The Mount John Walkway

John Hill is bare, surrounded by weeds and sand, lacking poetic and picturesque. Fortunately, it is close to Lake Tekapo, which is completely different landscape, lake and mountain, beautiful and intoxicating.

Very primitive place, by Lake Tikabo is a sandy road, the forest is full of small dirt roads, and the soil flies when you go down! So the shoes and pants are full of soil and soil. The mountain is not high, and the shortcut is steeper and more tired. It is cooler to save time! Slow down the road and try to be careful of the soil under your feet. The lurking stone sticks in the soil are likely to make you twist your feet! I met two men, one Japanese and one Chinese, who were twisted and painful.

"I live for the stars that shine."---OasisTekapo is famous for its starry sky and is home to Mt John Observatory. Most of the people who come to Tekapo are still for the starry sky, and some even stay here for a week to see for themselves the purest and darkest sky in the world. You can choose to participate in the stargazing group of Earth and Sky, or you can go to the Good Shepherd Church to enjoy the free starry sky at night. Out of a strong curiosity about astronomy, I chose to spend money to experience the observatory of Mt John and learn the story behind the stars under the guidance of the guide. I chose the second late night tour, 10:45-12:45pm, because it is easier to put on the down jacket borrowed by earth and sky later, and I took the Earthand Sky trolley I saw during the day and went up the mountain. A car person is basically Cantonese except me, and there are two Taiwanese girls. Accompanying us up the mountain was assistant Jenny, who spoke Mandarin, English and a little Cantonese. The guide Bamboo was already waiting for us on the mountain. The road up the mountain is also very shocking, because MtJohn Observatory is now mainly done by the University of Canterbury, so all kinds of white light, including camera flashes and... headlights, are strictly prohibited on the mountain! This means that the driver of the second half of the mountain must drive in the dark! It’s not, the driver said slowly, “Actually, I’m driving this road for the first time...” Seeing us pouring air, Jenny laughed and said, come on ~~ Don’t scare them anymore ~~ It’s a beautiful night, there is no cloud, the moon rises late, and it won’t cover the glory of the stars. I was so lucky that I met clear night on Tekapo one night and saw the full galaxy. Fortunately, my camera is one of the few cameras in the group that can shoot the starry sky. It uses a dedicated star-hunting frame to offset the rotation of the Earth. The stars that are photographed do not become orbits. Southern Cross and its guiding stars are visible only in the southern hemisphere. The two guiding stars are Alpha and Beta. Alpha is the closest star to Earth, the Gemini, and they are hugging each other and spinning. It's just that now it's almost in a straight line with the Earth, and only one can be seen for a long time. So bamboo said it must be let us see. Through the instrument, you can see that two stars are already very close, only a trace of black seams. Use Southern Cross and Guide Star to find the South Pole! Under the leadership of bamboo and jenny, we also met the constellations of orion, Sirius, the winter solstice triangle (commonly known as the summer solstice triangle in new zealand), and even Gemini, Leo, Virgo and other constellations~ through the instrument to see saturn with beautiful belts, Diamond-like wishing wells. The two-hour tour did not live up to this beautiful night. I saw enough beauty and heard enough stories. I couldn't calm down in the bed of the Youth Hostel for a long time. Where else can I see all kinds of scenery in a day? I'm afraid there is only Tekapo.

The hiking trail of Mount John is located next to Tekapo spring. When I go in summer, the mountain road in the first half has a lot of tree shade of coniferous forests, and the trail has a layer of soft-pad texture on the ground because of the small fallen leaves of the coniferous leaves, so the first half is full of comfortable walking. But when the second half approaches the observatory, it will suddenly arrive at a place without shade at all, and those who are afraid of the sun should pay attention to this part. Overall, the slope is not steep, adults and children can complete this trail, the top of the mountain overlooks Lake tekapo, there are also cafes to rest for a while with some meals, it is worth a visit! In addition, the part of the trail near the top is not open for people to hike at night, but you can still enjoy the night sky in a shadeless place.