University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory — Attraction in South Island

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. MUST-DO IN LAKE TEKAPO

We joined the tour on 15th/Jan/2025 (dark sky project stargazing tour from 1:00a.m Supposed to be from 2:00a.m. but the schedule had changed to whatever the reason is)

You meet up with following mates and grab the jacket.( From the kids size to XL) I'm very obese so XL barely fit me. If you weigh more than 100kg, I suggest you wear the largest one ( XL) and keep the front zipper open.

I'm very obese so I was kind of worried about going up to the top in the dark. NO WORRIES AT ALL. There is nothing that you worry about even if you don't exercise everyday. They take you to the parking lot and you walk approx. 5-10 mins to the top.

NO WORRIES, THERE IS A BATHROOM.👍🏼 But you have to do the business in 5 mins otherwise it gets dark. Haha

Regarding star gazing, there is nothing you complain about at all. Wonderful lead, great view, lovely ppl.

They often ask you if you want something to ask or hear from them. No homework beforehand needed.🤭

I hope you enjoy the star gazing tour in lake tekapo!!

(We saw so many sheep on our way back, it was such a lovely...

This is a great place to visit for a number of reasons. And I'm talking about in the day, not the night as we didn't visit in the dark.

1. the walk from the car park (the path starts to the left of the springs, so just park anywhere around there) to the observatory is a great leg stretcher and not too tricky. It'll take you about 45 minutes to an hour to get to the top as you wind through amazingly scented pine trees, then you can do a loop around the summit.

2. the panoramic views from the top are worth seeing. You'll see the plains towards Mt. Cook, mountains everywhere, and Lake Tekapo from above.

3. the café at the top is actually really nice. The coffee was, as I came to expect from NZ, very, very good, and there seemed to be a good selection of food too for those who want lunch.

One other thing: you are able to drive to the top, but there's a fee of something like €8. If I were you, I'd take the walk though as it's not too difficult for people with decent fitness and the summit is a nicer place without cars cramming...

We were lucky enough to have clear sky's and a half moon on our 11pm summit experience tour .We were taken by bus from the dark sky base in tekapo township to the top of Mt John where we disembarked .We were escorted to an outside area beside one of the domes where we were treated to an entertaining half hour briefing before we were permitted to look through both a 9inch and a 16 inch telescope at a number of various constellations . The guides were incredibly knowledgeable . Don't expect to see planets or stars in any sort of detail as it just doesn't work that way . It's freezing cold standing outside for the hour so wrap up warm. Glad we did it but probably won't...