Lake Tekapo

Day 14: Hooker Valley/Mt. Cook Hike, Drive Van & Follow Tour Bus, Billy the Bard, Star Gazing

The small vacation town sat right on the shores of Lake Tekapo, has a beautiful rocky shore behind the equally beautiful Church of the Good Shepherd. Lake Tekapo is known for having extremely clear skies at night, boasting a Dark Sky Project tourist attraction right in the center of town. Unfortunately, the tour was unable to acquire tickets as they were sold out for the entirety of the week, however, we were able to see a very interesting performance from a local actor named Billy the Bard who ended up being a Kiwi posing as a Scottish lad telling Maori legends and stories about the stars. We were not entirely sure if he was telling the truth or not, but we handed him $20 anyway for teaching us a song that we sang to the sky, which seemed to clear the sky enough for us to see the stars.

Eventually, at the end of the performance, several of us grabbed our hostel duvets and sat outside until 2am star gazing.Read more