• HOME
  • Latest News
  • North Island New Zealand
    • Northland
    • Auckland Region
    • Waikato and Bay of Plenty
    • Coromandel
    • Central North Island
    • East Coast
    • Hawkes Bay
    • Taranaki
    • Wellington Region
  • South Island
    • Nelson and Golden Bay
    • Picton and Marlborough Sounds
    • Kaikoura
    • Christchurch and Canterbury
    • The West Coast
    • Otago, Southland
    • Queenstown and Wanaka
  • Women Travel the World
  • Map of Stories

Women Travel NZ

Accommodation, Tours and Stories for women travellers in New Zealand.

  • Accommodation
    • Accommodation for Women in NZ
    • Wwoofing and Work Exchange
  • Retreats
  • NZ Tour Companies
  • NZ Tours for Women
  • Overseas Tours for Women
  • About Us
    • Resources for Women Travel NZ Businesses
    • Write for WTNZ Blog
    • List with Women Travel
  • Women Travel Links
    • New Zealand links
    • Women Travel links and info
    • New Zealand Travel Writing
  • Insurance
You are here: Home / NZ Highlights / South Island / Christchurch and Canterbury / Night Sky Wonders – Astro Tourism Is Here and it is HOT

Night Sky Wonders – Astro Tourism Is Here and it is HOT

April 20, 2015 by Rosemary Neave 2 Comments

Exploring Lake Tekapo and the Mount John Observatory

earth&Sky logo

Earth and Sky – a fabulous business introducing people to the Night Sky

nightsky

One of Earth and Sky’s Nebula photos

The Night Sky is HOT.  New Zealanders take for granted that we can often see the stars and milky way, not so in most of the world.  And apparently people around the world are adding a visit to Lake Tekapo to see the night sky to their bucket list.  This small town in south Canterbury has less than 500 permanent residents, but its is already filled to the brim with visitors, and it looks like more are on their way.

Earth and Sky – Astro Tourism

Earth and Sky Logo

10 years ago Mt John Observatory was a locked gate for all but researchers. Then along a local enterprise Earth and Sky  which has been set up to develop the concept of astro tourism who lobbied internationally for the creation of Dark Sky Reserves – and this area is now the Aoraki MacKenzie International Dark Sky Reserve.

Working with the University of Canterbury, Earth and Sky have created public access to the summit of Mt John which is worth a visit just for the fabulous 360 Degree views.

The Astro Cafe

Lake TekapoTo top it off they have built The Astro Cafe which sits perfectly and unobtrusively at the top of this mountain.  Lonely Planet have called it “Possibly the best place on the the globe for a café”  and I have to agree – it is stunning.  Add to that a world class astronomy research centre with several working telescopes, and you have something very special indeed. The night we were there, the predicted cloud cover had gone and the milky way stretches from one horizon to the other.  We joined one of the Mt John Night tours and see Jupiter and several nebula through the telescopes.

I marvel at the stories of nebula and new stars and planets being created from star dust in some distant corner of the universe.  This is something very special.

Where to stay?

My Advice:

Godley Resort Hotel The view of the mountains from our room

The view of the mountains from our room

  1. You HAVE to stay the night to see the sky.
  2. Book Ahead, Tekapo is in high demand
  3. pay a bit extra for a room looking over the lake.
  4. Take a tour with Earth and Sky

We are staying at the Godley Resort Hotel, which looks resort like at the entrance, but has in fact  older motel style units behind.  We are in a ground floor unit with uninterrupted views of the lake, mountains and the Church of the Good Shepherd.  The units are a bit tired, but all is forgiven for the view – definitely worth the extra cost we paid. Biking around TekapoWalking distance to the restaurants and cafes – the Thai Restaurant was great, and morning coffee we brought back to our rooms and sat looking out at our very own private mountainscape and reading the weekend papers. We took our bicycles, an easy cycle to the left and we are at the new Hot Springs.  All of this perfectly walkable, I just like biking. To the right down to the Church, and further round the lake.  There is a 3km bike ride up the hill, but we give up after about a kilometre as it is through a denuded pine plantation and not that inspiring, and steep in parts. Somehow developers have been kept away from the lakeshore of Lake Tekapo.  So there is wonderful walking and cycling behind the town centre.  A pedestrian bridge linking the town to the Church of the Good Shepherd will cap what is presently stunning easy walks around the lakeside with views of snow capped mountains.

Church of the Good Shepherd

Church of the Good Shepherd Tekapo

Church of the Good Shepherd Tekapo

This has to be one of the most beautiful churches in the world –  Perched alone on a knoll, perfectly formed with a window looking out at the lake.  Hundreds, possibly thousands of visitors each day, with buses, campervans and rental cars rolling in and out regularly. These days no photos inside, which seemed a bit of a disappointment – particularly to the Japanese couple who came in their bridal gear ready for photos.   But perhaps it is enough just to sit and look. Beside it a memorial to the working dog – every good shepherd’s best friend.  Both church and dog pointing to the more recent story of this land as sheep country.

Lake Alexandrina

Lake Alexandrina

Lake Alexandrina

The drive to Mt John Observatory takes you past a gate and sign on the left pointing to Lake Alexandrina.  Turn in – this is worth the drive.  Another beautifully formed high country lake, with dozens of small fishing cabins  (not sure how you book them!) and you can park your campervan for $20 a night.

Filed Under: Christchurch and Canterbury, Latest News, Rosemary Neave Tagged With: Lake Tekapo, The Night Sky

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Kia Ora Women Travellers

Sharing the magic of New Zealand
with women visitors.
Part of the larger WomenTravel.info network

Tours just for Women in NZ and in the World

  • SEARCH for NZ Tours
  • SEARCH for world tours
  • SEARCH for NZ tour companies
  • Search for other tour Companies

womentravelannimated banner

Search our posts

KEEP IN TOUCH

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Tags

Abel Tasman Park Accommodation Akaroa Alps to Ocean Cycle Trail auckland Auckland accommodation Auckland day tour Banks Peninsula Banks Peninsula Track Bay of Islands Birdwatching campervan hire Caravan Adventures Central Otago Christchurch Christchurch day trips cycling Devonport Food and Wine Hokianga hot pools kayaking Lake Tekapo Lesbian Nelson Northland Off the beaten track Otago Rail Trail Otago Rail Trail 2012 Piha Queenstown Rarotonga Retreats Road trips Sea kayaking Taranaki The Gables The Night Sky tramping Venus Adventures Waikato and Bay of Plenty Waitomo Caves Whangarei Whangarei Heads Womens Adventures NZ

Women Travel the World on Twitter

One of the fabulous women's tour companies (and their tours) you can find at womentravel.info facebook.com/womentr…

New Morocco trip off the beaten track with Venus Adventures facebook.com/womentr…

Women - discover Uganda with Umoja Motherland Tours facebook.com/womentr…

Follow @gowomentravel

Newsletter

Women Travel NZ and the World

Copyright © 2021 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in