On the road from Mt Cook (which is breathtaking) to Geraldine which is small and deserted, sits the Mt John Observatory with a few 18inch refractory telescopes kicking around. After the drive up the 1,031m hill you can enjoy a drink and then for 2NZD have a look through their day telescopes at the sun and see the solar flares coming off, simply awesome. One other thing you get to see is Venus in the daylight, brrrilliant

Even the geek there was quite good in a D-Reem type of fashion. They are even doing Southern Lights viewing tonight, but this is a two hour drive from our last night, so we missed the opportunity.

Worth visiting if you are ever down here.