Lake Tekapo: Stargazing Tour with Shuttle & Night Sky Photo

4.64

(132 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We climbed into the shuttle just after dark, jackets zipped up to our chins. The driver — I think her name was Rosie — chatted about how the sky here is “properly black,” which made me laugh, but she was right. By the time we reached the private stargazing spot outside Lake Tekapo, the only light came from our guide’s red torch and a few distant sheep blinking in the cold.

The guide (Sam? He had that calm voice) handed out even thicker coats and started pointing out constellations with this green laser that looked like it could poke holes in the sky. I tried to spot Orion without help and got it wrong — Sam didn’t make me feel dumb though, just grinned and told a story about Māori star names. The air smelled sharp, almost metallic, like snow coming soon. My fingers went numb but I didn’t want to put my hands in my pockets because you sort of forget everything else when you’re peering through a 14-inch telescope at Saturn’s rings. I still think about that view.

Someone asked if we could take a photo under the stars — apparently it’s included, so we all huddled together for one shot where you can actually see the Milky Way behind us (they send it later). There were only eight of us, so nobody felt rushed or ignored. At one point it got so quiet I could hear someone’s watch ticking. Afterward, on the ride back to town, everyone was whispering like we’d just left a library or a church — I didn’t expect that part.