New Zealand Tekapo

The direct impact is stunning, with pink and purple lupines blooming by the crystal-clear blue lake, feeling like stepping into a fairy tale world; When the sun is out, it’s very hot. Although the weather forecast says the high is only 18°C, the felt temperature is at least around 25-28°C, so short sleeves and shorts are comfortable; but once the sun disappears, you still need to put on a jacket; at night after dark, it’s extremely cold, so going out requires wearing a fleece windbreaker or down jacket, and you can also wear a thick hat—it’s really freezing 🥶; Surprisingly, there are such kind people: while taking photos by the lake, a young white couple approached, and the woman asked if I needed photos taken. She even showed me the artistic photos they took for others with their DSLR camera. I cautiously asked if they wanted money 💰, and the lady shook her head in confusion, saying of course not (there are many cases involving money ➕ they had been wandering by the lake for a long time ➕ I was quite cautious). After I agreed, the lady kept finding angles to take photos (my little 13 took them), and they were very responsible. Here’s a showcase of the excellent results (p6); although a lot of photos were taken... (Confident lady, please wait another lifetime!); In the evening, when it was almost dark, I left the hotel to walk by the lake, preparing to go to the Church of the Good Shepherd for stargazing. The bridge lit up during the blue hour, reflecting on the lake and creating a very dreamy scene; the moon was big and round, moonlight shining on the earth, hanging in the sky as bright as a light bulb 💡. There are no streetlights by the lake, but the ground was completely visible (p15-17); At night, the fence around the Church of the Good Shepherd was closed, so I couldn’t go inside. I found a support point on the wall to do long exposure shooting; I didn’t have equipment, only a phone, so I planned to use night mode. I waited about 1.5 to 2 hours, hoping to shoot when it was completely dark and stars were more visible, but found that around 10:40 pm was when the stars were most numerous. Later, clouds came and covered everything—it was a cloudy night; and it was really too cold late at night! I was already sniffling and tearing up, barely holding on, and finally took the starry sky photo at 11 pm (p18). Although it wasn’t a sky full of stars or the Milky Way, it was my first time seeing so many dense, twinkling stars, which was very shocking (even more visible to the naked eye).