Moonrise over the Rail Trail at Kaituna

Friday the 13th and a full moon is apparently a rare occurrence, so I wanted to make sure that I saw the moon at its largest as it crested the hills above Kaituna. I thought it might bring me some good luck...

The stars were just starting to show when I took this, the light behind me to the west fading fast. Plenty of cloud was spilling out from across the Banks Peninsula too - scenes that brought to mind werewolves and howling.

Not that you'd know it from this frame of course. I've gone for a long exposure to light the scene - although I did use a speed light to highlight the Kaituna sign in the foreground - which has washed the moon out somewhat. So, imagine if you like a big yellow cheese-like moon with clouds scudding across it.

The bird calls from the lake were their usual loud selves as I took this shot. A soundtrack of pukeko and duck, punctuated by cars heading out towards Akaroa, is always a given at this time of night.