Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve
The entire Mackenzie Basin is included in this Dark Sky Reserve, the largest in the world, about an hour’s drive from Geraldine. You don’t have to do much to experience this amazing attraction: Simply wait until night falls, find a spot, and look up. Depending on where you look, the night sky may seem like a sea of twinkling stars and planets. If you’re here in winter, you might even get to see the Southern Lights.
Peel Forest Park Scenic Reserve
Just 20 minutes from Geraldine, this forest was part of a timber milling settlement before it was designated a protected reserve. The park is home to some of Canterbury’s only remaining native bush, with trees more than a century old and a wide array of ferns and fungi. There are several walking tracks ranging from 30-minute hikes to all-day treks.
Geraldine Vintage Car and Machinery Museum
Featuring more than 2,000 vintage and lovingly restored vehicles, including more than 100 antique tractors and other farming equipment, across several buildings, this local museum is a reminder that you are in the middle of one of New Zealand’s most fertile farming regions. There’s even a biplane and a vintage motorbike with a sidecar equipped to carry a coffin.