Day 308 (Fri 11 May) - Lake Tekapo
During the night the wind had really picked up. It was so bad that Jo hadn't slept a wink. The van was being buffeted quite violently.
Got ourselves sorted and then headed off slowly to Lake Tekapo. The wind was so bad that Sarb had to drive with the steering some 10 degrees off the straight just to keep us on the road.
Got to Lake Tekapo a very small town and parked up by the lake. The weather was awful, windy, cold and full of rain. Decided to go and see the little church at the far end of town so drove up there. A quite serene setting for a church.
The weather was threatening to break by now so parked up the van on the edge of the lake. As we sat the weather got brighter and brighter and the wind dropped. Soon we were sitting in bright sunshine.
For this evenings entertainment we decided to go to the Mount John observatory.
Had a few drinks at a small bar then settled into our camp site. The views of the lake were excellent.
Had dinner then wrapped up warm and were soon picked up by the Observatory people. There about 20 of us in a big bus that slowly wound its way up Mount John. The last third of the journey the driver cheerfully informed us had to be done with no lights, so as not to disturb any observations currently being made. Luckily this guy had done this trip hundreds of times which was reassuring as it was pitch dark and the road was narrow and winding with a severe drop on one side.
Arrived at the top and looked down at the lights of the little town below us. The sky was incredibly black with only a few wisps of cloud.
Our guide, using his laser pen that stabbed a green pencil thin light up into the stars, guided us through the night sky. At one point the guide asked us if we could name two dusty looking clouds in the night sky. All stayed silent until Keith opined that it may be the Larger and Smaller Magellenic clouds. They were indeed as Sarb had informed him earlier on. Teachers pet!
At various points during the evening he would position a large telescope (a 14inch reflector if anyone is interested) at significant entities. This included Saturn and Jupiter, some open clusters such as the Jewel Box and Alpha and Proxima Centauri. Quite beautfiul.
We all had a good time especially as the guide was so informative.
Freezing cold we were glad to get back to the van to turn the heater on and have a glass of wine.
Got ourselves sorted and then headed off slowly to Lake Tekapo. The wind was so bad that Sarb had to drive with the steering some 10 degrees off the straight just to keep us on the road.
Got to Lake Tekapo a very small town and parked up by the lake. The weather was awful, windy, cold and full of rain. Decided to go and see the little church at the far end of town so drove up there. A quite serene setting for a church.
The weather was threatening to break by now so parked up the van on the edge of the lake. As we sat the weather got brighter and brighter and the wind dropped. Soon we were sitting in bright sunshine.
For this evenings entertainment we decided to go to the Mount John observatory.
Had a few drinks at a small bar then settled into our camp site. The views of the lake were excellent.
Had dinner then wrapped up warm and were soon picked up by the Observatory people. There about 20 of us in a big bus that slowly wound its way up Mount John. The last third of the journey the driver cheerfully informed us had to be done with no lights, so as not to disturb any observations currently being made. Luckily this guy had done this trip hundreds of times which was reassuring as it was pitch dark and the road was narrow and winding with a severe drop on one side.
Arrived at the top and looked down at the lights of the little town below us. The sky was incredibly black with only a few wisps of cloud.
Our guide, using his laser pen that stabbed a green pencil thin light up into the stars, guided us through the night sky. At one point the guide asked us if we could name two dusty looking clouds in the night sky. All stayed silent until Keith opined that it may be the Larger and Smaller Magellenic clouds. They were indeed as Sarb had informed him earlier on. Teachers pet!
At various points during the evening he would position a large telescope (a 14inch reflector if anyone is interested) at significant entities. This included Saturn and Jupiter, some open clusters such as the Jewel Box and Alpha and Proxima Centauri. Quite beautfiul.
We all had a good time especially as the guide was so informative.
Freezing cold we were glad to get back to the van to turn the heater on and have a glass of wine.
posted by Jo and Sarb at
5/11/2007 11:09:00 pm
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