Tekapo to Dunedin

Tekapo is renowned for its stargazing, and there's an observatory on one of the nearby hills. I drove up to take a look around, tour the observatory, and generally marvel at the scenery.

Looking out toward the north end of Lake Tekapo. The lake is fed by glacier water, giving it the lovely hue.

The smaller lake, Lake Alexandrina, is fed by rain water. 

The fuzzy mountain in the center there is Aoraki (Mt. Cook).

Looking out over the observatory toward the valley I'd been in the day before.

The (tiny) town of Tekapo.

Off toward Twizel.

More shots of the lakes and mountains.

There were some impressive wildflower fields back down on the shores of Lake Tekapo.

A rather impressive storm rolled in that night, so sadly I never did get to do any actual star gazing. The next morning I set off for Christchurch to return my rental car and officially end my road trip. On the way out of town, I stopped to take a picture of the iconic Church of the Good Shepherd - if you do a Google search for Tekapo, chances are you'll see a picture of this church with the Milky Way behind it. My picture is rather less impressive.

After an uneventful (if wet) drive to Christchurch, I was met by a dear friend who ferried me down to Dunedin after I had dropped off my rental car. We stopped in Little River, a very cute artist's community, where we narrowly escaped these fellows.

Another stop along the way was this amazing used bookstore in an old barn.

We both got a kick out of this particular sign.

From there it was on to Dunedin, my home for the rest of my time in New Zealand.