Explore Punamāhaka, (Moke Lake), a stunning lake surrounded by towering peaks, an absolute gem in the Southern Lakes Crown, day or night.

A Total Lunar Eclipse happens when our planet Earth sits directly between the Sun and the Moon and as such the light from the Sun which usually reflects off the Moon is dimmed. The Moon itself turns a beautiful deep red colour creating absolute magic all across the heavens. As so often happens in modern life, our focus is often on the detail, not the whole picture. Read about Simon’s night time adventure under the Total Lunar Eclipse as he looks upon the whole sky, not just a close up of the Moon itself, and what an incredible show it was.

It’s time for one of those stories again. What we do, and the way in which we do it, is intentional. We set out to help people design and immerse themselves in an unforgettable experience here in the Southern Lakes. As we slow down and discover, the moments will be captured in breathtaking photographs.

So many people ask us if we’ll be able to see Tahu-nui-a-raki (The Southern Lights) when they are inquiring about our AuthenticAs Starry Nights Tours. Unfortunately, this isn’t the easiest of phenomena to predict, especially a few months in advance. On Friday night, Jakob & Taryn were treated to a spectacular show, that literally came out of nowhere.

Wai Tāhuna (Queenstown) is often thought of as a high adrenaline, bungy bouncing, jet boat spinning, ski adventuring and snow boarders paradise. This is true, but then what we would like to do is offer up a different side, one that’s not always advertised so boldly- Authentic As - breathtaking photography & guided 4WD tours.

Without a doubt, this beautiful part of the world that we like to call home, is the absolute perfect place to spend some time with your family and connect, to each other and to much more.

People come to Wai Tāhuna (Queenstown) for so many different reasons. One of them, is to celebrate a birthday with their friends. Our amazing little town has so much to offer, it’s perfect, as this group of girls found out as they headed here to celebrate Ash’s 30th. An AuthenticAs Starry Night Adventure proved to be the perfect addition to their packed itiinary.

We love having solo travellers come on our adventures, it allows us to deliver a truly tailored experience so that our manuhiri (visitor) gets exactly what they are looking for. Read about our night under the Stars with Nick, an exceptionally inspiring young man from Melbourne, here in Tāhuna (Queenstown) for a week of snowboarding and adventure seeking.

Even with an 87% moon and closed roads, we made an epic evening of Astrophotography in the Wakatipu Basin happen for Keng & Victor who were visiting Tāhuna from Singapore

We met up with Calum Booth at Dream Track in Queenstown NZ, to shoot a few photos of him on board his new Trek.

Authentic As offer a unique experience for visitors to the Southern Lakes. Rather than remind you to bring your camera with you, we recommend you leave it at home so you can sit back and relax whilst we take care of everything. We took the Johnson’s on a mid winter adventure along the Glenorchy road and beyond.

Ginnie wanted to see the beautiful Southern Hemisphere night sky. We took her out exploring capturing beautiful photographs as we went, we even bumped into Lady Aurora

The Monssens chose our day trip into Glenorchy, Paradise and Mount Aspiring Park. They love nature and recently moved up across Australia from a cooler farming background to the heat of Queensland. They loved slowing down and exploring some of the quieter and relaxing places in the Southern Lakes

Hannes and Suki were in Queenstown for a few days as part of their New Zealand adventure. They came on one of our ‘Top & Back’ tours. Suki experienced snow for the first time amongst many other things. Together we had lots of laughs and created the most amazing set of images

Jarin & Tashur visited Queenstown to celebrate their engagement. We worked with them to plan the perfect photoshoot for their very special day

Even when the moon is out and clouds in the sky, our camera skills, local knowledge and DOC concessions enable us to be able to create breathtakingly beautiful photographs under the stunning night skies in Queenstown New Zealand