Lake Tekapo

Lake Takapo, usually written Tekapo, holds the pale, opaque turquoise typical of glacier-fed water: rock ground to flour by ice, carried down in meltwater and held in suspension. The colour shifts with the light and looks most improbable under a bright sky. A small stone church stands alone on the eastern shore with the lake and the Southern Alps behind it, and is one of the most photographed buildings in the country. Above the town, an observatory sits on Mount John at the centre of a large dark sky reserve covering the Mackenzie Basin, where outdoor lighting is controlled so that the night sky stays readable from the valley floor.

What you actually see

• The lake colour - the pale turquoise of rock flour suspended in glacial meltwater.
• The Church of the Good Shepherd - the small stone church alone on the eastern shore.
• Mount John - the walk or drive up to the observatory and the view over the basin.
• The night sky - the Mackenzie dark sky reserve, with the Milky Way clear on good nights.

When to go

November and December bring lupins in flower along the shore, which is when photographers arrive in numbers; the plants are introduced and spreading, so the display is not universally welcomed. Winter gives the clearest, coldest nights for stargazing and snow on the ranges. Stargazing tours run year round and book out. Cloud is the main risk in any season.

Honest expectations

The church is tiny, its surroundings are roped and fenced, and photographing it without other people in the frame is close to impossible in daylight; it is also a working church that asks for quiet. The town is a strip of hotels and cafes built for coach traffic, with prices to match. Nights are genuinely cold for stargazing, and tours are cancelled when cloud moves in.

Nearby

Lake Pukaki and Aoraki are an hour west, with the Mackenzie Basin roads running south to Omarama.