Kinross lives under The Kawarau Gibbston Dark Sky Park!

We have known our sky is special for a while. Small but mighty, we are one of only places in the world where people can view the Milky Way and Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) in one place. This month, we are so proud to announce that the Kawarau Gibbston region has been granted an International Dark Sky Park status. 

This accreditation has been granted by the  International Dark Sky Places Program, which recognises and promotes the nighttime environment and heritage of our global skies. At the moment, there are over 160,000 square kilometres of protected night skies worldwide, in 22 countries on 6 continents. 

We want to show our deepest appreciation to Gibbston Community Association for your hard work in achieving this. It's a huge milestone for our small community and a wonderful way of preserving this incredible asset we all get to enjoy. 

So, when you stay at Kinross, we know you'll be wow'd by the skies... recent guests were SO lucky to hit the aurora jackpot, whilst sitting in the hot tub!

The best time of the year to see the stars is June and July.  it also aligns well with our national holiday of Matariki, which marks the beginning of the Lunar Year on the Maori calendar and is closely tied to planting, harvesting, and hunting. It's very fitting that Kinross also celebrate our harvest over this time at the annual Harvest Celebration