I've always wanted to watch full moon rise on the horizon, I did go to beach a few times on full moon days, but the weathers were too cloudy. Finally, I planned this 2-day trip to watch full moon at the easternmost point of Australia mainland on the 1st day of September, and the sky was amazingly clear and beautiful.
Below is my walking route and wonderful view I saw, then you may be able to understand how excited I was at that moment.
On my way to Cape Byron Lighthouse,
it was really joyful to walk in a afternoon with such beautiful golden light shining on the beach.
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Cape Byron Lighthouse.
Here we are !!! After a 40-mins walk and I didn't take many photos on the way, because I had to hurry up and spend more time here to get some photos before sunset.
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Cape Byron Lighthouse.
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Fantastic view of sunset! At that moment, I was standing in front of the lighthouse with many visitors watching the sunset.
Luckily, there was a boat on ocean and made a perfect element for composition. After the sunset, the day was not going to end but just start.
Just after 30 mins of sunset, the moon elegantly showed up on the horizon. In fact, the moon looks dramatically golden whenever it rises or sets in Australia.
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| Moon rose on the South Pacific Ocean. |
Even though this shot was not what I exactly saw, I could still see the full moon was bright enough to add magical color to the clouds, I found it really difficult to give full detail of moon and completely present the atmosphere due to the contrast of moon and clouds.
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| Moon rose on the South Pacific Ocean
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This one is more like what I saw, but lack of details of moon.
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| Cape Byron Lighthouse. |
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| Cape Byron Lighthouse. |
I had came here 2 weeks ago, it was completely dark at night and perfect for star watching. I couldn't get detail of lighthouse and light beam at the same time, again, due to the contrast. That's why I planned to come again.
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| Day 2 route
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| First light of Sep 2. |
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| Moonset before sunrise. |
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| Sunrise |
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| Cape Byron Lighthouse |
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| Golden Swamp Wallaby on the cliff.
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| The end of easternmost point |
Wish I could swim with wild dolphins :)
Their appearance really surprised me, I thought they were there for breakfast because they stayed there at least 20 mins, so I had plenty of time watching them floating on the surface.
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| Jumped at the Easternmost point of Australia mainland. |
Finally, I am going to share how I spent my night at the
lighthouse. It was a windy and chilly night,which was about 10 degree celsius but actually felt colder due to the winds, I had my sweater, gloves, windproof jacket, boots, hat, that could help me stand the chill. I lied down at a corner next to a bench outside a concrete building around 11 pm. I used my backpack as a pillow, then crossed my arms above my chest. However,I could only sleep for 1 hour then had to walk around the lighthouse to make my body warm. After that, I tried to take a rest again, but the chill kept me awake. Finally, it came to mind my mind that the only enclosed space in this area was toilet, and nobody would use it at night ! As a result, I sat on the clean toilet and took a nap for 2 hours till 5 am and slept pretty well.
It's really funny that I spent a few hours sleeping in a toilet, and I don't think I will do that again....unless....
