Stonehenge Aotearoa, New Zealand

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We just post them–we don’t try to pronounce them.

This is one of the big permanent Stonehenge replicas scattered about the globe. The original press release said: “A modern day version of the 4000-year-old English monument as it might have been, had it been built in the Southern hemisphere, Stonehenge Aotearoa, is backed by the New Zealand Government and Royal Society of the New Zealand, and is the brain child of members of the Phoenix Astronomical Society.”

New Zealand publisher Mary Varnham says in its defense, “I’ve been to both it and the original Stonehenge in Britain and there’s no contest: Stonehenge Aotearoa is by far the most interesting experience.” We can’t say, as we’ve only been to the original, but it no doubt depends on what you’re interested in.

Kudos to its builders for attention to astronomy and for a neat, clean presentation. For what it actually is, it could hardly be better, but as we rate things as Stonehenge replicas on this blog, and it skips the inner trilithons and many other aspects of the original, we’re giving it six druids. If we were Kiwis, though, we would definitely plan a visit!

Plasticine henge

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A henge of Plasticine (much like Playdough, for those on the left bank of the Atlantic), made and photographed by Alice Yeah on Flickr. It is part of the Flickr Thinghenge group, which is, for us, a thing of great wonder. We hope to bring you more from there over time.

She says she was inspired by a film (I think we all know what film she means!) to make a little Stonehenge and first tried making it with lolly (popsickle) sticks wrapped with coloured wool, then moved on to plasticine. She likes “the concentric arrangement and the shapes of the stones.”

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The colo(u)rs here are pleasing, too, and she took care to make it resemble the real Stonehenge with some  flat stones and a limited number of lintels. Nice, too, that we have an aerial view . . . Score: 6 ½ druids. Those stone shapes are good. It’s close to a seven. Thank you, Alicia!