5 Best Sights in Mackenzie Country and Lake Tekapo, The Southern Alps and Fiordland

If you're extremely lucky, you'll see the southern lights in this area. Even if you don't, you're still at one of the best stargazing sites in the world. Dark Sky Project operates from the Mt. John Observatory and studies the skies above Lake Tekapo. The glass-enclosed Astro Café at the summit has ham-off-the-bone sandwiches, telescopes, and dizzying views. Stargazing trips leave from the town office in the evening, and reservations are essential. Dark Sky Project also offers a shorter 75-minute tour of the Cowan's Observatory, which is more suitable for those with younger children. At the lake's edge their new visitor's center as has a daytime "Dark Sky Experience" that blends tatai aroraki (Māori astronomy) with science storytelling and an up-close look at a 125-year-old telescope. 

This 268-km (167-mile) heritage highway, which stretches from Timaru to Twizel via Aoraki/Mount Cook, recognizes the long, arduous journeys early settlers in the region made by bullock wagon. Leaving the Canterbury Plains at Geraldine or Pleasant Point (depending on whether you are coming directly from Christchurch or through from Timaru), the highways join at Fairlie and quickly climb toward the first of the alpine passes—Burkes Pass—along the Bullock Wagon Trail. The Burkes Pass monument marks the division between the high and low country, and from there the country immediately takes on the dried look of high-country tussock lands. To learn more about the trail and the history of the region, stop in at one of two information centers along the way.

On the east side of the township, the tiny Church of the Good Shepherd is one of the most photographed buildings in New Zealand. This beautifully simple stone interdenominational church has sat on the shore of Lake Tekapo since 1935. There's no need for stained glass as the view through the window is the lake's brilliant blue. A victim of its own popularity, the church has restricted parking and only allows photography inside the building if you take a tour. Right next to the church is a lovely bronze statue dedicated to the working sheep dogs of the area.

The long, narrow expanse of Lake Tekapo anchors the area. Its extraordinary milky-turquoise color comes from rock flour, rock ground by glacial action and held in a soupy suspension. Tekapo, the country's highest large lake, has good fly-fishing in its waters and in the surrounding rivers and canals. As you drive into the small town, you'll notice a knot of restaurants with tour buses parked outside. It's a rather off-putting image, but it's relatively easy to keep the township at your back and your eyes on the lake and mountains. If you're not planning to stay at Aoraki/Mount Cook, then Tekapo is the best place in the Mackenzie Basin to stop for the night. And once the buses have passed through for the day, it's a quiet spot—at least until the hordes of Cantabrians arrive for the summer break. A pleasant lakefront recreation area separates the town retail area from the lakeshore.

If you've taken advantage of the walks around Tekapo then you'll really appreciate this complex with its beautiful views. There's a day spa, sauna, steam room, three hot pools, and a traditional plunge pool at lake temperature. In winter, there's a skating rink and tube park.