Geoff J Mckay
Awaiting Matariki Sunrise
A group of day-trampers eagerly await the Matariki sunrise on a high point above Sunrise Hut. Matariki Day is a new public holiday in New Zealand to celebrate Matariki - the Māori name for Pleiades which refers to a cluster of stars that rises in mid-winter, marking the start of the Māori New Year. Some iwi name this time of year Puanga, after a bright star that is above and to the right of the Matariki constellation.
The group of trampers in this photo were members of a group of about 12 day-trampers who came up in the dark and joined several of us who had stayed over-night in the Sunrise Hut. Note that some were wearing shorts and were shivering up there - as soon as the sunrise was over they made a bee-line into the hut to thaw out around the wood-burner fire that our friendly Hut Warden had lit to make for a very cosy hut.
Awaiting Matariki Sunrise
A group of day-trampers eagerly await the Matariki sunrise on a high point above Sunrise Hut. Matariki Day is a new public holiday in New Zealand to celebrate Matariki - the Māori name for Pleiades which refers to a cluster of stars that rises in mid-winter, marking the start of the Māori New Year. Some iwi name this time of year Puanga, after a bright star that is above and to the right of the Matariki constellation.
The group of trampers in this photo were members of a group of about 12 day-trampers who came up in the dark and joined several of us who had stayed over-night in the Sunrise Hut. Note that some were wearing shorts and were shivering up there - as soon as the sunrise was over they made a bee-line into the hut to thaw out around the wood-burner fire that our friendly Hut Warden had lit to make for a very cosy hut.