Star-gazing business green shoots are growing inside Wairarapa’s dark sky reserve, with one operator planning to add new staff by Christmas, overturning the “hunker down” mentality in many parts of the economy.
Milky-Way Kiwi operators Sam Leske and partner Haritina Mogosanu have toiled for four years under the local dark skies to build traction for stargazing and science education. They now have more demand than they can cope with.
“This is really working. We’ve been living off our business income now for four years and it’s growing, even in a recession,” Leske said.
“We’re just taking on a third staff member and hope by the end of the year to have a team of four.
There is a growing awareness among locals in the Wairarapa, who are wanting a star gazing experience. Tourists are only a small segment of our business, despite the region attracting about a million visitors per year. The local market is the core. What we’ve done, right from the start is cater to this market.”
The pair aim to provide people with a science-based experience they can’t get anywhere else, that’s educational, enjoyable and they walk away knowing something different.
“We want people to come back. At the heart of it is this whole ‘knowledge tourism’ philosophy,” he said.
“We’re getting people who tell us they choose us because they and their kids are going to
learn something. That’s gelled really well with our customer base.
It’s not just “moving a telescope round. We are talking about the amazing sights we have here, the importance of the dark sky reserve, the ecological importance, the health aspects, even the financial aspects of the dark sky reserve.”
In turn, their customers confirm about 40 percent attend as a result of “word of mouth” reference.
Sam confirmed that the dark sky reserve status across the district meant that over the past four years there had been no increase in light scatter.
“It hasn’t got worse,” though “we see the dome
(of night light) spillover from Masterton off in the distance to the north and we see a little bit of spillover from Wellington.”
“Everyone has got an interest in the sky.
It’s important to have a story to tell and we have the Wairarapa story about the dark sky reserve and why it’s there.
“That sparks a lot of questions, such as ‘what can I do at home to reduce my pollution; what plants can I grow to encourage moths; what can I do if my neighbour has a spotlight shining on my yard; how can I protect myself from blue light at night-time?’
The pair point to a long history of astronomical observation and science, both amateur and professional, underpinning the country’s astronomy credentials.
New Zealand also has “a world-leading regulatory system” relating to space and a range of space industry companies, including Rocket Lab, something a lot of New Zealanders don’t know.
The Milky-Way Kiwi project includes star-gazing, astrophotography (Star Safari), school astronomy and science programmes (Spaceward Bound – so far reaching 40,000 kids nationwide), an annual science fair, cloudy night Planetarium displays, and courses on science teaching.
A new Observatory is being built at their Ponatahi property for a new 30-inch telescope.
To find them: https://milky-way.kiwi/
