LAKE TEKAPO, New Zealand – Tens of thousands of tourists flock to Tekapo every year to see Southern Stars, the Milky Way, and meteor showers.
Now an astro-tourism operator wants to expand on the growing interest for dark, starry nights with a multimillion-dollar project.
Up on the hill at Canterbury University’s Mt John Observatory by Lake Tekapo, astro-tourism concession Earth & Sky is planning to reach for the stars.
The company’s founder, Graeme Murray, wants to build a $5m “window to the universe” facility on the lake’s shore to cater for the growing interest in star-gazing .
This will be part of a wider development plan around Lake Tekapo including a supermarket, hotels, and shops.
Murray said he was negotiating with the MacKenzie District Council and international investors to develop the ambitious project. He hoped to get it under way within 12 months.
He is purchasing the land at the moment, and organising for an 8.5 metre-high telescope to come from the United States. A gift from Pennsylvania University, the telescope was built in 1890, weighs 18 tonnes and magnifies a thousand times. The negotiations with the local council started about five years ago, and Murray said it had been a long time coming together.
“It’s a bit like going into space and not quite knowing what you’re going to find on a planet. It’s one step at a time.
“We have to aim way beyond the normal scene to accomplish what we’re trying to accomplish. It deserves the very best – the lightning ordinance, the starlight reserve, the stars, the whole ambience.”
MacKenzie District Council chief executive Wayne Barnett said Earth & Sky was a “very well loved business” within Tekapo.
He said locals generally supported Murray’s project, with the exception of a few existing business owners who fear the development would obstruct their prized view of the lake.
“We are trying to work through these issues as much as we can,” Barnett said.
Murray said the new facility would help lift the “immense pressure” going on Mt John. It would serve educational as well as tourism purposes.
“A million and a half visitors pass through Tekapo each year, and there’s a whole raft of people we haven’t touched yet. Coach tours can’t go up Mt John. We need a very special facility in town to cater for tourists.”
Christchurch & Canterbury Tourism general marketing manager Rowan Townsend said the interest for star-gazing was “phenomenal”, especially in Asia. Astro-tourism had immense potential for the region as it meant tourists needed to stay over night to watch the stars.
Tourism NZ had even started to create advertising with an emphasis on the southern sky. The interest for the McKenzie region was generally growing, with a 35 per cent increase in international guest nights to 305,400 for this year ending August 2013.
Murray said the new facility would help the business look after tourists on rainy days when star-gazing on top of Mt John was not possible.
The region has been offering a uniquely dark sky for more than 15 years since locals decided to protect the darkness necessary for the observatory to thrive with a lighting code. The town agreed to change its street lamps and people learned to pull their curtains. After that, the reputation of Tekapo as a star-gazer destination soared, and the MacKenzie area was recognised as an International Dark Sky Reserve in 2012 by the International Dark-Sky Association.
Murray wants more – he is working on getting Tekapo named a world heritage site by Unesco, the United Nations’ science and cultural organisation. The organisation has made the region a pilot for the first possible World Heritage park in the sky in 2008. This attracted interest from international media, including CNN.
“Suddenly we had all these people arriving. It was incredible.”
Earth & Sky realised Mt John was not big enough for the rising demand, hence the new project.
“We’ve pulled up the blinds on some of the most beautiful parts of NZ, and they are available after dark.”
