If you are interested in the stars, then South Wairarapa is the place to be. We are in a Dark Sky Sanctuary – https://www.wairarapadarksky.nz/ – which means there is almost no light pollution. This means that when the weather plays nice and there are no clouds you can see heaps of stars.
Our petanque court is also a great place to set up a telescope. We are just learning how to use ours, so it isn’t available to guests, but you can bring your own equipment, or you can book for Chris from Under the stars (https://www.underthestars.co.nz/) to come with his gear.
I got a mount for my phone to take photos using the telescope as a lens – a couple of photos I took with my iPhone are below. I’m sure I’ll have lots of fun as the weather allows.
It is also only a 30 minute drive to Star Safari (https://star-safari.nz/) where Sam and Hari do awesome star gazing sessions.