Horse racing: Hutchings hoping for more homecoming success
While he spent several months in New Zealand at the start of the year, this trip will be a hit-and-run mission for the Sydney-based hoop, who has
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NZ Herald
6 hours ago
- NZ Herald
The Great New Zealand Road Trip: ‘You New Zealanders take your stars for granted' - the striking words of a tourist that helped turn this Kiwi region dark
Over there, Mars is descending below the horizon. On the opposite side, Saturn is rising. The Milky Way, directly above, dominates the space-scape. Visibility tonight is 100% – you'll not see the Southern Cross, and the two pointers, Alpha and Beta Centauri, more resplendent. Atop 1030m Mt John, we are in the centre of the Aoraki-Mackenzie dark sky reserve, the biggest in the world. The Aoraki-Mackenzie dark sky reserve is the biggest in the world. Photo / Supplied It's been literally billions of years in the making, of course, but the dark sky initiative and the tourist visits to Mt John were born from a conversation just over 20 years ago. 'You New Zealanders take your stars for granted' Graeme Murray moved to Lake Tekapo (Takapō) in the mid-70s, operating scenic flights in the area. His path crossed in 2004 with then Japanese tourist (and subsequent Kiwi resident) Hide Ozawa, who had been awestruck by the night sky above the Mackenzie Basin. 'This is the place I can show more people the night sky,' Ozawa recalled thinking on a recently released documentary for the 20-year anniversary of the Dark Sky Project. Graeme Murray moved to Lake Tekapo (Takapō) in the mid-70s. Photo / Supplied 'Not many Kiwis [are] aware of how special this night sky is. The centre of the Milky Way ... goes straight above on the east. It's wide up there and tapering to both horizons. That never happens in the northern hemisphere.' Ozawa sought Murray's help to support Nagoya University install a leading-edge telescope atop Mt John, with the support of Canterbury University. 'The only thing we hoped we would obtain as a result of our support was the key to the gate,' Murray says on the documentary. 'We would love to open it up for astrotourism.' The venture, then called Earth & Sky, was hardly an overnight success – Murray recalls occasions when barely three people would show up. Graeme Murray'ss path crossed in 2004 with then Japanese tourist (and subsequent Kiwi resident) Hide Ozawa. Photo / Supplied 'One night, [Hide] and I were sitting under the stars here with no clients, and he said what to me personally, are very famous words, 'You New Zealanders take your stars for granted – you don't appreciate the asset you have in your night sky'. 'He said if we had a sky like this in Japan, we would create a park to protect it. 'Now I've heard of people being hit by religion and all sorts of things, but that sort of got at me a wee bit.' Hide Ozawa had been awestruck by the night sky above the Mackenzie Basin. Photo / Supplied With the support of many, the Mackenzie-Aoraki area was awarded dark sky status in 2012. The trickle of tourists became a torrent, says Murray. Ngāi Tahu comes on board Earth & Sky and Ngāi Tahu Tourism teamed up in 2016 to become 50-50 partners in the business, and renamed it The Dark Sky Project. Tour times vary according to the season, anywhere from 6.30pm to 2am in winter. In summer time, the tours are between 10pm and 4am. 'I already was a night owl,' laughs Ngāi Tahu astronomer Victoria Campbell, who was appointed Dark Sky Project general manager last year. Ngāi Tahu astronomer Victoria Campbell. Photo / Supplied This year, the Dark Sky Project is forecast to attract around 48,000 visitors to Mt John. 'One of the most special things is sharing the amazing southern sky with people from all over the world,' says Campbell. 'A lot of those people don't get to see the stars in general, due to light pollution or air pollution. It's life-changing. They're blown away.' While there was still work to be done, she believed that Kiwis were starting to appreciate what lies above. 'The fact that here in Aotearoa, we have so many regions or communities looking for some type of dark sky status ... is indicative of the value and appreciation that people have.' Campbell relocated to Takapō from Dunedin for the general manager role last year. 'Knowing how special our view is of the Milky Way here in Aotearoa, that's never lost for me. Aoraki Mackenzie's Dark Sky Project is a Ngāi Tahu Tourism operation, which connects manuhiri (visitors) to our night sky. Photo / Supplied 'For someone who has been raised in the city and only recently moved into a dark sky reserve, I really noticed the difference in what we're able to see – just the magnitude and the multitude of the stars.' 'We're in heaven here' Weaved into the Dark Sky Project is an interactive experience which explains Matariki and the importance of the night sky in Māori culture, including how the stars were used for the earliest Polynesian navigators. Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua and Waihao Upoko Tewera King and Te Rūnanga o Moeraki Upoko David Higgins shared ancestral stories when Ngāi Tahu Tourism partnered with Earth & Sky. 'We understood rather rapidly just how important it was to revive some of that mātauranga, some of those traditions and stories about the night sky,' Higgins said in the documentary. 'We're in heaven here, aren't we? Takapō is a very special place.' The Mackenzie Basin was traditionally a gateway for Ngāi Tahu ancestors to connect and trade as they travelled around the South Island. King described it as the heartbeat of the takiwā (tribal boundary) for his hapū. 'When you're up on Ōtehīwai [University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory] and the sky is perfect, it almost feels like you can reach out and touch the moon – it's a very spiritual place,' said King. Visitors looking at the night sky at Aoraki Mackenzie's Dark Sky Project. Photo / Supplied King tells me he's excited by the potential. 'I believe that's where we all should be heading and looking. We should be looking to go into the stars. 'I see it as a vehicle to interest Māori in our stars, but take that next step and get them into astronomy as well. I want us to be travellers in space. 'Our ancestors were people who crossed vast amounts of distances on oceans. Why don't we take that attitude and start looking at going across vast expanses of space?' On Wednesday night, that dream seemed like a perfectly reasonable reality as we peered through telescopes to get an even closer look at the likes of Saturn and even a dying star. As we descended Mt John, bus driver Philippa had one more song – Bliss. Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand's most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor.
Scoop
17 hours ago
- Scoop
Wool In Tennis Balls From Hill Country Farms Will Be Served Up At The US Open
New Zealand wool will be bouncing around the courts of the 2025 US Open tennis tournament when the final Grand Slam of the year takes centre stage in New York. Tennis balls made with wool sourced from farms throughout the country will be served up by the world's top-ranked players when they play at Flushing Meadows as the two-week long tournament gets underway this weekend. New Zealand's largest scourer WoolWorks is supplier to a specialist textiles manufacturer in Thailand, a key cog in the global tennis ball supply chain. The company TTI Sports weaves the eye-catching yellow felt for the maker of the official Wilson match tennis ball. New Zealand Wool Services trading manager Nathan Watt said it's one of the more unusual uses of New Zealand wool beamed into living rooms in nearly every continent. He said it's unfortunate there's no branding for the country's farmers but he joked it's nice to imagine a small Kiwi printed on each ball. "TTI is the biggest tennis ball felt manufacturer in the world with a long history. They make 80 percent of the world's superior tennis ball felt," Watt said. He rattled off a list of the big brands TTI supplies such as Wilson, Head, Penn and Slazenger. Over the next fortnight the US Open will go through roughly 100,000 Wilson balls. To make each ball the crossbred wool is blended with synthetic thread wrapped around a rubber core. Wool predominantly off the back of the Romneys of 32 to 36 microns is the perfect tool in the fiercest of rallies. Rosstan Mazey, chief executive of WoolWorks Ventures, said last year around 3000 tonnes of the country's wool was exported for tennis ball felt. His enthusiasm for the country's woollen fibre is just as high when he's hitting balls across the net at his local Karori United Club in the Wellington suburb. "The New Zealand wool is very white and clean and so when it comes to dying the felt fluorescent yellow and green it works really well," Rosstan Mazey said. "It doesn't come up with any colour issues through that process." This year's $5 million (NZ$8.4m) cheque for the men's and women's singles US Open champions represents a 39 percent hike from last year's $3.6 million. Players on a path to Grand Slam glory are defending champion Jannik Sinner who remains in a late fitness race, and Spanish 2022 winner Carlos Alcaraz who will also play in the mixed doubles alongside Britain's Emma Raducanu. In the women's singles, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka has not won a Grand Slam since last year's US Open. The American tennis superstar Coco Gauff showed the spirit of a warrior as she battled to beat Sabalenka at Roland Garros in June for the French Open trophy. Poland's Iga Swiatek comes in to the New York tournament after winning the most recent Grand Slam on grass at Wimbledon. Alongside the 190kph serves and grunts that reverberate across the stadium, the US Open is also known for its celebrity sightings. The main draw runs for two weeks through to 7 September with night session matches played into the early hours of the morning. And in the women's doubles, Kiwi Erin Routliffe is at the top of her game. She and Canadian partner Gaby Dabrowski won the 2023 US Open women's doubles title. In a profitable warm up event they won this week's Cincinnati Open doubles crown.
NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Horse racing: Hutchings hoping for more homecoming success
Following his successful stint in New Zealand over summer, expat Kiwi jockey Rory Hutchings is set to return to his homeland next month. While he spent several months in New Zealand at the start of the year, this trip will be a hit-and-run mission for the Sydney-based hoop, who has
