Lake Tekapo

observatory

Church of the Good Shepherd

Southern Cross and Milky Way

Mt. John Observatory by day

One long day of travel took us from Stewart Island up to Lake Tekapo, a small town on the southern shore of its namesake lake, in Mackenzie Country, the center of the South Island.  Lake Tekapo is known simply for being scenic, offering views of mountains, the modest Church of the Good Shepherd, and the milky, turquoise lake.  (The lake is colored by the light-refracting "rock flour" left behind by the stony-bottomed glacier that carved out the lake's basin.)  Lake Tekapo is a popular stop for passers-by making the journey to Mt. Cook, and it is particularly popular with Japanese tourists, though we never learned why.

Because of its isolation from major coastal towns, Mackenzie Country has a reputation as one of the top spots in New Zealand to stargaze, and the University of Canterbury operates a research observatory atop Mt. John.  The university offers nighttime tours of the observatory, turning over all but one of the research telescopes for public use.  We allowed three days in Lake Tekapo, to rest, but also for a few chances at a clear night.  We arrived just after the new moon, and after missing out on the Southern Lights on Stewart Island, cosmological anticipation reached a feverish intensity.

Our first night in town looked to be by far the clearest, so we fought our travel fatigue and assembled for the 11pm shuttle up the mountain.  Though it was extremely windy, the night was perfectly clear and perfectly dark - flashlights were forbidden.  We were given heavy down jackets, hot chocolate, and a short orientation to the features of the Southern Hemisphere before we were cut loose on the three large telescopes.  Each telescope was manned by a University of Canterbury researcher who selected interesting features of the night sky for us to look at, and who answered whatever questions we had.  There was also an astrophotography station, where we were helped to our first shots of the stars.  Through the telescopes we saw nebulae, star clusters, galaxies, Jupiter, and many other astro-features, while with our naked eyes we could see the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, Milky Way, and countless shooting stars.  It all amounted to one of my favorite evenings in New Zealand.

We followed it up the next afternoon in Tekapo at the lakeside hot pools and spa.  We paid 32 dollars for entry, so we worked hard to get our money's worth, alternating between hot, medium, and mild temperature pools, soaking for four consecutive hours!

Finally, before leaving town, we stopped by the Mt. John Astro Cafe, located atop Mt. John, just next to the observatory.  Certainly the coolest cafe location I've ever seen, it offers 360 degree views of the Mackenzie Basin, and allowed us to appreciate the beauty of the observatory now in the daylight.