New Zealand I: Highland Lakes and Mt Cook

In November 2024, I finally returned to one of my favorite places on earth eight years after visiting the first time -- the South Island of New Zealand. While all of New Zealand is incredibly beautiful, the South Island captivated me back in 2016 like nowhere else I've visited before or since. With incredibly natural beauty, uncrowded landscapes, and extremely user friendly infrastructure -- it's the perfect vacation destination for anyone who loves the outdoors and nature. I've been planning to return ever since 2016 -- this time I rented a campervan and freedom camped for two weeks which worked out fantastic. I was blessed with incredible weather -- far better than average for the time of year. I even brought my smart telescope in my backpack, and had enough clear nights to image all the major unique astro targets not visible from the Northern Hemisphere (featured in my Deep Sky gallery). After landing in Christchurch and picking up my camper, I followed the weather and headed straight down to Mt Cook and the beautiful Highland Lakes including Tekapo, Pukaki, and Ohau. The following week I returned to that same area, also visiting Lake Coleridge a bit further north.