This morning we did the 3 hour round trip walk to Mount John and the observatory. The walk up is pretty steep.
The views were fantastic
At the top of Mount John is the observatory and the Astro cafe:
Astro Cafe
Observatory
The Mt John Walkway is a 3 hour loop track up to the summit of Mount John (at 1,031 meters elevation with an elevation gain of 311 meters in the first 2 km) and then down and around the mountain via a track that runs alongside the shores of Lake Tekapo.
The Mt John Walkway offers 360 degrees scenic views of Lake Tekapo, the Southern Alps, the Mackenzie Basin flats and beyond.
However, you do not have to walk up Mt John if the only thing you want to do is enjoy the views.
In the latter case, you can just drive up to the Mt John Observatory (accessible via the Godley Peaks Road) and take a more relaxing approach to enjoying the scenery surrounding Lake Tekapo.
Mount John University Observatory (MJUO), is New Zealand’s premier astronomical research observatory. It is situated at 1,029 metres (3,376 ft) ASL atop Mount John at the northern end of the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island, and was established in 1965. There are many telescopes on site including: one 0.4m, two 0.6m, one 1.0m, and a new 1.8m ‘MOA Telescope’ The nearest population center is the resort town Lake Tekapo (pop. <500). Approximately 20% of nights at MJUO are photometric, with a larger number available for spectroscopic work and direct imaging photometry.
MJUO is operated by the University of Canterbury, and is the home of HERCULES (High Efficiency and Resolution Canterbury University Large Echelle Spectrograph), and the observational wing of the Japanese/New Zealand MOA collaboration (Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics) led by Professor Yasushi Muraki of Nagoya University. A Japanese funded, 1.8 meter telescope is now in place and will be used initially by the MOA Project, before handover to the University of Canterbury at the conclusion of the MOA Project in 2012.
In June 2012 an area of 430,000 hectares (1,700 sq mi) around the observatory was declared as the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve by the International Dark-Sky Association, one of only four such reserves around the world. The area has a Bortle Scale of 2.
There are 5 large telescopes on the mountain that are in regular use. There is also a cafe and night-tours run by tourist operators, Earth and Sky. There is accommodation for visiting researchers within the 1.0m building. A Superintendent lives on the mountain.
MOA Telescope
Opened in 2004 December, this telescope was built by Japanese astronomers and is dedicated to the MOA project. It is a 1.8m prime focus reflector. The MOA telescope is the largest telescope in New Zealand.
McLellan Telescope
This is a 1.0m Dall-Kirkham reflecting telescope run at either f/7.7 or f/13.5. Photometric imaging is by CCD camera and spectroscopy is by fibre-optic cable to the HERCULES spectrograph.
Boller & Chivens Telescope
This is a 0.61m reflecting telescope run at either f/13.5 or occasionally f/6.25. Photometry is usually carried out using an Apogee Alta CCD camera.
Optical Craftsmen Telescope
This is a 0.61m fork mounted reflecting telescope operating at f/16. This telescope is used exclusively for CCD photometry. It is currently being upgraded and commissioned for robotic use as part of the AAVSO's Robotic Telescope Network. This is the AAVSO's first Southern Hemisphere telescope.
Earth and Sky Telescope
This telescope, used exclusively for visual tourist operations is a 0.4m Meade LX200 telescope.
Discoveries
In June 2008 it was reported at the meeting of American Astronomical Society that using their new MOA-II telescope, the observatory discovered what is at the time the smallest planet known outside of our solar system. The planet MOA-2007-BLG-192Lb is just 3.3 times larger than Earth and is orbiting a small star, MOA-2007-BLG-192L (3000 light years from Earth). There is some possibility the planet has a thick atmosphere and a liquid ocean on its surface.
On the way down, we stopped for a break close to where the sheep were grazing. Sangeet said Sat Nam and the sheep came forward. Then Sangeet decided to do some breath of fire with them, the sheep actually looked to be getting involved, I could see the sheep breathing more powerfully and in time! Sangeet closed the session, the sheep started to walk away! Amazing!
Okay, my turn, I started doing Ego Eradicator, I put my arms up and the sheep ran off!
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After the walk we popped into the Chinese restaurant where I picked up a vegetable delight...not the best!
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Back at the hostel we got talking to Lev, a backpacker from Canada.....friendly chap and boy he can talk!
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In the evening Sangeet had toast with humus and onion, also jam. I had soup toast and cheese.
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Later we got chatting again to Lev and to a girl called Robin from Hastings, UK. It was a varied chat from politics to travel. Robin had travelled in India for 6 weeks. She said a highlight for her was Harimandir Sahib (The Golden Temple), she travelled to Amritsar especially to see it as friends had told her the experience was not to be missed. It is always amazing to hear how those who are not from a Sikh background also feel the powerful and peaceful energy of this sacred place. As this hostel does not have a television in the common room, you just talk, you learn about others and make contacts. Also the beauty of talking to other travellers is that, you come to realise that your mindset is the same and you soon learn you have so much in common.
For the past couple of days I have been getting bad stomach pains, seems like the intestine issue has come back to tell me it is still there. So this morning I just needed a lie in. When I awoke we went to the kitchen to have breakfast.
Afterwards, we sat in the common room and made plans for the next few days, where we will be staying and when do we go to Christchurch (our flight to Melbourne is this Friday). Also as we had bought 24 hour internet access which gave us 500mb of data it was a good opportunity to use this.
Internet access is sometimes sold as a data limit e.g. 100 mb for so much NZ$ or a time limit with a data restriction. From the hostel we purchased 500mb over 24 hours for $10.00, so far we have had a good upload/download speed.
Also had a Skype call with my father which was good.
Afterwards we went for a walk to the centre, it has a good range of shops from cafes/restaurants to four square (supermarket), ATM point (AZM) and a couple of gas stations. The prices in four square are good value considering we are a fair distance from any main town.
This is the view, when you leave the hostel ground
Four Square
Cafe
We walked the small loop along the coast and past the YHA, which we entered to enquire about accommodation. On entering the YHA hostel we did not feel a cosy vibe, it just felt very commercial. The views from the common room which overlooked the lake was very nice, the only positive word we have to say about this hostel. So glad we booked the tailor-made-tekapo hostel.
Mini golf
After visiting the YHA we walked back to the centre, Sangeet purchased a waterproof jacket. We then popped to four square to buy some items for lunch and dinner.
Back at the hostel Sangeet and I ate crackers, humus, cucumber, cheese and relish. When we finished we sat in the common room and uploaded some pictures to flickr:
www.flickr.com/gaygoat
There was a guy here from Korea, we got chatting and I asked him if he plays chess. He said yes. So we had a intense game….it went down to him having a king, queen and pawn, I had a king pawn and rook. He won….we were both happy at a very good and intense game and both admitted to making some silly mistakes.
Whilst we were playing chess, Sangeet cooked a stir fry which was very tasty..I went to the Chinese restaurant to purchase steamed rice…..I thought it would have been cheaper then buying it from the supermarket but it cost NZ$6.00!
After dinner we went for a drive to Mount John Observatory, unfortunately this closes at 6pm, so we drove further to lake Alexandria, the views are fantastic. The clouds seemed to be hugging the mountains….looks like a magical place…..God’s creations and so fabulous.
On the way back we went to the Church of the Good Shepherd.
The bronze statue of the dog on the shores of Lake Tekapo is dedicated to the working collie dogs of the Mackenzie Country and was commissioned on the 7th of March, 1968.
Later in the evening around 11pm we drove to the church to view the stars, there was some light pollution from the village lights, so we decided to head 20 minutes out of town where it was pitch black. We could see so many stars, the sky was amazing. We even saw a few shooting stars.
After checking out of the hostel we decided to head to Patagonia chocolates in Queenstown for a smoothie and to use their wifi. We needed to sort out the car hire for Australia, looking to drive from Melbourne to Adelaide along the Great Ocean Drive. The main sites I checked was www.standbycars.com and www.hertz.com. Standbycars is great IF you can get the deal, they offered a one way rental from Melbourne to Adelaide for Aus$5.00 per day but the mileage is limited to 1,500km and you need to complete the journey in two days. Also the dates were not favourable with us. I ended up using hertz as I am a member of their Hertz number one gold club. The price quoted was good.
We spent about three hours at Patagonia, a Sikh family also came in to buy some drinks and sweets, their father sat with us and told us their life story….him and his wife are both doctors and run a hospital in Hyderabad, one of their two sons works as a doctor in Dunedin and the other works for Microsoft in Auckland. We exchanged contact details, he also told us that he has good contacts around India and if we do visit he can get us good discounts….! On a very personal note I have difficulty trusting people from India though he seemed like a genuine person.
After they left we continued with our internet work which was completed by around 4pm. As we were heading north to Lake Tekapo we decided to stock up with food, soups, gluten free bread….yes you may seem surprised, but sometimes we eat healthy! Saying that, on the way to the supermarket we did pass by Fergburger for our last serving of fries and onion rings!
We said our goodbyes to Queenstown and headed north on highway 6 then caught highway 8 to Lake Tekapo. The drive was amazing, driving past rolling hills. It started raining very heavily, we then saw a double rainbow. The drive takes about 4 hours and is very pleasant, the only downside is the 100kmph speed limit. We also passed beautiful Lake Pukaki. The lakes here have an amazing turquoise colour. This is due to ‘rock flour’ (sediment) in the water. This so called flour was created when the lakes basin was gorged out by a stony bottomed glacier moving across the lands surface, with the rock on rock action grinding out fine particles that ended up being suspended in the glacial melt water. This sediment gives the water a milky quality and refracts the sunlight beaming down, hence the brilliant colour.
We arrived in Lake Tekapo around 7pm and were lucky to catch the hostel staff before they closed up, they showed us around the very busy hostel and to our room, it was okay but we have been very spoilt at other hostels…..I am sure you know which ones!
In the evening we walked across from our room to the kitchen where Sangeet had a humus and salad wrap, I had soup and bread.
After dinner we went to the common room where Sangeet challenged me to a game of Jenga, in this game one would place wooden blocks on top of each other in a stack, one then removes a wooden block (not from the top, but anywhere else) without the structure toppling over. Sangeet won!
This morning I was on the search for wifi, a fellow backpacker told me that New Orleans Hotel, on Buckingham Street offers it. So off I went and ordered a hot chocolate. The wifi was terrible, it took 20 minutes to upload one picture, I had 100 pictures to upload!!….I gave up and went back to the hostel, this was around 10:30am and already the day trippers were coming into the town, I saw five coach loads.
After brunch at the hostel we set off to Wanaka driving through the Crown Range Mountains, they were just extraordinary, just like jumping into a picture.
The journey to Wanaka takes one hour. Most places offer free parking, we parked near the isite office which offered two hour parking. We had a walk through the town, which was like any other town and ate lunch at Soulfood Store and Cafe. It’s cooked menu looks vegetarian though some items do contain egg.
Soulfood Store & Cafe
74 Ardmore Street
Wanaka
New Zealand
The food was good and filling, but not a cafe I would rush back to though Sangeet really enjoyed the pizza.
We then walked to New World supermarket to stock up for tonight’s dinner. Afterwards we popped in to Cinema Paradiso which is another cool cinema. You can watch the movie sitting on comfortable couches and also have the option of sitting in a Morris Minor for a drive through type of experience. They even cook food to order so it is ready for you during intermission. The movie showing did not appeal to us so we decided to head out of Wanaka.
Afterwards we drove to Mount Aspiring which is the highest peak in New Zealand outside of the Mount Cook region. Mount Aspiring / Tititea is New Zealand’s highest mountain outside the Aoraki/Mount Cook region.
Set within Otago’s Mount Aspiring National Park, it has a height of 3,033 metres (9,950 feet). Māori named it Tititea, which translates as Glistening Peak. Named in December 1857 by the Chief Surveyor for the Otago Province, John Turnbull Thomson. It is also often called ‘the Matterhorn of the South,’ for its pyramidal peak when seen from the Dart River. The first ascent was on 23 November 1909 by Major Bernard Head and guides Jack Clarke and Alec Graham. Head’s party climbed to the summit ridge by the west face from the Bonar Glacier, a route not repeated until 1965.
Mount Aspiring / Tititea sits slightly to the west of the main divide, 30 kilometres west of Lake Wanaka. It lies at the junction of three major glacial systems — the Bonar Glacier, which drains into the Waipara River, and the Volta and Therma Glaciers, which both drain into the Waitoto River. The Waipara is a tributary of the Arawhata River, and both the Arawhata and Waitoto Rivers flow out to the west coast in between Haast and Jackson Bay.
The most used route to Mount Aspiring is up the West Matukituki Valley, which is at the end of a 50-kilometre road from Wanaka at Raspberry Flat. From here a network of huts provide staging points for climbers. The first is Mount Aspiring Hut, which is 8 kilometres (or approximately two hours’ walk) from the end of the road.
We took the drive into Mount Aspiring National Park, it is via an untreated road and at times the car was sliding about. We saw many cattle, the cows actually looked like they were members of KKK as they have white faces which look like hoods! So I got out of the car to deal with them…..I started making cow sounds and it was amazing to see all the cows coming close to me, I felt I had a connection! I then started teaching them some Kundalini Yoga, Ego Eradicator…..the cows came closer……now I have a real connection….I then added breath of fire…..the cows were scared and started moving back!
On the way back to Arrowtown we passed by The Roaring Meg. The Roaring Meg hydro scheme refers to two small hydro electricity power stations fed by the Roaring Meg Dam. The scheme is located next to the Roaring Meg Stream in the Kawarau Gorge, near Cromwell, New Zealand. Roaring Meg is owned and operated by Pioneer Generation.
As the hostel was full for tonight we decided to move on. It will be very hard to leave as it is a fantastic hostel and the staff are very friendly and helpful in making your stay memorable.
After breakfast Ruth, Sangeet and I decided to walk up the gondola track….there are two ways to the top, take the gondola which means departing with money or walk which is free, of course we decided on the free route. We said our byes to the hostel staff who now seemed part of our ever growing family and walked towards the hike starting point. Unfortunately the hike route we wanted to do was closed and the other routes would have taken longer, so instead we decided to walk into town and around Queenstown Park. Ruth headed back to the hostel after we’d said our goodbyes and agreed to arrange a reunion in Europe! Then we walked towards the park.
Queenstown park is very nice and calm, you have people playing disc golf, (golf but with a frisbee), lots of amazing trees, beautiful tennis courts and bowling greens (though not real grass!) and a great rose garden.
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Afterwards we walked into town and headed for a veg juice from:
Johnny Barr’s
15 Church Street,
Queenstown
New Zealand
+64 3 409 0169
For lunch we headed over to:
Bombay Palace Indian Restaurant & Takeaways
66 Shotover Street,
Queenstown
New Zealand
+64 3 441 2886
The waiting staff here are very knowledgable about the way the food is cooked. We asked about the frier and whether there is a separate one for meat and vegetarian items. Straight away he said it was the same frier. He also knew exactly which breads had egg in them.
After walking back to the car which was parked near the hostel we drove to Arrowtown. Arrowtown is a historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on the banks of the Arrow River approximately 5 km from State Highway 6. There is also road access directly to Queenstown via the Shotover Gorge and a third route via the picturesque Lake Hayes.
During the high point of the gold rush the population of Arrowtown rose to over 7,000 and became the center of a larger municipality, which covered the new settlements of Macetown, Skippers and Bullendale (today only ghost towns). Arrowtown was constituted as a borough in 1867 and became part of the Queenstown-Lakes District in the local government reorganisation of 1989.
The town reached a population low of fewer than 200 people in the 1960s before gaining popularity again. According to the 2006 New Zealand census, the usually-resident population of Arrowtown was 2,151, a 27.1% increase since 2001. The town has seen considerable growth and construction, but it falls under strict appearance covenants applied by the local authority that aim to preserve the appearance of the town. There are many well preserved buildings used by European and Chinese immigrants dating from the gold mining days of the town. Arrowtown is the home of the Lakes District Museum and Ah Lum’s store.
Bordering the town is Sir Michael Hill’s Championship Golf Course which is home to the New Zealand Golf Open. This championship golf course is a private membership club, but does allow green fee players by appointment only. The Club also provides a Day Spa that is available to the public.
A BBH hostel, in any other circumstance this would be a fantastic hostel but because we left Butterfli lodge which has just been superior, this lodge feels a little mediocre!
Afterwards we walked by the shops, cafes, restaurants and cinema of Buckingham Street, the Main Street of Arrowtown. We popped into the cinema and saw a listing for the movie called ‘The Intouchables’. So amazing that only yesterday Ruth was telling us about this movie, as it sounded good we bought tickets to it, the showing was at 6:15 so as we had a couple of hours, after chatting to the lady Sam (from Derbyshire, England!) running the cute little cInema, we had a wander to the Chinese settlement. The settlement was very interesting, we saw how the Chinese suffered real hardship during the mining of gold in this area in the late 1800s.
Whilst in town we saw an Indian restaurant called Mantra, Sangeet noticed an elderly long bearded Sikh by the window above the restaurant and became very happy, we had not seen a Gursikh in the South Island. Sangeet said he looked like an angel. I was confused and just laughed.
Afterwards we went to watch the movie, The Intouchables, this is a fantastic movie and definitely worth watching. Based on a true story.
Dorothy Browns is a luxurious boutique Cinema and Bar in picturesque, historic Arrowtown.
The main cinema is beautifully designed with Chinese silk ceilings, chandeliers and seriously spacious seats. The Den is smaller, comfortable and relaxed. It screens mostly arthouse movies.
We then went to eat at Mantra, it is run by a Sikh lady called Shammi, I would like to say the food was amazing to help support a Sikh business but I can not, the food was made for a western tastebud. Personally I do not think people from India can cook, only Indians from East Africa can cook!
Mantra Restaurant
12 The Royal Oak,
Buckingham Street,
Arrowtown
New Zealand
+64 3 442 0880
We returned to the hostel and sat with fellow backpackers in the lounge to watch another movie, Happy Gilmore.
Hi, thanks for visiting my blog, feel free and have a look around.Here is a bit about me, as you may or may not have guessed my name is Mandeep,I work to travel as opposed to work to pay bills and die!Every trip for me is an adventure, I have been very fortunate to stumble across amazing places and meet awesome people along the way.
Why gaygoat? When I first started this blog I was a vegetarian, so gaygoat – happy goat! Also you have to admit it is catchy and a URL you will not forget!
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