Armillary Sundial, Akaroa, New Zealand
Posted by: 
arby101ca
S 43° 48.386 E 172° 58.222
59G E 658486 N 5147739
On Rue Balgueire in Akaroa is an armillary sundial in an exuberant front garden. This is a standard, garden variety armillary, but not properly oriented to show correct solar time.
Waymark Code: WMFYH6
Location: South Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 12/17/2012
Views: 4
We walked up Rue Balgueire heading for the historical French Pioneers’ graveyard. We were surprised and then disappointed by a sundial in a front garden along the street.
“Fie on ’t, ah fie! 'Tis an unweeded garden that grows to seed things rank and gross in nature” (Shakespeare’s Hamlet 1-2).
This is a fine functional sundial but it is not properly oriented to work as a sundial. Function should lead fashion but it rarely does. Looking good is all that matters. This sundial is oriented for about latitude 60 N, not 36°south. It is not pointing south parallel to the earth’s axis but about 45° off. The hours go the wrong way as this dial is set for the northern, not southern hemisphere. It would be so easy to invert the armillary, set according to the latitude and orient it to the south. Then it would show proper solar time. It could even be adjusted for longitude and daylight sayings time. But the dial is like the wild garden, good for show, not for purpose.
Sundial Type: Armillary Sphere - series of rings in plane of equator
Related Web Site: Not listed
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