Category: Photo Journals

Read more: Before moonrise

Sneaking out through the gate at night, my headlamp was a bit too much. Some farm animals were not far from me. Grazing or simply standing. The sheep’s big eyes reflected my light with confusion and mild annoyance.

Some would call it uncanny to make eye contact with a group of sheep in the dark, not to imply that I’ve more reasons to traverse through their place than they do. Part of me wondered whether they’d be able to see more of the night sky and landscape with their large pupils. In general, though, they were indifferent to my presence.

Still, I switched off my headlamp and resorted to going forward with my phone flashlight. It was bright enough, but, more importantly, disturbs much smaller an area. The paths between farmlands were rather well-treaded, and navigation wasn’t challenging at all. I was simply backtracking, and with the exception of a few markers that were single-sided (painted rock), it was not an arduous hike to where I’d set my eyes on.

I’d seen the cliffs around Flea Bay before. It was from the sea, a few years ago now. I was with a date on a cruise boat looking for dolphins and krill; probably NZ’s native penguins also, though we didn’t end up seeing any birds other than gulls and albatrosses.

This sanctuary beach on the south-east side of Banks Peninsula is a breeding ground of little penguins, and the sandy area is off-limits after dark, when penguin parents — and a family of Canadian geese that recently settled, apparently — waddle back to their nests, linger together a little, and depart again before dawn.

I got to visit this place on land this time, during the my Banks Peninsula hike. A bucolic hut adjacent to a large farm was our stay for the first night on the tramping track. With the long southern summer daylight still in full force, the sky over the ocean only began turning purple past 9pm, and moonrise was soon to follow before 11pm.

As with most bays on the peninsula, the best way to hike downhill was to follow a stream that eventually feeds into it. About half an hour before the hut, the stream would form a few cascading waterfalls, and I’d decided to visit them later at night.

Introduction

Hi there!

Since my misadventure has even garnered a headline in national news, I thought I’d quickly put together a travel log of sorts. Sans the few hours under the playful gaze of the stars, it has been a much-needed solo journey to talk to and catch up with my wants, visions, and priorities.

Before I ramble on, many of you might have just come to see my rocket launch photo in full HD, and here it is.

Feel free to use it (CC-BY-SA 4.0).

I did quite publicly promise a technical aside on the significance of CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment). but I think in the interest of time I am better off pointing you to NASA.

Comment on That Image

During the launch window, the sky cooperatively cleared up, and most low-level clouds drifted away. As such, the “halo” you see around the thruster flame trail is most likely just due to condensation on the surface of my camera lens.

I wasn’t able to take a temperature / humidity reading of the moist night at Nuhaka beach, but that my lens was consistently fogging up in the matter of minutes really underscored the challenge of the environment (and caught me by surprise).

The surprise factor was especially because I’d performed a full dress rehearsal at the same location the night prior. In hindsight, the test was conducted during civil twilight, and the sands were still warm. Certainly a mis-controlled variable.

Before I further compromise the time ordering, here’s the test shot produced 28 hours before the actual launch. For many-a northern hemisphere readers of mine, the southern celestial pole is clearly visible, which might not be a familiar sight (it’s much lamer than the Big Dipper and Polaris anyway).

Other stuff

This trip was organized under the assumption that the launch was to go ahead in the evening of Saturday 25th of June, but was stretched to accommodate the revised dates (Monday 27th, and later Tuesday 28th — better late than fail). It was indeed a good lesson on managing expectations and realistically-assessed risks. I say that after I got to see the launch, but have made up my mind far before reaching certainty that I will.

During these days, I’ve driven over 1700km according to my odometer, with most travels being meaningful and only less than 30% of those roads being unsealed gravel.

I had also produced a pile of real-time narrated driving footages, like this one

Selected Images (In CHRONOLOGICAL Order)

24 June (Matariki) – Auckland, Taupo, Napier

25 June – NAPIER, HASTINGS, NUHAKA, Gisborne

26 June – Gisborne

27 June – GISBORNE, Mahia, Wairoa

28 June – MAHIA, Wairoa, Nuhaka, The Launch, RotorUa

Secret bonus content.