The first recorded European attempt on the summit of Aoraki was made by the Irishman Rev. William S. Green and the Swiss hotelier Emil Boss and the Swiss mountain guide Ulrich Kaufmann on 2 March 1882 via the Tasman and Linda Glaciers Read more
Canterbury is now home to the biggest and the best dark-sky reserve in the world. Six years of hard work and intense lobbying have finally paid off with tonight's announcement that the Aoraki-Mackenzie Dark-Sky Reserve has been officially approved by a global astronomical body. The reserve, which includes Canterbury University's Mt John Observatoryabove Lake Tekapo, Twizel and Aoraki-Mt Cook village, is only the fourth in the world and the second in the Southern Hemisphere. Read more
The Mackenzie Basin in south Canterbury has been designated an International Dark Sky Reserve.
The newly-designated Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve is only the fourth such-reserve in the world, joining others in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Namibia. The Tekapo-based Starlight Working Party has been working since 2006 to get the Mackenzie Basin internationally recognised as a Dark Sky Reserve. Read more
World night-sky reserve bid at Tekapo seeking government backing The Tekapo and Mt Cook area bid for a world night-sky reserve is seeking government backing to support their project to help it gain UNESCO approval next year.
South Canterbury's Mackenzie Basin could become a first in World Heritage status with the creation of a starlight reserve. Work is well under way with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organisation (Unesco) to have the area designated as a reserve by 2009, the International Year of Astronomy. Leading the campaign is Graeme Murray, of Earth and Sky, Lake Tekapo who operates stargazing tours at the Mt John Observatory. Mr Murray said yesterday the proposal was new to World Heritage and there were no ground rules.