We were picked up at 21:30hrs and driven up to the most southerly observatory on the planet. At the half way point the driver switched off the lights and continued up the mountain road in complete darkness. He explained that he does this trip several times a week and knows the twisting dangerous road like the back of his hand. That doesn’t stop us from being a little worried (I have written “a little worried” because Lucy has banned me from swearing so I cant put “sh******g in my pants). He had to turn off the lights so it wouldn’t blind the large telescope on top of Mt John.
Once there, we were shown around some of the telescopes and took several pictures of the moon.
Both Lucy and I really enjoyed the tour, with clear skies and millions of stars on view. We were even able to see two other galaxies using our eyes only, something you can’t do in other light polluted skies. I now know how to find the Southern Cross and then work out from it where magnetic south is on the horizon. This will come in very handy for …..well the next two weeks. J. We got back to our B&B after midnight feeling pretty pleased with ourselves and what we had seen.
Next morning we set off on a 300+km drive to Queenstown. On the way, because the weather was clear, we decided to take a detour to Mt Cook which is the highest mountain in New Zealand
The drive took is some of the most breathtaking scenery I have ever seen. Once there Lucy and I took a thirty minute walk up to Keypoint lookout where we were able to take some pictures of the glaciers which ran past.
Then back on the road for a very pleasant 280km drive to Queenstown. I actually had to overtake twice during the journey, that’s how busy the roads are in NZ.
Once in Queenstown we booked into our apartment and decided to go out for a meal….hang on…Lucy turned on the TV and saw “Aircrash investigation” was on. L While she watched that the sad person, I wrote this blog. Then we went out to have a look around this busy backpacker town. Tonight I fancy an Indian.
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