Woke up in Owaka. Drove via Balclutha and Milton to Alexandra. Coffee and cake stop here and very helpful isite.
Onwards to the Lindis Pass via Cromwell.
Held up by the icebreaker merino sheep crossing the road!
Five hrs after leaving Owaka I pulled in to the high country lodge backpacker in Twizel.
An afternoon of washing and resting.
10.30pm I drove to Lake Tekapo to join the 11.45pm night observatory tour at Mt John with Earth and Sky.
This was great! A perfect clear sky, a good guide with a laser informing us of what's what in the southern night sky, pointing out the constellations that were visible at that time. A hot chocolate, and a thick jacket were provided to keep us warm.
Through the telescopes we saw the moon, Jupiter and 4 of its moons, the trapezium and the orion nebula, the Jewel box and two globular clusters.
At 2am I drove back to Twizel - a 45 minute journey through the empty Mackenzie Basin, passing only one other car and almost hitting a hare!
