Have you ever been to an area that is a 2 on the Bortle Scale? For that matter, have you ever heard of the Bortle Scale? Well if you knew what that was you are way more knowledgable that me. I had no idea. The Bortle scale is a nine-level numeric scale that measures the night sky's brightness of a particular location. It quantifies the astronomical observability of celestial objects and the interference caused by light pollution. Today's pivot point was University of Canterbury's Mount John Observatory at Lake Tekapo, a Dark Sky Sanctuary with a 2 on the Bortle Scale.

As typical, we headed out to drive the 512km round trip pretty early. We want to make it up to the observatory in time to have lunch at the Astro Cafe. As with all places on the southern island of New Zealand, the roads are well maintained but as windy as a pigs tail. The drive went pretty much as expected. We try to stop along the way and see interesting things, when time permits. Today's side excursion was the Lindis Pass. This appeared to be not much more than a bump in the road with a very short hike to an observation deck. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Since the kids have grown up in TN, and we do not do a lot of winter time travel, they have never experienced really good, slightly damp, hard packing snow. I, on the other hand, spent most of my winters during my youth in the mid-west and north-east. I had forgotten just how much fun this type of snow could be. Our original plan was to pull over and snap a quick pic for the album. Instead on our way up to the observation deck, all out war ensued. Ryan started with a maelstrom of shots landing close to every one of his siblings, Gillian took a shot square in the back. Fortunately for every one involved Melissa made it through unscathed. The deck was up a slight little hill that was covered with compacted snow and ice so we needed to be careful not to slip and fall. On the way back down Ryan threw caution to the wind and ran ahead like a wild man. Once he was certain the rest of the family had forgotten he was in front of us (we were watching our feet because of the snow and ice thing) he took up a position behind some concealment just around a little bend in the path. Elizabeth was so focused on staying upright she didn't see him until she was right on top of him. That is when the trap was sprung. She was caught totally unaware and took the final shot point blank. Once the carnage was complete, we loaded back into the minivan and rolled down the road.

The rest of the drive to the Astro Cafe was easy and full of some great snow covered scenery. As we approached the base of the hill where the observatory and cafe were located, it really didn't seem to be that high. It is. Once at the top of the very long road we were treated to spectacular views of the Lake, Village, and surrounding area. The plan was to have lunch at the Astro Cafe. They reportedly served a full menu till 3:30 and we made it well before. I don't know if it was because of Monday being the Queen's Birthday (National Holiday) or not, but the menu was very limited. We have a few considerate eaters in the family, myself included, and the selection was not as expansive as we would have hoped. The food was not bad and filled a hole. Not sure I would recommend this particular trek for the food. The views? Absolutely. The food? Not so much. We also learned that every single thing in the entire country you purchase has a 15% surcharge for the Queen's Birthday. As Ryan put it, "doesn't seem like much of a holiday". I guess the folks working would think the same thing.

After spending some time up top, we headed down to the village for some shopping and an early dinner. We wanted to be back on the road slightly before dark so we could find a nice turnout to observer the night sky. Remember that 2 on the Bortle Scale. The shops were nice and we found several little trinkets. Since there are only about 7 restaurants in Tekapo and most of them are Asian cuisine, we selected #2 off the trip advisor list. I had to run back to the supervan (I am going to call it that from now on, seems more masculine). Melissa was in charge of helping the others get settled. I found out on my return, the cafe had an interesting menu and some descriptions are not what we immediately go to in our own heads. Melissa decided to go with the 'Wedge with Chili' once were were able to determine the wedge was potato and not something else. It is weird because I am 100% sure both the server and I were speaking English but getting to the point where we identified what the wedge was took an insanely long time. So the kids all ordered fish and chips, and Melissa ordered what ended up being a bowl full of fried potato wedges with a nice asian chili dipping sauce. It wasn't until we were almost finished we discovered the place had a full kitchen and menu. (Melissa is reading the draft and insists that I include that the full menu was not available when we came in, but they started serving the extended menu after we had ordered and sat down.) On the way back to the supervan we saw a giftshop we had previously missed. As we walked by the full service restaurants, Gillian saw what appeared to be a broken carrot sitting on top of a melted snowman on a planter. Thinking Melissa and Audrey were right behind her she says "Is that a carrot or a finger?". Hopefully, the nice elderly Asian lady who was right behind her didn't speak much English. She just looked at Gillian confused and didn't say a word.

Oh well, bellies full, we went in search of our star observation location. Just had to make a quick stop at the gas station to fill up. Leaving the gas station, Gillian was the first, from the third row of the supervan, to see that I must have gone on complete autopilot. I was barreling down the road when I heard "We drive on the left, Dad". Whoops, course corrected we were on our way.

We found a great little turn off and tucked the supervan back off the road. The heated vehicle was the perfect place to wait till the sun went completely down. Even the moon was cooperating with us tonight and had gone to bed early. The night sky was spectacular. We were able to clearly see the Milky Way. Unfortunately we were not able to see the Aurora Australis, the southern lights, but the adventure was a success.