Hello Everybody from down under, as they say it here :) Let me bring you a different perspective today, as a food for thought on how many ways we can see things. Even from a scientific point of view :)
Well, if you look at the map and check where is New Zealand on it, you will figure out right away what I mean. Hold on, wait a second... are you sure???
A world map can depict many many things - like geographic, geological and political features, or even social, economic, cultural aspects. The diverse ways of the projection of our Earth reflect different technical and aesthetic goals, depending what one wants to show or see - as the different examples show here.
This is why I find checking out maps truly amazing! So, where is New Zealand on the world map? Depends on the point of view :) For us Europeans, it is in the far right and lower corner, right?
Well, here, down under, the Kiwi Upside Down World Map proudly displays NZ at the top of the world :) Europe and Africa are not located in the centre (of the world :D ), instead it is the Pacific, and the North Pole is actually down and not up! Looks totally different, right?
It also feels different. In terms of four seasons. It is all switched up. Summer is winter here, like right now in August, and spring starts officially on the 1st of September!!! Christmas will probably not be white and snowy but we will have summer Christmas cherries instead and various types of Santas running around on the beaches -> actually, this year we are extremely lucky because we will have 2 summers :)))
Time zone wise it is also a very special sensation... Apart from some Pacific islands, with the highest UTC +14, Auckland with its +12 UTC is the very first major city on the International Date Line - an imaginary line around 180° longitude that demarcates the change from one day to the other - to experience the early sunrise, hence the beginning of a new day or a new year :) A today in New Zealand can be a yesterday in Europe and even earlier in the United States. When I go to sleep, that's when most of my European friends wake up :) Friday morning is Thursday midday in LA! For the visual experience check out the world clocks and note the difference between the Auckland-Paris-Los Angeles triangle. Binspi tip: You can in fact have 2 New Year's Eve celebrations if you hop on a flight in the very end of December from New Zealand with destination Europe for example - one on the plane and the second on your arrival to Europe :D How cool is that! We actually experienced it some years ago totally unintentionally :)
To surprise those of you who haven't heard of this before even more - I made another very interesting and at first very confusing observation. Even the moon is upside down! Go figure! I noticed this when I was taking pictures of the full moon. Something just didn't feel right. Then I realised why! The moon's shape. All my life I lived with a moon growing in a D shape. Well, here, on the Southern Hemisphere, it is just the other way round - it grows in a C shape. For those of you interested, here is a very cool post and some pictures about this topic.
And yes, the stars on the sky are slightly different in New Zealand, too. Some are upside down! :) Very beautiful, very bright. I have to admit I miss the Big Dipper a lot, but maybe the Southern Cross will compensate me for some of my loss :) If you like stars and astronomy, here is a more scientific description on the stars in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. And a real gem, a beginner's guide I found here on the constellations in this part of the world :) A totally different perspective, isn’t it? :) Have you ever experienced something similar? Did you notice any differences between the two hemispheres while traveling? Would love to hear about it! ***Got inspired? Thank you for sharing ;)
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AboutSharing my passion for photography, New Zealand, nature, and a journey within.
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