the temple of nim newsletter - may 2008

7/31/2019 The Temple of Nim Newsletter - May 2008

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The Temple of NimMonthly Newsletter

of

BLUE MOUNTAINS UFORESEARCH CLUB.

Vol. 4 Issue No 5

May 2008

INSIDE:Results of the 2008 Gilroy New Zealand Moa Search

Vikings in the Pacific New Discoveries from New Zealand.An Uruan Megalithic Astronomical Temple at Lake Taupo, North Island, New Zealand.


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Blue Mountains UFO Research Club Newsletter May 2008. 2

Blue Mountains UFO Research Club News. Our meetings are held on the third Saturday of the month, [exceptMarch this year] at the Gilroy residence, 12 Kamillaroi Road, SouthKatoomba, from 2pm onwards.

We are situated on the corner of Kamillaroi Road and Ficus Street, and as we always say, park in Ficus Street where thereis safer parking.PLEASE NO SMOKING ON THE PREMISES.

ALSO, NO LARGE BAGS IN THE CINEMAORTHE HOUSE.

PLEASE NOTE. Please contact us prior to bringing along any new friends interested in UFOlogy and the mysteriesgenerally. Anyone with any personal experiences involving UFOs or the unexplained are invited to share them with us all.

Contact Information: Phone: 02 4782 3441, Email: [email protected][or catch our website on rexgilroy.com or mysteriousaustralia.com].

A plate of food to share for afternoon tea is appreciated.

PROGRAM FOR THE 17TH

MAY.

Video presentation by Greg Foster of UFOs filmed recently by him over Blacktown. Report by Rex Gilroy on UFO sightings over Bilpin district and Burragorang Valley. More serialised video footage of the Gilroys recent New Zealand investigations. Showing of the plaster casts of the Giant Moa [Dinornis giganteus] feet impressions, found recentlyin the Te Urewera National Park, North Island of New Zealand by Rex and Heather Gilroy. DVD documentaries on UFOlogy and archaeology. Latest report of Blue Mountains UFO activity. The weather has been good up here on the Blue Mountains since the recent rains, with excellent

clear night skies. Therefore, hopefully this will continue for our meeting night when there will be aSkywatch out on Narrow Neck Plateau. So Weather permitting there will be our usual Skywatch outon Narrow Neck Plateau [Dont forget - warm clothing a necessity!] after the meeting.

Rex and Hea the r Gi l r o y , Aus t r a l i a s t op UFOand Unexp la in ed Mys t e r i e s Re s ea r ch t e am .

Pho t o c op y r i gh t Rex Gi l r o y 2004 .

RESULTS OF THE 2008GILROYNEW ZEALAND MOASEARCH.By Rex GilroyCopyright Rex Gilroy 2008

The following is a complete account of Rex and Heather Gilroys March/April 2008 North Islandinvestigation for evidence of living Moas, principally the Small Scrub Moa, Anomalopteryx didyformis. We

were, however, to make perhaps an even more startling discovery, adding a second Moa species to the listof living extinct New Zealand ratites. Another field expedition to New Zealand is planned, hopefully in2009, during which sites in the South Island will also be investigated.

*****The official scientific view is that the Moas, which were anywhere between 3-4 metres down to

90cm in height, have been extinct for at least the last 600 years. Having tramped the rugged, often vast

and inaccessible mountainous and coastal forestlands of these islands on frequent expeditions since 1980,we have never been able to accept this proposition.After 20 years of field researches, during our 2000 expedition on Friday 17th march our efforts

were finally rewarded. We had begun a search in the Te Urewera National Park inland from Hawkes Bay
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Blue Mountains UFO Research Club Newsletter May 2008 3

on the eastern side of North Island. Finding an old disused track we followed this up a forest-coveredmountainside. Below us, down a steep forest-covered slope was a gully. The track at this point was about2m wide with a 1.5m bank above, beyond which lay more dense forest covering a lengthy terrace.

It was here that we found the indistinct impressions of large bird footprints, which appeared toemerge from the gully, cross the track and scramble up the bank into the forest beyond.

Climbing the bank I soon found further indistinct large, three-toed footprints in the forest floor.We sketched, measured and photographed the best examples, but due to the indistinct nature of the

footprints the photos failed to reveal any details, as we were to discover later. One footprint measured17cm in length from tip of middle toe to heel, by 10cm wide across the two outer toes.We were confident that we had stumbled upon the regular feeding ground of a small colony of

Moas. However, our time had run out and we had to return to Australia. In September 2001 we returned,this time armed with a bucket, casting plaster and water. Our hunch paid off, reaching the site we foundfurther scratch marks crossing the bush track and up the bank. While many were indistinct due to brackenand leafmould, I found three clear enough for casting. Each of these impressions were of different sizes.

The smallest impression was 12cm long from middle toe to heel, by 8.5cm wide across the outer toes. Itresembled the second largest footprint, which measured 14cm long by 13.5cm wide. The largest specimen

was 24cm long by 17.5cm wide and appeared to have longer and more slender toes than the other twospecimens, whose toes appeared broader. Even taking distortion into account, it appeared certain to us

that we had found the tracks of three Small Scrub Moas [Anomalopteryx didyformis], whose female was tallerat around 1.5 metres, the male reaching 1 metre in height.These initial finds included two nearby nesting spots. One being the hollowed out trunk of a

huge fallen, rotting Kauri tree, the other a small area of crushed foliage within 2 metres of the bush track.The signs were that two Moas had nested here the night before our visit. No feathers or droppings werefound here.

The evidence gathered suggests to us even today, that a small population of Anomalopteryx Moasinhabits the dense forest floor of the nearby gully.

For a full, detailed account of our findings and a history of the Moas, we direct the reader to ourbook: Out of the Dreamtime The Search for Australasias Unknown Animals [URU Publications2006].

*****Due to lack of funds Heather and I had not been able to return to New Zealand until now [ieMarch 2008]. Funding this latest search has been difficult for us but the results have more than made upfor all the hardships.

Before proceeding to the latest discoveries, it is necessary to present a generalised sketch of Moaevolutionary history.

A detailed study by New Zealand palaeontologists over recent years has now reduced the numberof fossil and sub-fossil species known to scientists to just 11 species, and there is much speculation onhow many other as yet unknown species might have existed prior to the known forms and which hadbecome extinct by more than 2.5 million years ago.

The Moas evolved over a period from about 85 million years ago, from an ancestor that roamed

the ancient southern continent of Gondwanaland, of which New Zealand was once a part.The first birds evolved from reptiles around the close of the Jurassic period, 140 million years ago.All these ancestral birds were capable to flight, but there eventually evolved a number of species whichabandoned the ability to fly in favour of a ground-dwelling existence. This example of reversed evolutiondeveloped towards the close of the Cretaceous period, [135-65 million years ago], and coincided with the

worldwide extinction of the dinosaurs. Some of these flightless birds were giant voracious predators ofother ground-dwelling animals, while other, developing in a predator free environment, became primarilyherbivorous. Appearing among the later at a relatively early stage was a group known as the ratites whichtoday consist of both living and extinct species. The living species are the Ostrich [Africa], Emu[Australia], Cassowary [Australia and New Guinea], Rhea [South America] and Kiwi [New Zealand].Mystery surrounds persistent native claims emanating from the New Guinea interior of a 4m or so tall,

giant Emu-like flightless bird, which the tribespeople claim inhabits the high mountain jungles.The common Gondwanaland ancestor of all these species became isolated as this greatsupercontinent gradually broke up and moved apart, as a result of the process of plate tectonics [iecontinental drift] during the Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, covering about 100 million years;


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thus the flora and fauna separated on various landmasses which became Africa, South America,Madagascar, Australia and New Zealand evolved in different directions according to their environments.

On our latest Moa search we arrived in the Te Urewera National Park on Sunday 16th march 2008.Reaching the location of the 2001 finds took us quite some time and involved a lengthy drive in our hirecar along a densely-forested dirt road, before we reached a point at the base of the mountain near theforest track that led up the slope.

The earlier location of the Moa feet impressions was overgrown and abandoned, and even the

embankment here where the birds had emerged from the gully below to cross the track and clamber upinto the forest showed no signs of recent use.However, a further climb up the track of about 60 metres resulted in the discovery of an apparent

new Moa trail. To the left [east side] were traces of foliage having been broken and trampled on aseemingly regular basis. The ground on the mountainside track here was hard so that there were no feetimpressions. It was when a small clearing directly across on the western side of the track was investigatedthat we found unmistakable evidence of Moa activity.

Clearly embedded in a patch of soft, leafmould-covered soil we found two Moa feet impressionspointing east in the direction of the track and the forest beyond. These impressions measured 38cm inlength from rear of heel to tip of centre toe, by 46cm width across the two outer toes, being 1.5cm indepth. The bird had left other feet impressions in the clearing, and casts were made of a couple of these

also but the rest were mostly indistinct due to debris covering the ground.Behind these feet impressions we found a number of scuff marks where the ground had beendisturbed by feet, not only those just described, but also much larger impressions. It was behind theseindistinct specimens that we came across first, one and then another, huge feet impressions in soil on theedge of the forest from where these birds had emerged to walk in their easterly direction, across the trackinto the forest on that side. From the numbers of indistinct impressions and measurements of the twodistinct giant-size footprints, we could see that two birds were involved which we judged the tracks to be afew day s old.

The first of the giant-size feet impressions found measured 52cm in length from rear of heel tocentre toe tip, the two outer toes being 30cm in length, and 47cm width across the outstretched toes. Thesecond, slightly larger footprint measured 51cm in length from rear of heel to centre toe tip, the two outer

toes being 34cm in length by 53cm width across the outstretched toes. Both footprints were up to 3cm insoil depth. Even allowing for some size distortion, these were the tracks of undoubted Giant Moas.It appeared that the birds are now using a new trail blazed through the mountainside forest

situated 60 metres above the former route discovered by us back in 2001.Yet these feet impressions were far larger than those of the male and female small Scrub Moa

[Anomalopteryx didyformis]found here in 2001, for the two huge footprints by their sheer size could onlyhave been made by creatures standing up to 4 metres in height with their necks extended upwards. Onlyone known species identified from sub-fossil remains could possibly fit this image, the giant moa [Dinornis

giganteus], the smaller footprints being those of the smaller male of the species.Dinornis giganteus is argued by New Zealand scientists to have become extinct due to Polynesian

depredations around 600 years ago. Its remains occur in both the North and South Islands.

Having photographed the footprints after measuring and drawing them, we had to return to thecar where we had accidentally left the plaster, a plastic bucket and bottles of water.Returning to the car to collect these items and carrying all this equipment took some time. It was

by now 5pm and I had to hurry if I was to cast the feet. So leaving Heather at the car I headed off back upthe mountain. Reaching the site I quickly removed my backpack containing bottles of water, thengrabbing the nearest stick, I broke open bag after bag of plaster, mixing it with water and stirring. Even asI was doing this, the sun was sinking and the surrounding forest was getting darker.

I ran out of water, but still had a large bottle of lemonade for other purposes, but this was nowsacrificed to prepare the smaller footprint cast, which was the last one done. We now call this one thelemonade print.

I also had a torch with me and completed my work either holding it in my mouth or between my

legs as I poured the plaster. It was to be the night of the full moon and it was not far off rising as I quicklypacked up and returned to Heather far below down the bottom of the track.We waited for a time, then after about an hour I let Heather again remain with the car while I

set off back up the dark mountainside track, expecting to find the casts all dry enough to lift. It was an


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eerie experience working my way in torchlight up that track, and finally reaching the location with myvideo camera and 35mm SLR camera slung over my shoulder I took photos of the casts. However, just bytouching each cast first I realised they were nowhere near dry.

Worn out by the steep climb I sat down for a rest and it was now that I was to have the most eerieexperience I have ever had in New Zealand.

The full moon was rising through the trees amid clouds. Seated there beside the smaller of the twofoot casts, some distance off to the east along a ridge that extends out through the forest along the

mountainside, I heard a strange guttural humph, humph, humph, sound that rose to a loud cry. This eeriesound was repeated at short intervals [Heather afterwards said she could hear it from the road below]. Isoon realised that the strange sound was approaching in my direction. I estimated that it could not bemore than about 60 metres from me and I could now hear the definite sounds of ferns and other forestdebris breaking underfoot. Whatever was making these sounds was walking on two legs!

The Giant Moa? This was my immediate thought, because whatever was making the walkingsounds gave the impression of being large.

Momentarily I could see a dim shape through the moonlit illuminated forest, but no real outlinecould be detected. I had already reached for my cameras and had both primed ready for the photochance of a lifetime but then the creature stopped, then appeared to walk way eastwards again, emittingthe humph, humph, humph sound that once more rose to the eerie call. This sound died away into the

distance.If only the creature had emerged I would have at least been able to get a flash photo or two of it,

or even night vision video if I was quick enough, but whatever it was I shall never know with anycertainty. It is doubtful however, that it was some camper, as nobody in their right mind would trampthese wilds in the dark of night without a torch. Perhaps it was a Large Moa, perhaps even the maker ofthe giant-size footprint.

I returned to Heather to relate my extraordinary experience in the moonlight. We then drove outof that forestland, but returned to pick up the casts the next morning, by which time they had dried.

*****We are certain that the feet impressions are those of a male and female giant moa [Dinornis

giganteus], the male of which stood somewhat shorter that the 4 metres tall females. It is interesting that we

have found evidence of a small population of living Dinornis giganteus Moas in this North Islandmountainous region, for scientific opinion is that the species was relatively rare in the North Island and

was mostly found in the eastern lowland areas of the South island. Yet we have gathered reportedsightings of Dinornis giganteus-Size Moas from Fiordland regions over the years, so that the officialopinion cannot be taken as the final word on the species distribution, or supposed extinction.

This largest of all Moa species [they weighted up to 250 kg] is the first image to appear in peoplesminds whenever the name Moa is mentioned. They symbolise a family of flightless birds [Ratites]

virtually hunted to extinction by Stone-Age people. To find living groups of any Moa species in theremotest depths of the New Zealand wilderness regions is the Holy Grail of New ZealandCryptozoologists. Yet this achievement has been granted to the Gilroys from Katoomba, New South

Wales, Australia!

Where exactly we have turned up our evidence for living Small Scrub Moas, and now the equallyextinct Giant Moa in the Ureweras remains our secret for logical reasons.

Can you imagine what could happen to any remnant colony of any living Moa, should the generalpublic find out the location? It would not be long at all before the forest would be alive with idiots,armed with rifles and hunting dogs intent upon getting a Moa in the hope of financial reward and quick,short-lived fame in the media. Human greed would replace conservation!

It is better to leave these birds alone in their remote environment, so that they might breed up,free of any human interference.

*****There was to be one more moa footprint find during our latest New Zealand search, but this was

made elsewhere, on the mist shrouded slopes of Mt Egmont, Whanganui National Park on Wednesday 2nd

April 2008.The weather had turned cold and wet, but leaving Heather with our hire car, I set off from the

carpark up a forest track from where I entered dank, darkened forest terrain.


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For years I had heard stories of Small Scrub Moas seen by trampers who camped and exploredthis region. Eventually I returned to the track and bumped into an English husband and wife coupleloaded with camping gear. In the swirling mist I chanced to tell them what I was searching for, and theyresponded with the news that they had just seen many bird feet impressions on a ridge overlooking a deepgully and on an offshoot remote track on the opposite side to where I had been searching.

Finding this track I saw many bird feet impressions in the muddy ground. I was wet by now ofcourse, but a quick inspection uncovered a couple of large tracks. They appeared to differ from those ofthe Small Scrub Moa and were much larger, measuring 30cm in length from heel to centre toe tip by

41cm width across the outstretched toes.The bird that left these tracks belongs to a small population that has lived a secretive existence

within this dense wilderness, with only rare sightings by those who attempt to fight their way through thismaze of closely packed foliage and tangles of vines.

Might it be possible that the resident of the Mt Egmont forested slopes is Dinornis struthoides, thesmallest of the Dinornis group of Large Moas at about 120 kg weight? Otherwise, there is also a goodchance that the impressions were made by the 30 kg weightAnomalopteryx didyformisand would thereforebe those of a female.

The great Moa Mystery continues, and our discoveries certainly demonstrate to us that two,perhaps three species at least, continue to survive in small numbers in remote corners of the New Zealand

wilderness.

The search for living Moas in the New Zealand wilderness is an exciting one, and we look forwardto our return to those islands in 2009. Who knows what discoveries may yet await us there!

-0-Rex and Heather Gilroy,

Directors,Australian Unknown Animals Research Centre,

PO Box 202,Katoomba, NSW 2780 Australia.

Phone 61 2 4782 3441.Email: [email protected].

-0-

The wilderness of the Urewera National Park, inland from Napier [east coastal North Island], where the Gilroyshave found evidence of a Little Bush Moa colony. Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2006.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Artists impression of the Little Bush Moa. Officially extinct at least600 years, the Gilroys have found evidence of a colony of these birdsdeep in the Urewera National Park, North Island in New Zealand.

Sketch Auckland War Memorial Museum, New Zealand.

Skeleton of the Little Bush Moa, Anomalopteryxdidiformis. Note the birds stance, with the neck bentlow in the manner of the emu and other Ratites. The

head was only raised when feeding upon foliage. SketchAuckland War Memorial Museum, New Zealand.

The Urewera forests, in the vicinity of thediscovery of Little Bush Moa tracks neara suspected colony location, found by Rex

and Heather Gilroy.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2006.

Rex Gilroy on the lookout for living

moas deep in the Urewera NationalPark.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2006.


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Heather Gilroy scans a nearby forest-coveredridge for a sign of moa activity, deep in theUrewera National Park, September 2001.

Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2006.

Heather points to scratch marks on an embankment onthe side of an old disused forest tack. Soon after this

picture was taken, a single female Little Bush Moa footimpression was discovered to the left of where she stands.A search of the forest near the embankment scratch

marks resulted in the discovery of a number of Little BushMoa footprints. Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2006.

Detail shot of the female foot impression of a Little BushMoa discovered on the dirt track to the left of the

embankment scratch marks.


The embankment scratch marks in detail. The birdsregularly use this same spot to visit the forest in search of

food. Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2006.


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Rex Gilroy holding the male and female footprint casts.Working from skeletal remains, scientists have estimatedthat the female Little Bush Moa reached a height of about

1.3m, whereas the male was about 90cm in height.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2006.

Close-up of one of the tracks.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy2006.

During the Pleistocene period, Madagascar was inhabited by giantflightless birds of the Aepyornis genus, of which four species are

recognised; A. maximus which reached a height of 10ft [3.5m]; A.medius no complete skeletons of which have been found; A.Hildebrandt which reached about 5ft judging from incompleteskeletons [ie about 1.53m] and A. gracilia which may have beenabout the same height. Although smaller than the New ZealandGiant Moa, Dinornis giganteus, the 3.5m tall Aepyornis eggmeasures 14 inches [40cm] in length by almost 9 inches [23cm] inwidth by 1/8thof an inch thick. The largest Giant Moa egg foundby W.S.Mantell in 1852 measured 10 inches [26.5cm] inlength by 8 inches [20.3cm] in width. Aepyornis maximus weighedabout 950lbs., whereas the Giant Moa [Dinornis giganteus]weighed at least 200kg. Human depredations and climatic changesat the close of the Pleistocene doomed the Aepyornis giants, the last

one probably dying out around several hundred years ago.Illustration from The Age of Monsters by J. Augusta and Z.Burian; Paul Hamlyn London 1966.


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Comparison between the egg of the small moa species Euryapteryxcurtus and the Giant Moa, Dinornis giganteus.

Photo K Pfeiffer, Auckland War memorial Museum.

An Aepyornis egg in size comparison with that ofan Ostrich. The largest surviving Aepyornis eggmeasures 14 inches [41cm] in length by 9 inches

[23cm] in width, the eggshell being 1/8thof an inchin thickness. Its capacity would have been nearly 2

gallons [96 litres].Sketch copyright Rex Gilroy 2006.

The Emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae, which stands 5 to6ft [1.5-1.8m] tall, weighing around 120 lbs [54kgs]. Itsgeneral plumage is brown to grey-brown with shafts andtips of feathers black. It is a member of the Ratite group

of flightless birds, which includes the cassowaries ofAustralia-New Guinea, the moas and kiwis of New

Zealand, and the African Ostrich.Photo Australian Information Service Canberra. ACT.

The Brown Kiwi, Apteryx australis, which has darkerlongitudinal streaks in its plumage, occurs on all three main

islands of New Zealand. It is commonest in Northland and onStewart Island. The species inhabits scrub, pine forests and roughfarmland, particularly where these are close to native forests or

swampland. The Brown Kiwi is one of three species, the other twobeing the Little Spotted Kiwi, Apteryx owenii [which may now beextinct on the mainland although they have been introduced to afew predator-free offshore islands], and the Great Spotted Kiwi,

Apteryx haastii. The species is now confined to the northern halfof South Island, where it lives in mixed podocarp forests to thewest of the divide and in high-altitude beech forests to the east.

These birds are no larger than a domestic fowl.Photo New Zealand Wildlife Service.


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Skull of a large moa. The largest species, Dinornis giganteus, officiallystood 3m tall, although there are claims for individuals approaching 4m

tall! Sketch Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand.

The Giant Moa, Dinornis giganteus, a resin andemu feathers reconstruction the largest of the Moaspecies. Despite the arguments of scientists that thespecies is totally extinct, there are reliable sightings

claims of this species from remote Fiordland locationsof New Zealands South Island.

Photo Auckland War Memorial Museum.

The sub-fossil toes and knucklebone of a Moa,found by a Mr Badger Bloomfield at a Hawkes Bay

east coastal North Island site.Now in the authors possession.

Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2007

LakeWaikaremoana, TeUrawera NationalPark, which stands

surrounded by densely-forested mountains. In

this wilderness theGilroys are findingevidence of living

extinct small ScrubMoa [2001] and in2008 evidence of the

Giant Moa. Anymystery creature couldeasily avoid humandetection in these

wilds. Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.


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Rex Gilroy on the shore of a remote corner of LakeWaikaremoana in search of living Moas.


A remote river location deep in the Te Urewerawilderness, where Rex and Heather Gilroy

carried out a search.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

The bush track leading up the mountainside, nearthe scene of the Gilroys 2001 Small Scrub Moa

finds, and now [2008] the scene of their discovery offoot impressions of the Giant Moa.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008

The forest immediately on the west slope of the openarea where the Giant Moa tracks were found.



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The forest on the immediate east side of the path opposite the open area wherethe Giant Moa impressions were found. It was somewhere through the forest

[centre of picture] that Rex Gilroy heard the strange sounds of a large

creature approaching in his direction, while sitting beside drying plaster castsof Giant Moa tracks on the night of Sunday March 16th2008.

Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008b

The first Giant Moa track found, that of a male. Ithas been outlined due it was partly obscured by forest

debris. Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

Partly obscured female Giant Moa track found nearthe first Moa track find.


Rex Gilroy holds casts of a giant Moafemale and smaller male feet

impressions found at the Te Urewerawilderness site.



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Heather Gilroy with the same casts. Their hard work in thefield has once again paid off!


A reconstruction in resin and emu feathers of a femaleGiant Moa, Dinornis giganteus, displayed in

Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Rex Gilroy with casts of a large [female] GiantMoa [Dinornis giganteus] and smaller male

example from the Te Urewera site. Male Moas weresmaller than the female birds. Photo copyright

Rex Gilroy 2008.


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A cast of one of the smaller male Dinornis giganteustracks found by the Gilroys. It measures 38cm in

length from rear of heel to centre toe tip by 45cm widthacross the outstretched outer toes. Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008. One of the [indistinct] male D. giganteus tracks. It measures

30cm in length by 32cm width across the outstretched toes.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

Heather Gilroy holds a cast of a female Giant Moa[D. giganteus] track. It measures 52cm length fromrear of heel to mid toe tip, by 47cm width across theoutstretched toes. Even allowing for distortion in theforest soil the owner of this impression was a bid

bird! Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.


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The mystery Moa footprint discovered by Rex Gilroy on the forestedslopes of Mt Egmont, North Island. Was it made by a Dinornisstruthoides, the smallest of the Dinornis group of large Moas, or else afemale Anamalopteryx didyformis [Small Scrub Moa]? The track,

measuring 30cm in length from rear of heel to centre of toe tip, by 41cmwidth across the outstretched outer toes, it seems certain to be the foot of

a female. Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

Vikings in the Pacific New Discoveries from New Zealand.by Rex Gilroy

Copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

Of all the mediaeval European adventurers who sailed Australasian waters, even penetrating into the WestPacific region centuries before the arrival of the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch or British mariners, none cancompare with the Vikings.

These Scandinavian seafarers first came to prominence in the writings of monks in 789 AD, whenthree shiploads of Danes attacked the abbey on Lindisfarne Island, off the Northumberland coast.

Thereafter they get bad press. Yet it must be remembered that as time progressed, the Viking worldproduced great scholars and rulers, created universities, made great voyages of exploration which resultedin settlements in North America, with voyages into South American waters it is lately argued. It wasSwedish Vikings who brought law and parliament to the Russians the Land of Rus.

It was Swedish Vikings trading along the Great Russian Rivers, who met Arab traders, whodirected them to cross overland to the Persian Gulf, from where, by a direct Indian Ocean route theycould trade in silk, spices and other valuable commodities with the peoples of India and Ceylon [ancientLanka]. The Arabs spoke of other lands further south, including the fabled Lost Paradise and its riches.

These 12th century Arab contacts soon led Swedish adventurers overland, and constructing their famouslongships on the Gulf, many of which were of considerable size, with their women, they sailed for India,then further south.

Just how far these bold adventurers sailed remains largely a mystery to historians, yet there aretantalising hints and relics which suggest that, not only did many of these expeditions reach Australia, theMelanesian islands and New Zealand, but that they established far-flung colonies where they farmed andmined for precious metals, gemstones and dived for pearls for generations, which they traded back to Asia

and Europe.Only through long-term colonisation could certain traditions and other cultural traits pointing to

Viking contacts have become implanted in Melanesian society.For example, traditions of White Gods arriving on the shores of Melanesian lands in sailing

vessels made of serpent skins, or in vessels shaped like serpents are still commonplace. According tonatives of the Port Moresby region, Papua New Guinea, White Gods once arrived on the coast inserpent-skinned sailing vessels to live among their ancestors. In 1972 a bronze Norman-style Vikinghelmet was dug up by chance at a highland mission station. It was handed on to a university academic andpromptly disappeared!

Solomon Island tribes once constructed a form of massive 100-seater war canoe which they calledthe Mon, which bore a single high mast and sail, high prow and stern posts with serpent head

embellishments, rowed by natives dressed in wooden Viking-like Norman-style helmets, with roundwooden shields hung over the sides to keep the water out in choppy seas. Whole fleets of these huge 30metre or more length craft were used by the islanders, on head-hunting and women-kidnapping raids, wellinto the 19th century when European military and missionaries destroyed the culture of the natives.


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The islanders said that these vessels were copied from those of the White Gods from the Westwho came among their ancestors in the dim past. The Cook Islanders included many natives with pale-skinned racial features, blue eyes and red hair, give them they said, by a race of White Gods who sailedthere in great sailed canoes shaped like serpents and who came from a land where, for half the year thetrees were without leaves, and the people could walk on the water.

White gods arriving on the northern Australian coast is a feature of some tribal legends, such asamong Arnhem Land Aborigines in the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, who believe in the Murrinbungo or

Water Lubras who, like the old Scandinavian Lorelei, entice tribesmen into the water of swamps andrivers with their beautiful looks and singing, only to drag them under and drown them in contempt of allmen! The tribesmen also believe in the Seven Sisters, [the Pleiades constellation], who in the manner ofthe Valkyrie of Old Norse tradition, carry off Aboriginal warriors slain in battle to the Sky World, the

Aboriginal Valhalla.The natives of the New Island and New Britain Island groups once worshipped a god called

Gutan. He is depicted in artworks as being clothed in a loincloth, with a long beard and Norman-likehelmet. He pushed back the doors of darkness each morning. He is associated with a race of WhiteGods who arrived in those islands in the dim past in serpent canoes. Interestingly, the Mon and otherlarge vessels of the former islanders were clinker-built, that is, with overlapping planks held together with

wooden nails in the manner of the old Scandinavian Longships.

In the Trobriand Islands many ceremonial wooden artefacts bear images of a Norse-styleSwastika, a symbol say the islanders, passed on to them by the White Gods from the West.

*****For the past 36 years of our marriage, my wife Heather and I have researched a ghostly trail of

evidence, pointing to ancient Scandinavian knowledge of, and cross-ocean voyages to our part of theworld. In September 1989 we experienced a big breakthrough in our investigations, with apparent 12thcentury Swedish Viking type rock inscriptions, found in dense bushland overlooking the HawkesburyRiver near Richmond, in Sydneys west.

Carved in a form of shorthand upon a large rock slab and on a rock shoal beneath, they arebelieved to state: Men in two longships. The second set Mul [or Molnir] sails his ship by the sun. The shipsandtheir crews have journeyed up river to the south [that is, the adjoining Nepean River] and returned. This is Yarrs ship.

The third set, carved on the shoal beneath the slab reads: Ti sails his ship for Odin.Traces of possible 12th century settlement may exist in the nearby Riverstone district, where

Scandinavian farmers inscriptions are coming to light. There is an interesting point emerging fromthese Australian Viking scripts paralleled by others already discovered by us in New Zealands SouthIsland, and that is that they appear to be mixed scripts in the manner of mixed Egypto-Phoenician,Egypto-Libyan, Celto-Phoenician etc. As with these more ancient scripts, it is obvious that they developedover generations of racial intermixture, in this case between more than one Scandinavian people, andoutsiders from other parts of Europe, such as the British Isles. In 1997 I discovered a 12th centuryHungarian Viking inscription carved upon a large boulder at Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, in NewZealands North Island. Viking expeditions often accepted anyone outside their own circle who was

willing to man the oars.

Therefore, the presence of mixed Viking scripts on rock faces in our part of the world wouldimply that there had once existed colonies of mixed nationalities, principally Scandinavians and otherEuropeans, who in the course of generations of mixture, had developed among other new culturalfeatures, locally-produced mixed scripts.

*****Evidence of long-term settlement of New Zealand by ancient European cultures parallels similar

finds made in Australia, where besides Celts [who apparently settled North Island in Bronze-Age times],traces of Scottish voyages of colonisation have been found.

During the Gilroys 1997 investigation in the South Island, we uncovered remains of an ancientsettlement at Milford Sound. Scandinavian runic rock inscriptions found thereabouts identified thecolonists as Swedes, who established a colony here and elsewhere in the Milford region during the 12 th

century. The stone ruins we uncovered parallel others found elsewhere in the South, and North islands.The Milford Sound inscriptions were engraved in a mixed script upon four large boulders within

close proximity to one-another. The first one translated read: Three ships of Nosa. One ship, that of Umi, sailed


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west. The Second inscription translated simply stated: Our god is Odin. The third inscription read: Ourgod is Odin. Our ship of Rus named the Coiled Serpent.

The fourth inscription however continues to capture our interest. It stated: With seven shipsSaemund in his ship the Suns Banner, has sailed here. Seven with Igo and David.

We ponder, has this rock inscription any link to the search mounted about 1120, by the Swedishwriter-explorer, Saemund the Learned, for the fabled lost Paradise, which was believed to lie in thesouthernmost region of the world?

*****The story goes that Saemund, fired by tales of an earlier expedition sent by King Olaf of Norway

[1069-1093] into the Indian Ocean, which resulted in the longships reaching the lost paradise, organisedan expedition himself to seek riches in our part of the world. After crossing Rus on the great rivers to sailfrom the Persian Gulf to India, his chronicle gives a good description of India, Lanka and the Malayan-Indonesian Islands. Sighting the Southern Paradise, he and his followers spend time searching forprecious metals, gemstones and pearls. Saemund describes the paradise land as one of excessive heat andflies, so we assume he has landed somewhere in northern Australia, where exactly is not known. Hedescribes what could have been an Aboriginal initiation ceremony and seeing various strange animals.

The explorers sail on through what appears to be Torres Strait, describing mysterious island lands.Finding a long deep inlet amid high mountains they establish a settlement. Are they in Milford Sound?

From here vessels led by Saemund eventually sail further south to see floating islands of ice. The coldforces them to turn back at this point.

Saemund eventually sailed home to Sweden, having been away for ten years with his fleet,returning with riches and many adventures which he wrote down.

Saemund the Learned may yet have more to reveal to us. During our March 2008 New Zealandexpedition, while examining mysterious stone ruins in a Bay of Islands forest, I came across three largestones bearing inscriptions carved in 12th century Swedish script.

The first set discovered depicted two horses and two longships. It was discovered in the denseforest undergrowth at the top of a steep gully. Exploring further down the forest-covered slope I cameacross a large stone bearing runic script in five lines. It was later translated to read: The wind blew us into thebay. The weather was hot. We all arrived safely and well, led by our chieftain Saemund. Skraelings* were fought in a bay to

the south [*Skraelings was a Viking world for natives. It has been found in North American rockinscriptions and in ancient written accounts of American landfalls by Scandinavians. Here it surely refersto contact with hostile Polynesians].

The question is: does this inscription refer to the very same Saemund of the Milford Soundinscriptions?

These inscriptions had all been carved on volcanic basalt rocks, as was the third inscription found,which I discovered some distance from the others, projecting from the forest soil almost obscured bydead fern fronds and leaves. It was the small image of a Longship at the top of this pillar-like stone whichfirst attracted my eagle eye. Before long I had removed it from the ground where it was half buried, andafter chalking in the inscription that I found coated it on one side in seven rows, I drew and measured it inthe usual manner. However, when I began trying to photograph it my flash would not work properly and

overcast weather now darkened the forest. There was a bush track on the edge of the summit of the gullyabout 30 metres uphill from where I was, so in an effort to get the stone into the open to photograph theinscription, I first carried all my equipment and backpack up through the tangles of vines and foliage, thenleaving it on the track I then returned to the stone, and with some difficulty, lifted and carried this toneuphill, its weight forcing me to stop every several metres of so, until I reached the summit. I emergedfrom the forest to drop the heavy monster on the dirt, then rested while watching the clouds for a trace ofsunlight.

Eventually, perhaps half an hour later, the sun made an appearance, and for the few minutes it wasvisible I snapped away. These photos, and the video footage I had already shot of it in the forest, made upfor all the hardship, which included returning it downhill to where it had originally been found.

The translation would later reveal more interesting information: We are men and women of Rus who

arrived in ships with cattle and horses and fowls. We cry out for Odins blessing. Odin strengthen us.These inscriptions relate to a colonisation attempt in which livestock would have been acquired in

India and other Asian ports along the way and transported here in large vessels for this purpose.


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Interestingly, in the vicinity of these Viking inscriptions almost buried by dense forest, are theremains of stone walls among which Heather and I found a number of ancient Celtic rock inscriptions,and a large stone head of their Sun-God, Bel. It would appear that, around 3,000 years ago, Celticcolonists had been well established on the Bay of Islands, their long-abandoned settlement obviously laterdiscovered and utilised by 12th century Scandinavians.

*****`Northwards from the Bay of Islands, on Cape Reinga, which is New Zealands northernmost spit

of land, from where in clear weather a distant view of the Three Kings Islands might be had, an isolated

beach may hold further evidence of Viking colonisation; for it was here during our investigations in March2008 that I found, hidden inside as enclosure formed by collapsed boulders near the waterfront, theunmistakable image of the god Thor, standing in his longship holding his hammer, Molnir, in his righthad. Below him was the image of another longship with lines projecting from it depicting oars.

Perhaps this set of carvings was made by Scandinavians who, unless they were already exploringthe coastline, had just arrived on these shores, and finding a safe inlet here had spent time ashore, during

which some artist had engraved these now fading images.When I found these engravings our time and daylight, was running out, so that if there are any

further engravings left by these Vikings of the Sunrise, they will have to wait for our return visit,hopefully in 2009.

I call the Scandinavians Vikings of the Sunrise, for it was part of their adventurous spirit to

conquer the worlds oceans, forever seeking out new lands to colonise. That they found the Americanslong before Columbus is fact; and therefore, as the evidence clearly shows, penetrating Australian-NewZealand seas made no difference to these most daring of all ancient mariners.

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This Trobriand Island, PNG imagebears a Norse-style Swastika; a

symbol given to the islandersforefathers, they say, by the White

Gods from the West.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008

The God, Gutan, who bears old Scandinavian characteristics, wasonce worshipped by New Ireland and New Britain natives. The

bringer of light each day, he is associated with a race of mysteriousWhite Gods who sailed to these islands in serpent canoes.



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These five photos show theHawkesbury River NSW, Vikingrock inscriptions, found by Rex andHeather Gilroy in September 1989.

They speak of longships havingexplored into the Nepean River.


The Milford Sound Viking inscriptions[A] the Three ships of Nosa inscription.


[B] Our God is Odin inscription.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.


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[C] Our god is Odin. Our ship of Rus named theCoiled Serpent.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

[D] The Saemund inscription.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

The Bay of Islands stone bearing twolongship and two horse carvings.

Photo copyright Rex Gilroy2008.

The Skraelings inscription, revealing aBay of Islands landing by Scandinavianswho were attacked by hostile Polynesians.



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Heather Gilroy in the Bay of Islands forest, searchingwith husband Rex for evidence of ancient Viking

colonists of New Zealand.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

The inscription describing arriving colonists.We cry out for Odins blessing.


A view of a section of one of the stone walls.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

Rex Gilroy measuring an ancient stone wall found

in the vicinity of the Scandinavian rock inscriptions.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.


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Cape Reinga, on the tip of New Zealands North Island. Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008

The Thor and longship found by Rex

Gilroy at a remote Cape Reinga beach.Thor holds his hammer, Molnir, withwhich he makes the thunder and

lightning.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

AN URUAN MEGALITHICASTRONOMICALTEMPLEAT LAKETAUPO,NORTH ISLAND,NEW ZEALAND.

by Rex GilroyCopyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

On the third day after our arrival in Auckland on Monday 17th March, one of the highlights of our recent 2008 NewZealand investigation, was the discovery that Heather and I made, of an apparent overlooked megalithicastronomical temple, which stands in a park overlooking Lake Taupo on the side of the highway just south of

Taupo township.The stones that make up this structure cover an area of 65.18m [217 ft] by 48.59m [161 ft] within which is a

megalithic stone circle.Unfortunately time did not permit us to carry out a more detailed, day-long measurement of the site, so this

must wait until 2009 when we expect to return to New Zealand. However, we did discover Uruan script carved ontwo of the large stones, as well as identify two large, badly weathered heads of the Sun-God, Nim, and Ara, theMoon-Goddess.

The stones cover a major section of the park and are apparently regularly kept clear of grass by City

Council lawnmowers. It is good that the general public have not damaged these stones or graffitied them likepeople in Australia do to our own historic sites!

One large stone bore the message Upon this flat prepared ground observe the Suns movement, while the secondstone displayed on one side the letters for Observe here the Sun. There was a lone glyph close by depicting the Suns


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course, and on the opposite side of the stone were two small circles, one larger than the other. The larger one wasthe Sun, the smaller one the Moon. These glyphs identified the site as an astronomical structure where the Sun andMoon were observed and worshipped.

Lake Taupo lay a few hundred metres to the west of the park and its overlooked megalithic site. The eastside of the structure forms a north-south stone alignment, which is thought to point south to a distant cleft in themountains, perhaps making this site part of a ley line or marking the position of some heavenly body at a certaintime of the year, who can say. Towards the south end of the alignment one of the stones is an altar, and there is asecond altar marking the centre of the megalithic circle.

The placing of the stones suggests that ceremonial processions may have entered the site from the north-west corner of the observatory-temple, constructed in a square formation, as in many Australian megalithicmonuments. What is the significance of these north-west entrances?

The east-west side of the monument forms an alignment of stones marking the east-west path of the Sunand Moon, while there are a number of other small alignments and stone markers within the precincts of the greatsquare whose import has still to be worked out on a future return visit here.

The lake Taupo megalithic astronomical site undoubtedly served religious as well as astronomical purposes,and from a previous search around the shores of this vast lake we know that many other Uruan rock inscriptionsexist hereabouts, of not only astronomical observations, but also engravings of Bird-Men, for the AustralianBird-Man cult was carried here by Uruan colonists in the dim past.

Time ran out and as we were dure elsewhere by nightfall we had to reluctantly leave this site for now. TheTaupo megalithic astronomical temple is undoubtedly of great age, perhaps up to 10,000 years old going by the rate

of weathering of the granite stones of which this site is composed using Australian estimates.Perhaps our next visit will reveal more surprises at this site, which locals and tourists walk through and

picnic at, unaware of the great historical importance of these weathering megaliths.-0-

The observatory-temple looking

north.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

The east side of the structure forming an north-south

alignment. Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008

A view of the structure looking west towards Lake Taupo.



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Heather examining one of the stones forming the east-westalignment. Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

The central stone circle of the monument.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

A view looking towards the north-east section of the megalithicsite. Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

Rex Gilroy examining the altar stone at the centre of thestone circle. Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

A view of the megalithic site looking south-west across Lake Taupo.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.A small three-tone alignment extending along an south-east to

north-west axis on the western side of the astronomical site.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

Heather Gilroy studying the weatheredimage of the Uruan Sun-God, Nim.



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The weathered image of Ara, the Uruan Moon-Goddess.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008

A closer view of the letterings stating: Upon this flatprepared ground observe the Suns movement.

Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.Heather measuring glyphs found on one of two large stones at the site.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008

The lone glyph depicting the Suns course.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

The second large stone bearing Uruanglyphs. They read: Observe here the Sun.



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The large and small circular carvings depicting the Sunand Moon. Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

This three stone alignment on an east-westaxis stands on the southern side of the

megalithic observatory site.Photo copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

UFOSCYLINDERGIANTS OVER THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.by Rex Gilroy.

Copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.

There may be another UFO flap on the way.Greg foster has yet again videoed some footage on strange ball-like objects over Blacktown. At

2.30pm on Thursday 15th May 2008 a silvery saucer-like craft was seen by people at Leura as it flew highover the Grose Valley to the north of the town, heading east.

At 3.22pm on Monday afternoon 5th May as Heather and I were passing through Blaxland in the

train returning to Katoomba from a couple of days at Morisset, we saw over towards Bilpin to the north, agiant black cylindrical craft moving about a kilometre above the mountains heading from west to east. Itpassed swiftly out of sight as the train moved on.

Then, on Tuesday 6th May, what may have been the same craft was seen by me again on GlenRaphael Road, Narrow Neck Plateau, about 3pm as it moved east-west over Burragorang Valley. It passedswiftly over the valley to disappear over the Kanangra Boyd National Park on the valleys far western side.

At 2.30am on Saturday night, 10th May at a point south from Cedar Road junction with Cliff Drivesouth Katoomba, I saw, while on a night walk, a green-glowing craft with a teardrop shape. Its centreglowed.

It emitted a long white tail as if flew horizontally, slowing down for about a minute as it passedover Jamieson Valley, before picking up speed as it disappeared over Narrow Neck Plateau heading west.

-0-


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Sketch copyright Rex Gilroy 2008.



Our previous meeting was a huge success and we look forward to seeing you at our next one.There should be some good Skywatches ahead of us up here at Katoomba, weather permitting.

Meanwhile, there a lot happening up there at present so -Until our next meeting

Watch the Skies!

the temple of nim newsletter - may 2008

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