This Community Celebration Event is being held on Sunday 4 July at the 1841 Bar and Restaurant in Johnsonville. It's a place we have used for geocaching events in the past. Due to changes at the bar the upstairs room is not available so we have reserved some tables in the main bar downstairs. The lunch menu at the 1841 can be found here http://www.1841.co.nz/menu
The 4th of July is significant for many reasons. If you are an American its a public holiday in mid-summer - American Independence Day celebrating the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776.
For the astronomically inclined its Aphelion. This year that actually occurs on 6 July but normally its the 4th of July. App - helion you ask? What's that?
Earth's Perihelion and Aphelion
The Earth is closest to the Sun, or at the perihelion, about two weeks after the December solstice (22 Dec), Conversely, the Earth is farthest away from the Sun, at the aphelion point, two weeks after the June solstice (21 June), when the Northern Hemisphere is enjoying warm summer months and its winter in the south. From early July onwards we are heading back towards the sun and the days will begin to get longer down south (although the days will not feel warmer for a few more months).
Here in Aotearoa/New Zealand the period from 19 June to 11 July is known as Matariki.
For Māori in Aotearoa, astronomy was interwoven into all facets of life. Experts would observe the sky, making notes on star and planet movements, the relationship of those stars and planets to the moon and sun, while noting what was happening around them on land and in the oceans, lakes and rivers. All these celestial objects were given Māori names and their stories were woven into the history of the people.
One of these star groups is Matariki, the Māori name given to Pleiades, an internationally recognised star cluster in the constellation Taurus that can be seen all over the world. The rise of Matariki in the winter skies above Aotearoa at dawn is an important time in the Māori calendar, as it signifies the start of the Māori New Year.
Historically, New Year celebrations provided the opportunity for communities to come together to acknowledge the year gone by and make plans for the year ahead; to celebrate with kai, kōrero, rituals and entertainment. You too can join in the celebration of Matariki by attending this geocaching event. Beginning next year Aotearoa/New Zealand will mark the significance of Matariki to our cultural identity by holding a new national public holiday on Friday 24 June 2022.
"Matariki will be a distinctly New Zealand holiday; a time for reflection and celebration, and our first public holiday that recognises Te Ao Māori," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. "This will be a day to acknowledge our nation's unique, shared identity, and the importance of tikanga Māori. It's going to be something very special, and something uniquely New Zealand.".
To help you celebrate Matariki, I have placed seven new caches to make you more aware of the stories around the seven main stars of the Matariki star cluster. These will be released at the time of the event. They will be spread out around Wellington so you will need to decide which ones to get first. Sorry but there are no shared FTF on these caches unless you arrive as a team and sign the fresh logsheet first. Note the codes in these caches as three bonus caches will be released on 11 July at the end of the Matariki celebration period.
Community Celebration Events - 2020/21
This Event is part of a limited release of Community Celebration Events to celebrate 20 years of geocaching. Geocachers hosted events between May 2, 2020 and December 31, 2022. Learn more about Community Celebration Events on the Geocaching Blog.