Matariki light show Invercargill 2022

This year was the first year that Matariki (Māori New Year) was celebrated as a public holiday. It is related to the lunar calendar and the rising of the Pleiades star cluster. This usually happens late June/ Early July.

This is a 35 second short video of the Matariki light displays in Queens Park. Friday 24/6 was Matariki this year and this was the day that the light show opened. It runs for 4 days. 

I ran into two issues with this as a disabled person.

  1. The roads close to the park gates were closed. So I had to park a long way away – not ideal when I can’t walk far. When I got to the traffic control to complain they said oh, you should have driven up to here, we would have let you through. Well a road sign would have been nice, I’m not a mind reader.
  2. There was a one way system over a small bridge at the duck pond. This was not made obvious to me till I had walked a long way in the other direction to be turned back saying the bridge was one way the other way. The arrow I was meant to see was on the floor, in the dark under the masses of feet of the crowds around me. Not helpful.

Simple little things can ruin your experience when you’re disabled.

#193 Matariki, mind games & a balancing act!

Matariki signals the Māori New Year and has connections with the lunar calendar. From next year it is being added as a New Zealand public holiday for the first time. This week I have been working hard on self belief, getting past mental barriers.. and of course.. still trying to balance (but I have adopted an entirely different approach this time!)

Continue reading “#193 Matariki, mind games & a balancing act!”

Winter bites and so do the Highlanders!

Forsyth Barr stadiumWe are now well into winter, and well into the rugby season. We have been following the Highlanders who are having the season of their lives. We headed to Dunedin to watch their play off match, which they won against the Chiefs, meaning they headed to Australia the following week to play the defending Super Rugby champions, the Waratahs.

Sadly, our budget didn’t stretch to that so we had to watch it on telly! Continue reading “Winter bites and so do the Highlanders!”