Kāpehu Whetū Compass

Est. 2005.  Jack Thatcher, one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most renowned celestial navigators, used the skills he had learnt over many years studying the ancient form of navigation to create the second Celestial Compass in New Zealand at Te Pari Taha | Sulphur Point in Tauranga. This working model demonstrates traditional navigation between sun, moon, stars, sky, sea and horizon.

Map No. 14.
Marine Park,
Te Pari Taha | Sulphur Point,
Tauranga, 3110.

Read more here:

 Kāpehu Whetū | Celestial Compass (est. 2005). McCauley, Debbie (2015, updated 2022).

Wayfinding is how the first people to explore the Pacific Ocean navigated without instruments. In 2005 Jack Thatcher, one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most renowned celestial navigators, used the skills he had learnt over many years studying the ancient form of navigation to create the first Celestial Compass in New Zealand at Te Pari o Te Tai | Sulphur Point in Tauranga. The Celestial Compass has four poupou (carved posts) that face north, south, west, and east. Between them are plain posts that represent the 28 Polynesian ‘houses’ of the full horizon. Represented is the entirety of the environment, including the stars, Sun, Moon and ‘houses’ on the horizon between the sea and sky.