The Southern Cross has a certain mystique in the northern hemisphere as expressed in the Crosby, Stills and Nash song:
"When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way
'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small
But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a comin' day"
And of course, it is on the New Zealand flag. So it was important for us to find it. Based on our research on the internet, we discovered that you look in the southern sky to find the two pointers (the bright stars in the lower right). Follow them to the four main bright starts of the cross (upper section of the photo, just a bit to the left). Early in the evening at this time of the year, the cross is actually on its left side. It apparently rotates in the sky through the night, but we were not willing to wait for it to be upright (or upside down, we are not sure).
Although it is neat to see the Southern Cross, the more impressive sight is the Milky Way - if you give your eyes a couple of minutes to adjust to the darkness you can see the think band of the Milky Way from one end of the horizon to the other - billions and billions of stars!
