Contents

COVER PHOTO HEADLINE : A NEW YEAR The rise of Matariki connects us to the starts, land and sea. How should we celebrate our newest public holiday?
CONTENTS : Departments : UP FRONT EDITORIAL -- IN THE FIELD -- VIEWFINDER Melanie Burford photographs her family's journey to finding a home and adjusting to her son's autism diagnosis -- GeoNEWS A new tracking study reveals the habits of blue sharks; seabirds are transferring plastic from the ocean to the land; a massive sponge-bleaching event takes place in Aotearoa; and more penguin wrecks -- PROFILE Molecular biologist Warren Tate on investigating unexplained diseases -- JUST SO How do animals use electricity to navigate the world, find a meal, or defend themselves from enemies.
REFLECTION CULTURE A new book catalogues the treasures of a paleontological site at risk of mining, an app provides a pocket field guide to native trees; Matariki stories from around the world -- HISTORY Homosexuality was illegal in New Zealand for more than a century, and for a long time was punishable by death.
CONTENTS : Features :
MATARIKI RISING There's a new public holiday on the calendar : Matariki, the Maori new year. It's the first indigenous celebration to be formally recognised in any colonised country, and it offers New Zealanders the opportunity to reconnect with land, stars and sea.
FAR, FAR AWAY New Zealand's geography makes it an appealing place for agriculture. It also makes it a good place for launching rockets.
CRADLE OF LIFE Where do young sea creatures spend their first weeks. What's at the root of oceanic food chains? Kelp forests are to Aotearoa what coral reefs are to other marine ecosystems. Or, at least, they used to be.
EXERCISE NEMESIS Every year, hundreds of officer cadets trudge through the sodden, rust-coloured wasteland of Rangipo Desert. The most difficult of the exercises they'll undertake is Nemesis - a trial that will haunt them for the rest of their Army careers.
POSTCARDS FROM NGARUAWAHIA New Zealand Geographic invited 21 photojournalists from around the country to a workshop in this small Waikato town. These are the stories they found : love at the speedway, milking sheds at dawn, staunch rugby rivals about three feet tall.