Come In From The Cold: Winter School Holidays At Stardome
This Takurua (Winter), Stardome Observatory & Planetarium is the go-to destination for out-of-this-world fun! From 28 June to 13 July, families are invited to come in from the cold and blast off into a season of spacey school holiday adventures — all inside the warmth of Stardome's iconic 360-degree indoor dome planetarium.
With daily dinosaur screenings, magical Matariki shows, and a line-up of classic sci-fi films the whole whānau will love, Stardome's holiday programme promises to spark curiosity, imagination and intergalactic fun — rain or shine.
DAILY DINOSAURS
Get ready to stomp through time with T.REX and Dinosaurs of Antarctica — two thrilling shows roaring onto the dome this school holidays. At least one dinosaur show screens daily, offering a prehistoric journey for dino-enthusiasts of all ages. Check the website for daily screening times.
MAGICAL MATARIKI
Celebrate the Māori New Year under the stars. Stardome's Matariki shows continue through the holidays with extra afternoon sessions added. Learn the stories of the Matariki star cluster, reflect on the year that's been, and look ahead to the future — together. Visit the website for full Matariki schedule.
STARDOME FAVOURITES
Stardome's best-loved planetarium films will continue to screen over the holidays. Perfect for curious young minds, these films are fun, educational, and full of cosmic wonder.
Includes: Perfect Little Planet, 3-2-1 Liftoff!, Looking Up, We Are Guardians, Our Sky Tonight, The Great Solar System Adventure. See website for session times and dates.
FAMILY-FRIENDLY SCI-FI MOVIES
Sit back, relax, and enjoy cult classics and cosmic capers on the big dome screen — perfect for older kids and nostalgic grown-ups alike.
All screenings at 4PM
TICKETING & INFO
School Holiday Shows: $12 flat rate (including Saturdays)
Sunday Saver: $12 adult, $10 child
Annual Pass Holders: Free entry to all school holiday shows
Children 14 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
Bookings are highly recommended as shows often sell out. All sessions are subject to availability.
Visit www.stardome.org.nz for full schedule and bookings.
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NZ Herald
5 days ago
- NZ Herald
Their last love token was a dinosaur carefully rebuilt from its excavated bones
As a team, they combined his meticulous scientific approach to fossil restoration with her artistic touch. Fossils were glued together and mounted on metal structures to conjure, for example, the terrifying might of a T. rex or the elongated neck of a sauropod. Now, amid what was perhaps the couple's most ambitious project, April noticed a sharp pain in her lower back. The doctors said she was really sick, gallbladder issues. James said he and his wife persevered by focusing on what might be their last great collaboration. As her husband gently airbrushed dirt from triceratops vertebrae like a dental hygienist removing plaque, she wrote poetry about dinosaurs and produced an illustrated children's book about the triceratops, which she nicknamed Buddy. Barry James in his barn at his home in Sunbury. Photo / Caroline Gutman, The New York Times Before she met James, April had held an eclectic assortment of jobs — raceway trophy girl, sandwich shop owner, and the impresario of a fibreglass business that outfitted racing boats and skateboards. With James, she had committed to recreating prehistory, though now she was too sick to help with the bones as in years past. Completing a dinosaur skeleton can take years, and April would not live to see the triceratops in full form. She died on February 7, 2024, before James could even piece together the dinosaur's facial bones and trademark frill. During bereavement, James stopped working on the triceratops. It would be difficult to continue until his grief subsided. But surrounded by the bones one day, an idea started to form — an unconventional way for him to honour April's memory. Nearly a year later, I arranged to meet Barry at his workshop in Pennsylvania, a renovated dairy barn. It was a chilly day in March and the wind roared through the wooden panels of the workshop, where Barry had hung pterodactyl bones and John Lennon quotes. The adjoining house was hidden on a hillside surrounded by forests and guarded by a pet graveyard dotted with scrap-metal sculptures that April had assembled to memorialise some 50 pets. Friends had gathered that day to support Barry — and to reminisce about his wife. 'She had this creativity,' Dianne Fantaskey, one of April's closest friends, said in an interview that day. 'She would be up until 3 or 4 in the morning writing notes and poetry. She was very prolific.' 'They were a definite team,' added Fantaskey, who said the couple never took a holiday even as April's physical pain increased over the years. 'I really believe she sort of sacrificed herself for him and his business.' Barry James holds a picture of his wife, April, holding the giant femur of a dinosaur, quite likely a sauropod, at his home in Sunbury. Photo / Caroline Gutman, The New York Times Before we could talk about the dinosaur, James gave a house tour that started with a picture of his wife conversing with Yoko Ono. 'They constantly exchanged poems back and forth,' he said. Down the hallway was a door that hadn't been opened in months. It was April's art studio, filled with drawings that she had started but never completed and a library of papers that contained her writing. For once, Barry was speechless, allowing Pookie, his dog, to inspect the room before ushering her out. Then we climbed the stairs to a secret room hidden behind a bookshelf, where the couple stored a collection of historical artifacts sourced from flea markets and auction houses. The hoard included a musket from the Revolutionary War, an old Viking knife and a 1923 telephone from the United States Capitol Building. 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