Reviews of Dark Sky Project. (Museum) in Christchurch (Canterbury).

Dark Sky Project

909 Reviews

358 Comments

Museum

Tourist attraction

1 Motuariki Lane, Lake Tekapo 7999, New Zealand

Description

Information of Dark Sky Project, Museum in Christchurch (Canterbury)

Here you can see the location, open hours, popular times, contact, photos and real reviews done by the users.

This place has good reviews, this means that they treat their customers well and you’ll feel great with their services, recommended 100%!

Map

Open hours of Dark Sky Project

Popular times

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Reviews of Dark Sky Project

V.

We did the crater star gazing experience. Highly recommend 👍🏻 My young kids were a bit tired (5 & 7😂way over bed time), but they loved it and had a great learning experience... First time ever used the professional telescopes. The surface of the moon was bright and right in front of my eyes 🤩 Amazing experience! The guide was very knowledgeable, friendly and great to listen to. Took a couple of photos with my phone (Followed the minimal light pollution rules)I have tried my best 😅....

T.

Came here after NYE. Clouds prevented us from doing the Summit experience at midnight, but we opted for the Dark Sky Project. This was really well done, and as an astronomy nerd myself, I can say the host really knew his material! Excellent!

J.

Just wowed by this place. Jenny greeted us real nice on the front desk and Helped us with our bookings. Excellent customer service. We did an indoor tour and we learnt so much, so many wows and ahhhhhhs. Loved learning about the constellations, matariki, southern cross and our milky way galaxy. We also had dinner and cocktails here which was amazing. The building is so impressive and all the staff especially Jenny were amazing 👏

T.

We did the Summit Experience in April 11pm. The shuttle bus ride is comfortable. The guides explained thoroughly what lights to use, the many facts and tips of the stars above. We took turns to peek into two telescopes with one inside an observatory building. Guides used lasers and red lights to point and guide our paths. Dress warm as this tour does not provide the extreme cold weather costs at the base building. Definitely recommended for astronomy buffs as these facilities are used for scientific research for the southern hemisphere.

J.

Absolutely loved this tour. The tour guides were so knowledgeable, answered everyones questions. I hung on their every word. They had so many interesting things to say, I could've listened to them all night. And the stars from the top of the mountain are STUNNING. Ive never seen so many stars in my life. And there were two galaxies visible which I've never, and will probably never, see again. And looking through the telescopes provided at different objects was incredible. Really a magical experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat. It's nippy up the mountain so make sure to dress appropriately. I would recommend this to anyone!

c.

Excellent and Magnificent place. A must see for young and old. Stay over and enjoy Nature and the Stars.

C.

We arrived in torrential rain, so didn't see a single star. But the dark sky experience indoors was mind blowing. Awe inspiring tour of the Brashear telescope and passionate knowledgeable guides - ask for Safari, she's brilliant!

M.

Amazing tour with Safari! Learnt more in 90 mins than I did throughout high school. Incredible interactive experience and a great way to spend a rainy evening in Tekapo!

N.

Did the summit tour, Daniel is an awesome guide, intriguing explanation of the stars. However, going to the top of mt john won’t necessarily give u a much better view of the sky. I personally think $150 per person is overpriced 🥲.

L.

Great shop with lots of cool items and merchandise. The staff are kind and polite also very knowledgeable. The tour is well worth the price and the huge telescope is epic and the weather was great 👍

L.

Great views from here! Enjoyed a nice cup of tea and slice of cake in the restaurant/cafe which was crazy busy, staff always remained friendly and polite. Lucked out with some nice seats overlooking the lake. Afterwards we went walkabout on our own, lovely and relaxing walk. Be sure to dress for windy weather!

S.

I booked for the summit experience but unfortunately, the weather was not so clear. At least I learned something. What a great experience in this amazing place on earth though. Make me feel like a primary school student again. The staff is knowledgeable and well trained. What I would like to recommend is A MUST VISIT, get ready and prepare to be amazed!

S.

No doubt amazing views from the top of Mt. John Observatory. Unfortunately we went on a windy day, so it was difficult to see the stars or stay longer outside. Tekapo is a perfect place for star gazing and would recommend this tour on clear skies and less windy days. The guide was very nice.

s.

So glade we went here & found a Cafe that Caters for gluten free people Had a very enjoyable breakfast and a very nice coffee and the scenery is just amazing. Staff are very nice & helpful.

V.

You can visit this place for observatory and view around it. But the main attraction of lake tekapo is that you can view the clear sky with millions star shining in sky even from the terrace of place where you are staying.

A.

An absolutely amazing place to enjoy and explore the star gazing experience. The tours packages are bit expensive but they are worth it. Best time of the year is summer time.

A.

Really cool experience , not just for kids and quite informative. The staff is enthusiastic and charismatic during the tour. We did the Dark Sky experience and that was great. Keke did a great job and very charismatic. I hope next time we’re able to see through the telescope and remind us how small we are.

J.

This is a definite must do, must experience. The tour guides really love their work and explain things to you really well. The stars are so bright up there, you feel you can touch them. Had so many WOW moments looking through the telescopes at Saturn and Jupiter Will definitely.do again.

M.

Amazing tour with Luca! We chose the indoor experience because of the weather and honestly we loved the tour so much. What a special experience. Luca is so passionate and knowledgeable and he will answer any question you have about the stars! We learnt so much and we ended up looking at some beautiful planets through a telescope thanks to Luca and his team, we will never forget how amazing the whole experience was. We will definitely go back when our daughter is big enough😊

J.

Absolutely mind blowing, I can still close my eyes and see the stars. Staff are great very friendly and funny. Once in a lifetime opportunity.

C.

Very interesting and informative night learning about the stars, would definitely recommend! The hosts/guides were very knowledgeable and shared the information well

S.

We had a really great time. Our guide Adrian was especially nice - very chatty and knowledgeable.

K.

A really nice place to go to. Nice observatory. It also sells wonderful items. There is also guided facility tours, telescope viewing and educational events. It is best to see in night skies. It's really lucky that Tekapo has the largest Dark Sky Reserve in the world and the first Dark Sky Reserve in the world and the first to be awarded gold tier status. Even Tekapo is one of the quietest spots on Earth and yet has one of busiest night skies in the universe. Really liked it.

L.

This is first dinner we stopped during our south island trip. The food tasted great. Staffs were really nice. Nice indoor and outdoor seating areas. We are two families with 3 kids, plenty of space for us to enjoy the food and view. We had marked this as one of must-stop locations for our next trip in lake tekapo.

P.

Amazing experience if witnessing stars galaxies. Highly recommended!

B.

We joined the Mt John tour at the midnight. The Sky was 50% clear, but still amazing! We could see some major stars and a bit Milky Way. Quite different feeling up to the Mt John at the night time.

A.

lovely place to learn about galaxy

W.

Went for the summit experience and totally enjoyed it. We were very lucky as it was clear skies and not too chilly (only towards the end of the tour). We got to look at different stars / clusters of stars through the telescopes and learn how to identify some stars. Guide was very good. We went for the 12.30am Mandarin speaking tour. If you're multilingual, you'll have more choices for timeslots esp when slots run low. No white light (includes mobile phones, cameras w screens) while on the tour. It's chilly so thermal base layer is a must. I wore thermal + jeans + windproof pants for bottoms, thermal + long sleeve + down jacket + windproof jacket for top, and waterproof hiking shoes and they worked well without having to borrow their jacket (it's provided so you can just collect). Collect only if you're wearing otherwise you'll be carrying it (quite heavy). Hot chocolate was so-so though still nice to have a hot drink. You can also buy merchandise at dark sky project just beside lake tekapo to support them in "protecting the dark skies above". Meals served at the diner is good too.

C.

Had the pleasure of taking the indoor tour here last night hosted by Daniel. Very knowledgeable guy who studied and did research at the University of Canterbury. Would recommend.

T.

The place has a very cool space theme and is set up for tourism but at the moment the kitchen is closed and just the cabinet and hot drinks are open.

M.

Could be so much better!We were excited to be finally able to do this experience and we had a perfect night with clear skies. I have to say at the finish I felt underwhelmed by the whole experience and think there are things they could do differently (and better) to take this to the next level which I'll detail here. See my full review on Trip Advisor under "Could be so much better" from January 2020.I Our experience in detail....After checking in at 11pm (when it gets dark in summer), we waited in the lobby of the Dark Sky Project building (where one waits in the shop section, the only part open at this time) for 30 mins before we got our briefing. We then had a short briefing and were given small red lights to hang around our neck and collected a warm jacket (which was a good thing as it was cold, even in summer) and hopped on a bus. There were 40 in our group - which seems to be the max no, on each group. It was disappointing that we just hung around in the main building. Given we were doing the premium experience why didn't we also get to do the multimedia experience (ie "the dark sky experience") in the building where we waited. I'm not sure what this experience is but why couldn't we view the multimedia presentation prior to visiting the summit. Having just been in New York and at he Museum of Natural History where they have a great space section, we learned so much in the space dome viewing a multimedia presentation of the stars and space - and something like that would have been a great intro to this experience. Our guide did an intro first and used a laser pointer to explain the southern cross and then there were three telescopes focussed on different stars that you queued up for. We then walked to a lower level and did the same thing with three telescopes - one being housed inside a building. To be honest, given it's a constant stream of people walking between telescopes, you're not really sure what you're looking at! You miss the full description at each of the telescopes and just catch a part of what you're supposed to be seeing. However we did see the moon rising which was great and they redirected two of the telescopes onto that - and it was a much more interesting object to look at - as there's not much you can see when viewing a star. Besides talking about the Southern Cross and the 2 pointer stars to it, no other star group was mentioned. Surely this was an opportunity to tell us a bit about the stars we see in the Southern Hemisphere and how to read those constellations. So okay, it's not really 'astrology' to know the star constellations but there's only so much one can take in about how many light years away certain stars are. It would have been great to point out at least a few key star groupings that are visible in the southern sky. By the questions our guide was asked, it was obvious that his was something people were keen to find out about - esp if the visitors were from the northern hemisphere. After our viewings, we walked back to the bus and went on our 10 min trip back to the facility. We also had a photo of our group taken whilst there which I understood would be uploaded to Flickr. I didn't hear this from the guide but I overheard others in our group mention this. I have been on to Flickr today and even though it's now 4 days since our visit there is no group photo loaded. The last time they loaded a photo was the 10th Jan - so 10 days ago. So that's not very good either! There are a lot of things that could be done to take this experience to the next level - and there's the potential for this to be a world-class experience with some time, money and effort. It just needs someone at the helm of this operation to look at best practice and how 'star experiences' are delivered overseas and then add some modern technology to upgrade the experience, with more training of the staff so they can become "great" guides. Even the hand out they gave us looked like it had been photocopied a million times- it was largely unreadable! For $185 a person I expect a lot more than this!!

M.

Very cool place, Stacey is an awesome guy with extensive knowledge you can tell he's got a lot of passion 10/10. 👍 :)

C.

This place wow true Devine blew me out of the water !! Steak is so great !!

j.

Just popped in as my wife and I were walking past. We entered and were very politely greeted by a friendly young woman named Jenny who showed us around the main area and informed us about the services. As we're meandering about I caught a glimpse of the coolest looking telescope, Jenny noticed this and after a few questions allowed us to view it up close in the room. What followed next was an incredible and detailed description about its origins... SOOOOO BLOODY COOL!!! To potential bosses reading this give that girl a raise because of Jenny we booked a day trip tomorrow. Unreal and amazing service 👏 🙌

P.

What a great place 😍 we went to the restaurant for tea so yummy and the staff were super friendly and accommodating, we didn't have to wait long for our meal and it was presented beautifully. Will definitely be back. The bathroom was really clean and smelled nice. 👍👍👍👍

V.

Great guide, centre is very well kept and the whole family learnt alot about the stars.

f.

The young man who took us through, was amazing, articulate, knowledgeable and very educated. My granddaughter had many questions and he was a great educator. We need more folk to educator our young, who are like 👍him. He is an asset to the Dark Sky project. Thank you for this informative morning's knowledge. Seriously I learned more about Stars, Universe, and physics than I ever thought possible. 100% go to this activity.

M.

It's a little on the pricey end (even during covid with lower prices) but still totally worthwhile to do the summit experience. I'd love to see more of the hardware on the mountain but it's great to look through one of the big telescopes (plus some smaller telescopes) and the guides are friendly and know what they are talking about 👌🏼don't miss out on it!

K.

Would have given 5 star if had something to sit or lie on....or even just be advised to bring something

B.

Good view! Must try automatic toilet. There is a electrical car charge station here.

K.

It is BEAUTIFUL!!! THIS IS A MUST! My heart is complete and my God I was so happy I could finally breathe. No allergies at all!

N.

Great little guided tour, visual effects were great too. Well presented

S.

Beautiful view and kids play ground beside this could be an advantage for families with toddlers

S.

Its a wonderful place to have a meal.

K.

Super spot for a great feast, sights are astounding / jaw dropping!! For those star gazers, well worth visiting the observatory in the evening.

f.

The young man who took us through, was amazing, articulate, knowledgeable and very educated. My granddaughter had many questions and he was a great educator. We need more folk to educator our young, who are like 👍him. He is an asset to …

s.

Beautiful landscapes in New Zealand awesome

D.

Very interesting show with many awesome displays and special effects.

K.

Beautiful look into the dark sky project

W.

Went for the summit experience and totally enjoyed it. We were very lucky as it was clear skies and not too chilly (only towards the end of the tour). We got to look at different stars / clusters of stars through the telescopes and learn …

P.

What a great place 😍 we went to the restaurant for tea so yummy and the staff were super friendly and accommodating, we didn't have to wait long for our meal and it was presented beautifully. Will definitely be back. The bathroom was really clean and smelled nice. 👍👍👍👍

R.

An Awesome evening, great knowledge by yhe guides

S.

What a nice place to have your lunch or diner!!! 😁😁😁

M.

It's a little on the pricey end (even during covid with lower prices) but still totally worthwhile to do the summit experience. I'd love to see more of the hardware on the mountain but it's great to look through one of the big telescopes …

K.

Super spot for a great feast, sights are astounding / jaw dropping!! For those star gazers, well worth visiting the observatory in the evening.

L.

We visited the Dark Sky Project and did the Crater experience. I had high expectations for this and unfortunately I don't think we got value for money. Over the course of the experience each participant probably got to look through the scope for about 70 seconds. There were numerous occasions when the guides were speaking for periods of time while the scopes were looking at clear sky. As it was a cloudy night with a full moon I felt that the time could have been used far more efficiently. The full moon and clouds weren't inhibitors to the experience. The two highlights were looking at the edge of the moon and the stars set 47. Although this almost seemed like an afterthought as we were just about to be guided to the bus when the other guide said we should look at it. That was spectacular but i don't know if I would recommend it. If I did it would be with the expectation of seeing very little through the scopes. Very passionate guides about the systems above us.

J.

Awesome... so interesting to learn about the Maori legends and the stars, loved listening to the sun sing! Thanks to Alex who was informative and friendly, and gave thoughtful answers to questions. Coffee was a bit average - lady serving was helpful and lovely, guy also behind counter clearly getting in the way and interfering! Overall a great experience - recommend.

J.

I'm sure this would have easily been a 5+ however due to poor visibility the experience couldn't happen for us. However we have a year to redeem our voucher to try for another time. Staff were great.

j.

Fantastic view of the stars and great explanations easy to understand

T.

The weather stopped us being able to do the summit experience but I felt it was important to rate highly and leave a review. The Dark Sky Project tried everything they could to give us an opportunity to see the stars, offering us to go on the tour anyway and have an opportunity to learn about the telescopes and history or rebook us onto another tour. As soon as we mentioned this was our only opportunity they offered us a full refund. Shame we couldn't do the activity but fantastic customer service.

J.

I remember coming here during one of my summers when I was doing a South Island road trip with my friends and its pretty awesome. I learnt a lot here and got so many photos. Definitely a vivid memory of mine and I love this place, truly a natural beauty! I hope to come back here next summer holidays, it's so beautiful!

E.

I would be leaving a one star rating had it not been for Alexsi saving the experience. His wealth of knowledge and passion in explaining and interacting with us during our tour was outstanding. We originally booked the crater experience only to be told on arrival that all the tours had been cancelled. As a result of the strong winds and the effect they might have on the buses which would have transported us to the experience. We had driven over an hour for this experience and the lack of communication on the cancellation of this was appalling. If the experience is cancelled customers should be contacted. There was no excuse for the lack of communication as there were easily 8 members staff milling around the check in area. The poor weather alternative is sold as being an alternative experience which isn't on their website and is only available during poor conditions. DO NOT pick the option to do this tour, either get the full refund or book for another date. The poor weather alternative is just the Dark Sky Experience, but with an unexplainable $69 dollar price tag instead of the standard $45 price tag online ($33.75 price tag with the use of the Summer25 code). Meaning we unnecessarily paid a premium purely from the cancelling the booking. If you have Alexsi as your tour guide you're experience will be amazing, I cannot praise him enough.

J.

Did the cratel experience for 2 and were very lucky that the weather turned for the better after 2/3 hours of waiting and we made it for the last slot. The experience was great given we had never done something like this before, and we're not ready to come to Tekapo and not see the stars for ourselves! We were not disappointed. We saw distinct shapes of the stars (Saturn, Jupiter, Moon among others) and were given a astrology introductory brief by Will who was very knowledgeable. I would have given 5 stars if they allow us to take some photos during and after the experience as something to remember. Worth noting this place allows full refund if bad weather persists and you can't see any stars that day.

A.

Best southern fried chicken I have ever had (— and I’m from Texas!). My friend had the waffle fries and they were great. Google lists their closing hours as 10:30, but the restaurant closed tonight at 9:30. I heard the manager telling a walk-in customer it was because there were no customers, but there were a few of us left still.

J.

We went on the Crater tour which our party of 3 thoroughly enjoyed. Optimal conditions (clear skies, new moon) for viewing the vast expanse of the night sky and peering at near and far neighbours in our galaxy. Enthusiastic, informative guide. Well organized support crew. Highly recommend.

F.

Highly recommended south American food ! Great Staff !

D.

Nice ambiance and intimate 'booth' seating. Lovely staff. We had baked brie for starter, very nice combination of flavours. We had pasta of the day which was delicious, Also tried the salmon, cooked well apart from the skin which wasn't crispy all through, the salad and potato cake were ok. Apple pie was nice but Key Lime pie was a mediocre cheese cake with a layer of tough green lime jelly on top, we would come again to try other menu options

A.

Collaboration between science and iwi. Focuses on maori astronomy and history which can be quite confusing (as admitted by tour guide because there are multiple names for stars and constellations so its hard to follow). Had hoped for something more scientific but I didnt read the tour blurb to be fair.... the results of research is very cool, but quite simplified. Historic telescope was awesome.

B.

We were here at a reasonably quiet time so we’re lucky enough to get a private tour of the indoor programme. Our tour guide Cruise was excellent - tailored the tour to our two small children and was very knowledgeable in answering our more technical questions as well. A great representative of his Iwi!

C.

You will never get an experience like this anywhere in the world. I've been to planetarium shows before but this showed the stars from both a Maori and a scientific perspective with hands on displays with a difference to boot. Absolutely fascinating! Then had dinner at the restaurant/cafe with knock your socks off views. A not to be missed experience.

C.

An unforgettable but not necessary experience. Our guide did her best. Unfortunately, the weather was not ideal, so we did not have the opportunity to take group photo with milky way or starry sky.

T.

Good range of clothing and food. Service at the cafe was great. Went there around 9pm and asked what gluten free desserts they had. Waiter checked with the chef and came back with an option that I ordered. Amazingly presented. Yum too.

L.

This is a great place I must say. We were actually driving pass Lake Tekapo and stopped for some coffee. I ordered a large cup of flat white, and then waited 25 minutes and got a small one. Taste is ok but not quite as expected. Staff were too busy and that's probably why.

G.

The Crater experience was enjoyable, but not as I'd hoped or expected. We had a full moon so understandably visibility wasn't as clear or defined as it could have been. Nothing anyone can do about that. However the clarity in the telescopes still wasn't as detailed as I'd expected. Our guides were excellent, Alexi especially informative and enthusiastic. The experience itself was underwhelming unfortunately. I wonder how much difference a darker sky would make...

D.

We booked a tour with Earth and Sky which ended up with 100% cloud cover, disappointed we were allowed to move onto another tour the next day. Again this tour was 100% coverage and the staff moved us onto another tour later the same day... you guess it 100% coverage. In the end we didn't take a tour and opted for a refund - this was a good will gesture which was not strictly in the T&Cs so we were pleased. The staff were very helpful and sympathetic - not an easy job to tell a room full of people who came for stars that there are no stars. Very professional and friendly staff who were very understanding hence 4 stars. We did end up seeing stars simply by driving up to the observatory gate - see my photo.

R.

Great experience guides very knowledgeable.

K.

We ended up on a tour on a cloudy night but still got to see so much! The tour guides are very knowledgeable and were keen to show us as many constellations and planets as they could. Tekapo is a dark sky reserve but I was still amazing by how many starts we could see. Well worth the trip, will happily go again!

D.

Very interesting show with many awesome displays and special effects.

C.

This was our favourite paid excursion in New Zealand. You will never experience the stars and night sky as you will in a dark sky reserve. The tour was well organized, the shuttle was comfortable, we were provided coats to keep us warm, and the hot chocolate mid-tour was a pleasant surprise. Now, unfortunately our tour was cut short due to the high winds so we didn't get to use the telescopes, but I cannot fault the tour company for the weather. I merely wish they had informed us in advance that the wind was potential for cancellation, so I could have been prepared for that possibility of occurrence. Be sure to book in advance as they were selling out of spots when I booked two weeks prior. Hope this company lives long and prospers.

R.

First and foremost, weather obviously plays a very important part in the experience. We lucked out with a perfectly clear evening for our tour. We had Daniel and Luka as our guides - both were extremely informative and clearly so passionate about their work. We learned so much about the night sky in the southern hemisphere and got to see some amazing things through the telescopes. I don't think there is a better way to go stargazing in New Zealand!

D.

If you want to eat, best to book. While we waited to be seated a whole bunch of elderly people waltzed in and took the only remaining tables. No-one offered to seat us. We left.

L.

Had and amazing time! It was a little chilly, but they gave you winter jackets to wear. Our guides, Clara and Will, were very knowledgable and friendly. The night was perfectly clear and got to see a lot of very neat things including 3 galaxies, multiple shooting stars, nebulas, a star cluster, a multiple star system, and Jupiter with 4 of its moons. Great experience!

s.

Beautiful landscapes in New Zealand awesome

G.

Well worth the stargazing tour! We got lucky and had a very clear night so were able to learn a lot about the night sky as well as see Saturn!

A.

Great experience and shown by people with a passion. Just make sure your wearing something warm as it gets pretty cold up the hill. Complimentary coffee was lovely. Thanks for the great experience.

D.

Good tour guide who showed her love of the the subject. Well setup, everything was prepared, and having the laser to point out what star was been talked about was great. Thanks

S.

Phenomenal experience with some very knowledgeable guides. We went on the Cowan observatory tour which has a combination of aimed telescopes and naked eye observations (with a handy laser pointer). Best view of the night sky we have ever seen.

A.

A great experience star watching at a clear night.

H.

What an experience! Imagine your partner taking you out on a surprise trip and you get to view Saturn from a telescope! Staff were very friendly! The guide who took us for the star gazing night was amazing! Can you drive a vehicle in absolute pitch dark?? Well, they do it pretty easily on a daily basis! Want to view constellations or other planets... enquire within and book a trip! You are gonna love it!!

R.

tl;dr - a moderately fun if somewhat underwhelming activity for the price. Slightly hampered in its excitement by the waffling guide we had. The laser pointers they have a super cool though. This turned out to be a good clear night for stargazing. We learnt a few bits and got to see some things through the telescope that you can’t with the naked eye. The hour actually went quite quickly and we weren’t that cold. Both guides were knowledgeable and answered everyone’s questions aptly but there are some cracks in the setup (at least for our evening). The reason why it gets 3/5 stars is that it was $100 each to go to a dark field and use a telescope twice, which pointed at some random bright speckles of stars which were cool, but fundamentally a bit underwhelming as it’s difficult to appreciate what you’re looking at when the view through the view piece has so many stars. The other issue we had was that one of the two astronomer guides seemed to be very nervous and had a very strong accent (despite living in NZ) which made understanding them and trying to keep up with the info between their waffle somewhat difficult

C.

The night time summit experience was amazing. We were lucky with clear skies. Very informative staff.

B.

Daniel and Holly are great tour guides, the lady bus driver is amazing and out of this world talented (sorry I wish I knew your name). sky gazing is life changing on so many levels you will not leave the same person you went in as. It is enlightening on every possible level.

O.

We did the stargazing tour at midnight, it was pretty awesome, good guides amazing visibility. Saw Orion nebula and some more things through telescopes. Bring your DSLR and they will also take nice pictures for you with their special equipment

J.

Great experience, the guides are very knowledgeable and they offer a warm jacket and hot drink. Super nice customer service team as well and they offer a refund if the night sky doesn't isn't looking to nice for star gazing.

C.

This is an awesome place to visit it lasted an hour and the guide was very knowledgeable the younger members were a bit antsy with the amount of talking but loved it too

K.

Had the opportunity to participate in a Star gazing tour at the mount John Observatory. The hour and a half session was very informative and gave us a glimpse of the jewels in the sky. Was looking forward to it ever since I read about it. A must do if you are travelling to the south island of NZ.

H.

We toured around the building and gift shop area and ate at the diner. Really nice place. Helpful guides with lots of information on stargazing options.

A.

Amazing stargazing tours! We did the summit tour and it was just breathtaking and so informative! We learned so much and the staff and astronomers were absolutely amazing! 100% recommend

d.

Cancelled at last minute due to weather. Made a special trip from north island to this attraction, need to have a option or program to reduce the disappointment

R.

This was on my list of things I needed to do in NZ. 1 of very few dark sky reserves in the world. The tour is about 2 hours and starts off with pointing out stars and constellations in the sky. After that the telescopes come out and spend the rest of the time looking through them. Luckily it was completely clear the night I went up. I got to see the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, nearest star, globular clusters and other star systems. It was beautiful. The provide down jackets for the tour which is great as it was very windy up top. It's pricey but you don't get many skies like this in the world. That makes it worth it imo.

J.

I really love the experience. Especially if you like the stars very much, you should go and have a try. We are lucky to have a very clear sky on our time there.

손.

It was a Breath-taking & spectacular expeprience! Never saw that many numbers of stars in my life. Easy & kind explanation by a professional staff was also favorable! Weather could be an only obstacle in your journey to the space. Def I must be missing thousands of stars. Thanks.

H.

Had an amazing star-gazing and planet-watching midnight trip. Guide was incredibly knowledgeable and informative. You will never have seen the Milky Way like this at home! Company supplies Antarctic-style down jackets but you need VERY warm footwear and clothing if visiting in winter. I completely recommend buying the NZ$5 sock-warmer pads they sell in the office.

d.

Very knowledgeable and friendly guides. We were blessed to have a clear night which helped. It's pretty fascinating and exciting even you had not followed much of astronomical stuffs during school, college or any time. A must do for anybody who plans a day or two at Tekapo or even Wanaka.

D.

Great star gazing experience. I dis the twilight tour. You take pot luck with the weather but if it is clear it is great. Well organised and informative and the stars are amazing. Free photo of the group under the stars and free hot chocolate and chocolate brownie which is a nice touch.

M.

$45 tour lasts under an hour, learn a lot about local culture and astronomy. Observatory doesn’t open to the sky but a good tour anyway. Pricey for what you get but consider it also a donation to the preservation of Maori culture.

a.

Absolutely stunning and they had telescopes to look at Jupiter and Saturn. Perfect weather night with no moon how lucky were we.

Z.

See the heaven as it should be My second time here - view at Cowen. Summer sky is not as exciting as winter sky. A lot more tourists too. We were lucky to have a clear sky - there were 3x shooting stars and 2x satellites pass by. Strong advice to have your eye sorted as viewing thru the scope with 'bad' eye don't work. As what happened to me. It was an awesome display - wish they would turn off all lights at night (midnight to 4am) at my city. The new generation MUST know what the true sky look like at night.

g.

World darkest place, suitable for stargazing, milky way look so clear in the sky. Great view with a blueish lake. New zealand best place to visit Lake Tekapo. What a memorable trip

B.

If you get a clear night, you will have the most amazing night tour and see incredible scenes of the skies you've never seen. We were lucky enough to have a clear night, and it was amazing. Great staff

N.

Only in this place can you experience this, make sure that you take the opportunity to see and listen to knowledge from the navigators that discovered more than just a night sky in their journey

D.

Very educational, mazing to see the star clusters in the telescope. My only thing was the distance from the road is not far enough and the car lights going past can ruin it.

D.

This is an amazing experience! There is a reason that Lake Tekapo is one of just three gold rated locations for stargazing – the night sky that you can see here is unrivalled. That was the first time in my life I've seen Mars or Magellan's Clouds, and I'll never forget doing so here. Totally worth the price of admission!

M.

What an amazing sight, the stars seem so close from the top of Mount John Observatory,Tekapo New Zealand. The guides were very helpful and knowledgeable, and let us rock some telescopes. Everything from Saturn at it’s rings to the Magellan Clouds and the Globular Cluster. Just Wow.

A.

Interesting place and experience, but expensive

K.

After initial warning that it may be cloudy and opportunity to change our minds and get money back, we went ahead anyway. Thank goodness we did. A great experience and interesting talk. And it wasn't too cloudy. Would recommend.

L.

Beautiful place to see the stars, dont expect to see the stars like those in your google images. They dont even know when it will be like that too. Remember to book your stay in advance. The rooms were fully booked when we got there.

Z.

A must see when visiting tekapo. A look into the birth of the universe through the eyes of a Maori

S.

Really interesting. The must do experience in Tekapo. It's pricey but definitely worth it. We were really lucky with the weather and moon phase. Worth checking with the staff when booking for a weather update. Staff are really helpful.

H.

Awesome tour! Guides are an awesome asset but it would have been nice to have a bit more time to roam free and utilise some of the equipment. Otherwise it was great 😊

N.

I joined the Chinese tour at night. The night was not having a very clear sky and we were offered an option of delaying our plan if we chose not to go up on the observatory. Thankfully we chose to stick to our plan and we had a wonderful night.

A.

Could have done with some time to take photos

G.

One of the best experiences of our trip! But worth checking the hour by hour weather forecast before you book to ensure the bets visability

H.

One of the best groups to do star gazing with. Very informative and you will be awestruck with what you see. Definitely must do if you're around Lake Tekapo or Twizel for seeing Mount Cook.

T.

The tour up the mountain was sold out, so we went to the Cowan's Hill observatory instead (also through Earth & Sky). Chris was our tour guide, and he was fantastic! We got to see both the moon, and M42 in great detail through the smaller 11" Celestron telescope. Plus we got to see another deep space nebula through the bright and sharp 14" reflector telescope. It was a smaller group than the one up on the mountain at the bigger observatory, so we got more time individually for observing, plus it is a better price. The larger observatory was sold out, but we were not disappointed with this tour of the night sky. We had a bonus getting to see the Aurora Australis (Southern Lights). Make sure you book when it's not a full moon! You should book when it's around half moon or less. A full moon creates as much light pollution as a large city, and you won't get to see as many stars or deep space objects.

K.

Great coffee and very friendly staff. They were busy, had till problems but they still gave great service and were smiling

K.

Beautiful look into the dark sky project

L.

Great place to spend some time, has a Cafe and clothing shops. The views are amazing of the lake and mountains.

S.

nice view. Also the service is wonderful. Although the weather is not as good as expected, they still provide excellent service and refund or rearrange the trip which let the guest feel fantastic.

M.

Star gazing tour guides were very enthusiastic and conducted the sharing session in a very interesting manner. We got to use expensive telescopes to view the various stars and planets.

I.

Very informative staff with full off energy to be our guide ( appreciated), especially Holy :). We explore the area in the dark. # if you are the starhunting and interested with the astronomy...whatever sky condition you must go. #cheers....Imaniati

S.

It is so cold and so cool. But you need to know a little more on star knowledge then you will enjoy the tour even more. And go for deluxe tours, worth your money.

R.

Didn't take a tour because of cloudy day but i did visit this office. They provided nice information and the staff was very friendly. If i had another day with clear sky i would have taken it

I.

Fantastic!!! You HAVE TO come if you like star. They took us to a mountain and used a cool machine to watch stars. There is no light except town centre. So you can saw the star clear and beauty and yelling OMG in your mind!!

J.

We couldn't do the gazing, but they have a brilliant back up plan in place and you see a giant awesome telescope

j.

Beautiful scenery and night sky is amazing

L.

Stunning! This is definitely the highlight of tekapo. Absolutely worth the money spend. We were blessed with a very clear sky

Z.

Definietly a must have activity to join this stargazing tour while you are around lake tekapo. The guys up there who guide there are well prepared and fun, and the sky... Well you have to see it with your own egyes because there are no words to describe! Special thanks for the amazing astro photos!!!!

C.

We had an amazing astronomy tour experience here earth & sky guides. They are absolute knowledgeable and passionate. Highly recommended!

P.

Amazing experience, one of the best things we have done while out here! We had a wonderful clear night and saw two other galaxies and a few planets

R.

dark and gloomy, I know it is supposed to represent the night sky, but man oh man, several hundred gallons of black paint were used, it didnt feel a welcoming place.

N.

The company is kind for traveler. I encountered the rare raining day in Tekapo. They told me that I could change my booked tour to the next day. However, it is misfortune that the wind in Mt. John became too strong to go for the observatory in the second day. It is a pity although they give me full refund finally.

S.

What a nice place to have your lunch or diner!!! 😁😁😁

N.

They did their all, but nature decided not to play it's part so we missed seeing the stars, but the young guide's and astronomy specialist's we're extremely kind

A.

Spectacular views

P.

Delicious hot chocolate 🍫 Panini is very good taste and price.

T.

Popped in yesterday while exploring. The young woman on the desk was super friendly and very helpful. Thank you

N.

It was a great experience with very knowledgeable Astronomers, the stars were great and we saw lots of satellites going across the sky.

V.

Scenery is incomparable with very nice cafe at too of Mount John but we didn't visit at night to see it at its best

D.

Fantastic experience with Earth & Sky to see the milky way. Definitely a must to-do in New Zealand south island. Highly recommended!

J.

They arrange the trip up to the Mnt John Obseratory. It is one only a few Dark Sky locations on the planet. The view of the Southern stars is spectacular.

A.

The experience is worthwhile. The guide so good. We learnt loads. Thanks

a.

So so nice. You have got to go and see this amazing place. Just wish they had a club I could join. Alan Ryan Tauranga NZ!

j.

Nice place very modern but have kept the history and the old telescope great place to eat and have a drink when visiting the lake

Y.

Unfortunately there was rain so we could not go out but enjoyed the talk in the center we will be back.

P.

Highly recommend this tour, very knowledgeable guide and we saw some very cool stuff. The MOA telescope was particularly cool.

T.

The effects are pretty good and the guide was nice and friendly but I felt $45 was a little expensive for what we got.

S.

Bit cloudy and was too much physic 101 knowledge over the trip. I recomanded that can have some advanced experience trips for people interested on astronomy.

D.

(Summit Experience) great facility and a cool place to watch stars from, the guide commentary will be a bit basic for some.

R.

An Awesome evening, great knowledge by yhe guides

T.

You will learn lots about. Star's and the solar system and use some. Cool telescopes try and pick a night with no moon the solar system is much visible in the dark

J.

Can’t give 5 stars as did not eat or view stars etc, but the wife brought a coffee here, very friendly barista and really good coffee!

J.

A must-do in New Zealand. The best of the best is the Mt John star gazing. Hope it's open again soon.

C.

While we didn't get to see the stars due to overcast conditions, they refunded us and the facilities were first class

W.

Our guides were so enthusiastic that you couldn't help but be caught up in it. And now, i will look at the night sky with absolute awe. Thank you for sharing the joy!

C.

Amazing new facilities. Love the work they're doing keeping part of NZ with pristine night skys.

G.

Great place with a great view looking across the pristine Lake to the Snow covered Rangers and becoming more spectacular when bathed in Sunlight.

V.

One of the most brilliant experiences I've had in New Zealand was the midnight star gazing tour. This is a must do!

E.

Very nice and educated place. Very good instructor. The price is a bit high.

S.

Food is amazing! Love the cookies and cream milkshake, and the waffle fries are so yum!!

G.

Nice place to have s sip of coffee with a wonderful view. Will try a meal here later.

A.

Well worth going to this when in Tekapo. Great guides , knowledgeable and passionate

L.

Wonderful. A lot of different circuits are available. You should check the forecast before going.

M.

Staff are super friendly. Cowan's night view tour was nice there was many stars to see.

m.

Went for lunch during an Intercity bus stop,. Yummy salmon bagel and chocolate cake!

R.

very friendly. organized. nice to have arctic jackets as cold looking at night sky.

E.

Educational about the stars above us. Talk was from a cultural perspective

J.

We didn't realise this was closed on Tuesdays & Wednesdays so not really in a position to rate

R.

Was really interesting and fun for the whole family make sure you rug up

J.

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to execute the tour due to weather, but the store is pretty cool, and the staff were very helpful.

S.

Great tours. Yummy food. Gorgeous views of Lake Tekapo.

S.

Open till late. Pretty accommodating. Unfortunately couldn't do a tour due to an unclear sky. Prompt refund.

P.

New in 2019..but not as polished or as impressive as the Mt John Observatory on top of Tekapo Hill

W.

This is probably one of the best places I've ever been to. The staff is very helpful and friendly.

A.

Great range of the expected tourist samplings fairly priced and well displayed & always helpful polite staff

F.

Sky here is very nice. Although it just after rain, but I can see a sky with full of star.

D.

Didn't have time to stay. Only a short visit and a coffee.

N.

Beautiful stories and history - ❤ for both adults and children

S.

You guys have a lovely, kind and helpful staff "YANIYA " thank you soooooooooo much :) really appreciate 👏 :)

H.

Went on cowans observatory trip. Absolutely loved this introduction to star gazing. Big thanks to all the team

T.

Beautifully laid out observatory with instructive texts, signage and cafe. Well worth stopping for.

K.

Great coffee and food and amazing views from the restaurant

V.

Fabulous experience! The instructors were passionate and knowledgeable.

H.

Great dark sky tour. Beautiful building with cafe.

S.

The kids built stone towers and had a great time

S.

Ery interesting lots to see and do. Cafe plenty to see overlooking lake

J.

Nice view

C.

Just an incredible experience !! My wife I were on a honeymoon and this was a gift to both of us.

C.

I really love it!

S.

Amazing facility and great space information centre. Highly recommend

H.

Had a lunch here. Didnt get involved in the dark sky project.

J.

Learned so much, totally worth staying up late for the tour!

A.

Very friendly and knowledgeable staff to help you book your amazing night of star gazing.

B.

Incredible experience and an opportunity not to be missed

G.

Fantastic experience, found one of our guides hard to understand.

M.

Great service, great food, great atmosphere.

R.

Nice view. Entry level coffee. Nothing spectacular except the view

k.

What a nice place

M.

The guides were incredibly knowledgeable and the site is amazing. Worth it!

R.

Professionally run, national treasure, we were lucky with the weather, and the guides were excellent

T.

Perfect sky with numerous stars. It should be visited during new moon.

S.

To see the sky and stars the way you see them here changes how you see the world. Awe-inspiring.

L.

Wonderful. Our guest form Japan were blown away.

K.

Great place and amazing experience 👍

M.

What a wonderful thing it is to have a dark sky reserve so that people can see the night sky free of light pollution.

R.

Gorgeous stone church backdropped by magnificent scenery!

D.

Awesome spot on the lake with views to die for.

P.

Great experience. Friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff. Highly recommended

J.

Awesome tour. Can’t recommend higher

A.

Sadly couldn't go on the trip because of poor weather, but glad that they can refund on your choice.

A.

This place is amazing if you want quite time this place suit on you

L.

The scale of the old telescope is something to behold, it really too me aback.

J.

First time I've seen the rings of Saturn. Beautiful!

A.

It is nice to visit. Loved the cafeteria

A.

Freezing

P.

Spectacular views of the night sky. Knowledgeable guides. An awe-inspiring evening.

J.

Brilliant, a must do .

廖.

wonderful place to emerge in dark sky and sparkling stars.

S.

Awesome coffee, lovely staff

M.

Excellent stargazing experience with knowledgeable guide Sam

C.

Stargazer's dream. Staff is awesome and knowledgeable! Would love to do it again!!!

F.

Loved it. Loved it. Although not enough value for money.

R.

Great tour, explain clearly and simple.

J.

Definitely worth visiting when in Lake Tekapo and it's a clear blue sky.

s.

Breath taking views so must visit if in tekapo.

C.

The most beautiful food. Absolutely delicious.

G.

Loved Lake Tekapo nice little town.

P.

McKenzie basin well worth the visit of your in NewZealand

C.

See the stars like you've neves done before, and with a cup of hot chocolate!!

C.

We found great books to buy!

A.

Awesome experience combining astronomy and Māori tikanga

Y.

Great views of the night sky in the Southern Hemisphere.

J.

Very friendly people, amazing tour.

A.

Little spot for a stop and smashing a coffee! Great staff

C.

the planets dolls are quite expensive!

J.

Very interesting. So much information expertly shared.

S.

Cool place, great cafe.

A.

Fantastic experience of star gazing. Hearty and smart staff

L.

Fabulous evening. A beautiful clear night.

探.

No regrets, amazing experience, thank you for making that possible !

N.

One of the best experience to see the stars and planets

M.

their places are just awsome. simply undescribable.

d.

Cancelled tour due to weather condition. Plan re-trip

D.

Awesome meals with friendly staff

A.

Exceptional experience...... really out of this world

G.

Enjoyable stargazing. Would recommend this to astronomy fans

D.

Had an indoor session due to cloudy weather

V.

The toilets are way cool

R.

Great spot to observe the sky and the universe.

m.

Fantastic views and a nice walk

S.

Absolutely awesome. Not to be missed

P.

Good food and coffee.

M.

The telescope is bigger than it looks

D.

Friendly staff, Daniel was great!

A.

Nice place to visit while in Tekapo

V.

Good place to visit, Gandola rides

R.

Great presentation .enjoyed 😊

V.

Good place to relax for coffee

K.

Awesome Totally new Experience

B.

Great to see the stars so clearly

B.

Staff were very helpful and courteous.

E.

Incredible to see the stars at night!

E.

Fantastic tour, informative, friendly

G.

Best place for sky watch

V.

One of the best places in Tekapo

D.

Best place in south for start

S.

Awesome telescope

B.

Great tour but expensive

H.

Friendly crowd. Very helpful.

d.

Excellent night lucky with weathet

M.

Great views and info

J.

Stars were shining so brightly

D.

Amazing place with unbelievable views

E.

Pretty stars. Book ahead of timr

S.

Friendly staff and plenty of information

P.

Very expensive tours

S.

Excellent and fast service.

J.

Good informative tour.

R.

Superb layout and ambience

J.

The best!

P.

Amazing new building

E.

Nice place

I.

I don't know. I wasn't there.

A.

Awesome!!

k.

Good place

G.

Tidy, quiet Andrea new Equipment

V.

Good place to visit once

W.

Like being in space itself.

V.

Fantastic view!

F.

Fabulous but expensive

B.

Very informative

W.

Prompt, informative and attentive service.

T.

Must visit in life time

B.

Wonderful experience!

L.

Was ok

S.

Best place for stargazing

E.

Cool

J.

Worth checking out

H.

Friendly and helpful staff

A.

Wow 👌👏

山.

Great value

R.

Wonderful place

S.

A wonder trip, unforgettable

G.

Beautiful, Perfect!

r.

Ok

m.

Love it

조.

Goooooood

J.

Helpful

M.

Stunning

V.

Perfect!!

P.

Magical

B.

Beautiful

D.

beautiful

V.

Highly recommend

l.

Was great...

l.

View is marvelous

G.

I love this place !

C.

Very interesting

o.

Awesome experience 😂

Y.

great experience!

周.

Nice staff there

D.

Amazing experience.

C.

Great staff.

K.

Amazing starha8

G.

Nice

J.

Great

M.

Great experience

k.

Absolutely wonderous

J.

Fantastic place

A.

Great attraction

P.

Beautiful place.

J.

Yup

A.

Must do in Tekapo

C.

Good location

A.

VG

P.

Fishes

N.

A must visit !!!

P.

Friendly staff

R.

Overpriced for what it is

G.

Beautiful place

C.

clean room

E.

Check it out

A.

Breathtaking

R.

Spectacular

C.

Very much worth the money and cold

H.

(Translated) We won the 2019 Air Newzealand campaign and participated in a free night starry sky observation tour for one person. Originally, Japanese people started a tour to see the starry sky here, and Japanese staff are also enrolled, so it is easy to understand and it is helpful to hear the explanation in Japanese. Of course, all of them were knowledgeable. I'm not very familiar with the stars, but those who participated in the tour participated every day and took pictures of the night view by themselves. I had a lot of time to talk with the guide, and the tour time, which I thought was long at first, passed in no time. It seems that there are many people who participate alone, and there is also a service that will pick you up at major hotels. New Zealand in winter may not be very popular, but I would recommend it because the starry sky looks more beautiful and the tour is cheaper. (Original) Air Newzealandの2019年のキャンペーンに当選し、一人分を無料で夜の星空観察ツアーに参加させていただきました。 もともと日本の方がこちらで星空を見るツアーを始めたとのことで、日本人スタッフも在籍しておられて、説明を日本語で聞けるのは理解しやすくて助かります。もちろん知識豊富な方ばかりでした。 私はそれほど星に詳しいわけではないですが、ツアーに参加される方は連日参加して自分で夜景を撮影されていました。その分ガイドの方と話す時間が長く取れて最初は長いのではないかと思っていたツアー時間もあっという間に過ぎてしまいました。 一人で参加する方も多いようですし、主要ホテルまで送迎してくれるサービスもあるようです。 冬のニュージーランドはあまり人気のないのかもしれませんが、より星空が綺麗に見えて、ツアーも安くなるのでお勧めしたいです。

A.

(Translated) The stargazing activity is very worthwhile, but it is necessary to coordinate with the people and the weather. The weather is not good enough. It is better not to have the clouds to enjoy the perfect starlight viewing. It ’s miserable if there is a cloud floating over. You can learn a lot about the stars, but unfortunately there is no way to take pictures with your phone. (Original) 觀星活動非常值得，但是要天時地利人和都配合，天氣好還不夠，最好是連雲也不要有，才能有完美星光觀賞，只要有一片雲飄過來就慘了，中文解說很棒，可以了解很多星星相關的知識，可惜沒有辦法用手機拍照。

S.

(Translated) There are many parking spaces in front of the office, and it is convenient to drive by car. There is also an automated public toilet next to it, the usage rate is high, and the sanitary environment is not very good. Participate in the Night Star Cluster at the John Hill University Observatory. Tickets include star-watching, down jackets, hot cocoa and low-light flashlights. The down jacket is returned after the trip and the flashlight is a souvenir. This is a meeting point in the town, with a multi-language commentary in Chinese, English, and Japanese. Remember to report early, you will explain before the departure, issue down jackets and flashlights. 叮咛People protect the starry sky for low light damage, try not to use mobile phones, etc. to avoid white light damage on the screen or light. After the tour, the bus will take you back to the office to disband, and there will be several restaurants passing by, so that tourists can get off the road first. (Original) 辦公室前停車場車位多，自駕停車方便。還有自動化的公廁在旁，使用率偏高，衛生環境就有點不太好。 參加約翰山大學天文臺的夜晚觀星團，門票包含觀星導覽、羽絨衣、熱可可和低光害手電筒等，羽絨衣是行程結束後要歸還的，手電筒則是紀念品。 這是在鎮上的辦公室集合點，有分中文、英文、日文等多國語言的解說團。記得要提早報到，會在出發前做行前說明，發放羽絨衣和手電筒。 叮嚀大家為了低光害保護星空研究，盡量不要使用手機等避免螢幕或光線有白光光害。 團進團出，行程結束後搭巴士載大家回到辦公室解散，也有停靠幾個行經路過的飯店，讓遊客順路先行下車。

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