s Hagley Oval Pavilion
A southern-style stoush had been sparked when New Zealand was chosen, along with Australia, as host for the 2015 World Cricket Cup. Post-quake Christchurch...
Tekapo’s astronomical analemma
Dr Kerry Rodgers has clearly been out in the midday sun for far too long . . .
Analemma: a plot or graph...
Wairakei celebrates 50 years
In the 1950s New Zealand was desperate for electrical energy. A succession of droughts had found the country’s much vaunted hydro-electric generation capacity wanting....
[H2O]3
Among the many venues hosting the Beijing Summer Olympics, few are more likely to attract comment as the National Aquatics Centre. This new...
Kawau’s Cornish pumphouse
Just two years after Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson RN did his thing at Waitangi, a thin copper lode was discovered on Kawau Island. Four years...
The pyramid that Imhotep built
Some 4600 years ago, Imhotep designed and supervised construction of the world’s first large-scale, cut-stone tomb. It was Egypt’s first pyramid. Today it still...