In September, there was an astronomical event I haven’t witnessed too many times in my life; a full lunar eclipse. And it was visible in the southern hemisphere. The main problem was that it took place at 3-4am.

But a cool natural phenomenon taking place in the middle of the night has never stopped me before.

It was purely accidental though, as I woke up in the middle of the night, at the peak, as I had to go to the bathroom. Or maybe it was my subconscious not wanting me to miss it.

In any case, I got a decent look at the bloodred moon from our kitchen window at 4am and got some pretty shitty pictures with my crappy mobile camera. But it was beautiful in real life, I assure you.

The next day, mom and I went to Gold Coast Regional Botanical Gardens for an easy walk in nature. I was hoping that we would see a snake again as this was the spot where Mikael and I saw our first and only snake so far in Australia. But no such luck.

We did see the regular animals though; fresh water turtles, eels, birds, water dragons.

Not too many flowers yet as winter was just ending. But the weather was beautiful.

One thing I’ve really come to appreciate in Australia, is the moon rises when they happen after sunset. Seeing that big moon rise over the horizon is just magical. The first time I saw it, while playing beach volleyball on the beach, I was so awestruck. I had no idea that a moon could rise like a sun and look so spectacular doing it! So for this event, Mikael and I brought mom so she could witness as well. We also brought Laura and her golden Ted as they apparently had never seen the moon rise over the ocean in her ten years living here. It was truly magical. Once again, you have to believe me as my phone did not take any good pictures. So the one you see below is from mom’s new phone I bought her when she arrived.