Day 8 - Tekapo and John's Observatory

Today we went to Tekapo and looked at the "Church of the Good Shepherd". We also walked a bit through Tekapo and then drove to Mount Johns Observatory (part of the University of Canterbury). There is also a small cafe here, but unfortunately it was already closed when we arrived.

In the evening we took part in the Soak and Stars event at Tekapo Springs. While you lay in the hot pools, the night sky was explained to you. The individual constellations were very interesting and well explained. Tekapo is known for having a particularly good view of the night sky. There are almost no flights over the town and light pollution is reduced to a minimum. Tekapo is also surrounded by high mountains, which means that the night sky is usually clear.

After the event we tried to photograph the night sky. I think they turned out very well for my first astrophotos. Unfortunately it was already quite late (or early) and the Milky Way was slowly fading.