geraldine observatory

Finding this observatory constructed by an amateur astronomer in a small town in New Zealand was absolutely amazing! His photographs of heavenly bodies were gorgeous, and his explanations of some very complex astronomical issues were simple enough for a layman to understand clearly. Certainly worth a side trip in this beautiful country!

Peter is very knowledgeable, friendly and humorous. A perfect combination for a fantastic night in an amazing observatory. Well worth the trip down from Christchurch. It's free but a donation is appreciated so he can continue offering this great show to the public. Thanks a lot.

I went to have a stargazing tour last night, and we had SUCH a great time! After the visit my friend and I stayed up 'till the early in the morning looking at stars and talking about what we'd seen and learnt. Peter is a highly entertaining and knowledgable whizz, who is kind enough to answer even the silliest questions, which was great for novices like ourselves.Knowing that every cent of our donation for the visit goes towards local astronomy initiatives made it all the better. What a saint of the stars.Thankyou Peter!

If you do nothing else on your south island trip make this it. Take a detour to Geraldine if you have to. It will open up a whole new world to you. Peter is an amazing man and provides such a unique experience and a peek into a world that most of us never see otherwise. Peter has built two observatories in his back garden with telescopes that give you an up close view of stars and nebula that are breathtaking. He has an incredible knowledge of astronomy and is extremely generous in sharing it and his time. What an amazing evening. My interest is astrophotography and Peter tailored the visit to sharing his extensive knowledge of astrophotography, which was both a surprise and an honour. I will be back for sure. Thank you Peter and Wyn.

With the help of 'Trip Advisor' we found Geraldine Observatory which is owned and run by a gentleman called Peter Aldous and his wife. We were so pleased that we went there as we had a most enjoyable evening looking through his telescopes in his domed observatory and learning heaps about Astronomy. Peter is a Professional Photographer and we also got to view some of his amazing Astronomy photography that he has taken over the years. We had two 17 year old girls with us and they just loved it! One of them had previously visited Lake Tekapo's, Mount John Star gazing tours before and she said that she enjoyed this experience more and it was a lot cheaper. (just a donation). We would highly recommend a visit to Geraldine Observatory for most ages and we will certainly come back. Thank you Peter.

My wife and I had a fantastic 2 hours with Peter who has a world class observatory in his backyard. Peter was extremely generous with his time and knowledge and gave us close up views of Jupiter and numerous other deep space galaxies.I would highly recommend this as a must see for anybody visiting this area or even a detour to make the 2 hour trip if they are in Christchurch.

Hi there, we think you may have the wrong observatory for your review, we think you mean Mount John, we are based in Geraldine and MacDonald St is not very steep, if you are in Geraldine at some stage in the future feel free to arrange a visit.

There was lots of stars to see out of the large and small telescope. Peter's knowledge and way of presenting made it a lot more interesting than at school. Would give him 6 stars but am waiting for Peter to discover the 6th star. Dean, 10 years old.

My boyfriend took me there as a surprise for my birthday cause I really love the stars. To be honest i never had star gazing experience before and this was totally amazing! It's also amazing that it's in his backyard! I highly recommend you go to this! Peter is also a great character to meet even if it's to cloudy to see the stars!

We had a wonderful experience visiting Peter's observatory in Geraldine. Only two of us were there, so it felt like private tour only for us.Peter showed us how his computer is linked to his telescope to find points of interest in space. We would then view these points through the telescope. We saw some amazing objects through the telescope; far away galaxies, planets and more. Peter let us control the telescope by computer, it was really interesting and amazing. We've been to some other observatories in different countries, but Peter's observatory has a unique point!Excellent experience without the crowds, a hidden gem, cannot recommend enough. Thanks Peter!

Many thanks to Peter for your wealth of knowledge that you shared with us to help discover our own interest in astronomy. The evening went very quickly with lots of information and we enjoyed the sights through Peters amazing telescope. We enjoyed the pictures and learnt such a lot. Totally recommend to visitors for an evening to remember

Before that, I didn't have any stargazing experience. I didn’t know stars have different colors, didn’t see Saturn so closely, didn’t ever see clusters and so many stars of different ‘age’, shapes, colors and brightness with telescope.When I first planned the itinerary of our trip to New Zealand, I found a lot of information was driving toward the Earth and Sky astronomy tours of Mt John Observatory. Most travel agents will also organize Star Gazing tours at Mt John. But I think the Mt John Observatory tour are too expensive - $130 per person, so I try to search for other alternatives.There I find a highly-recommended one in Trip Advisor – Geraldine Observatory which is operated by Peter, who is very nice, knowledgeable, kind and passionate. He is so patient and willing to teach us a lot of things about the sky, different stars, galaxies and the universe. Peter also showed us pictures of Saturn which he took just using his DSLR camera. Such incredible. Really fabulous experience one shouldn’t miss. All three of us, including our teenager son enjoy the tour very much.The sky of New Zealand is really very beautiful.There are too many light pollution and high-rise building here in Hong Kong. We have never seen so many stars in Hong Kong. It’s really really amazing to see so many stars in the sky.With the guide of Peter, I become more and more interested in stars. No fixed fee but do donate to support the Astronomers Group.

We found out about Peter and the observatory on tripadvisor.com, and contacted him via email. He is phenomenally accommodating, and we decided that although our son is still slightly young (4 yrs) he would enjoy the visit. We were unprepared for how much we would enjoy the trip. Peter's passion, knowledge, and ability to teach are amazing. If you were hesitating about including a visit to the observatory, don't worry, it may be the best part of your trip. No fee, but please support with a donation to the club. Scott and Amy

Hi, Thank you for your kind review - we are pleased that you enjoyed your evening with us.firstly when people make an enquiry to come up we do indicate that warm clothing is recommended and also astronomy does involve a lot of standing but seating is provided in the warm room of the domed observatory. As to the site being dark, it is necessary to keep it as dark as possible because this is paramountto observing. It is unfortunate three of the solar lights which illuminate the paths had the internal batteries had failed and are unreplacable at the moment but will be reinstalled by the next public night. We are now searching for red path solar lights.Again thank you for your comments which have been taken on board and look forward to seeing you again. regards,Peter

Our MG Group were staying in Geraldine and I arranged with Peter for the 8 adults to visit his observatory. It was a cloudy wet night but Peter showed us around the observatory and provided us with some much information that most of us were unaware of. It was fascinating. He then invited us to view his DVD and photos he had taken via the night sky. Unbelievable beauty in what we saw and can not thank Peter enough for giving up his time to show us around.