Day 4, Level 2 (Day 53 since Lockdown) - Sun & gloom, Luminaries and a Smiley Face in the sky!

A beach of two halves today, that's for sure!

Coffee and reading the paper made for a relaxing morning. Whitebait fritters made for a delicious brunch!

Then we set off on a decent walk to the southern end, along the pathways to the quarry and swan lake - well, it's a large pond, but it does have swans! And lots of ducks.

There was a cold southerly so this was more sheltered than the beach.

We came back along the beach and wow what a contrast from one end to the other. 

The southern end was sheltered and calm, with families picnicing and swimming and playing cricket  and having all sorts of beach holiday fun under mostly blue skies and in sunshine.

Omaha Beach, the southern end

As we walked towards the northern end (with the wind thankfully at our backs) it was a picture of doom and gloom. It was pouring out to sea and the clouds northwards were black as ink. What a contrast.

Northern skies

 

Out to sea - windsurfer on horizon

Brett did a few DIY handyman type jobs like nailing in a fence slat that had come adrift, watering the fig trees and sowing a few more grass seeds. Then some heavy showers came, good timing.

He headed back to Auckland around 3pm - I was aghast to learn that the traffic was as bad as it's ever been getting into Warkworth, the traffic banked up way further than normal. Obviously lots of people popped up to the bach for the weekend. Oh please don't let the traffic become worse than ever ...

We had our usual 5pm Zoom catch up with friends - Brett was late on account of the awful slow trip home. What should be a one hour trip took more than two. 

BRUNCH: Whitebait fritters

DINNER: Pasta - ravioli with a pumpkin, mushroom, capsicum sauce. 

After doing some work, I settled in and watched the first episode of The Luminaries. I haven't read the book but the TV series seems watchable enough.

Am tired tonight, must be all that wind on the walk. In bed before midnight for once!

SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:

Smiley Face in the sky ...

There had been mention of the moon, Jupiter and Venus aligning to create a rare smiley face in the sky this weekend, 16th May.  And there was also mooting that, rather than a rare phenomenon, this was nonsense.

There was no sign of it when I went to bed last night, some time after midnight, although the moon hadn't risen high enough in the sky to be visible. 

When I got up to let the cat in around 4am I thought I'd better go outside and check what was happening in the sky - and there it was, right outside the door - the Smiley Face! Looking right down at me, all bright and cheery and just a little bit freaky.

I was blown away. The crescent moon was on it's back, like a smiling mouth. And above it there were two "eyes". They were a little wide apart and out of proportion with the size of the mouth, but they were shining brightly and the whole thing did indeed have the symmetry of a Smiley Face. 

The whole night sky was a wonderland of stars and galaxies as far as the eye could see. I stared in awe.

And then, when I'd had my fill, I went straight to check on the Time and Date website - it wasn't Jupiter and Venus but rather Mars and a star - can't remember it's name now. I'll just have to get up in the early hours to check the sky and website again, as it states exactly what planet and what star is where. But only in live time. 

The moon will rise at 1.38am. Mars at 12.20am. 

Although, perhaps it was just a one-off ...

Anyway, I had the privilege to see it and I can confirm that it really did happen. Alas, no good for taking photos on my phone. 

I've seen some pretty amazing night skies over these past couple of months - but none more quirky and unusual than that. 

I went back to bed with a big smile on my face!

And, in an interesting and timely twist, The Luminaries has a strong thread of astronomy and astrology woven through it ...