It was a perfect night, camped under the stars on the summit of Mount Kosciusko. The temp was nice, the sky was crystal clear and DARK! I saw Andromeda naked-eye for the first time in my life.
I got no sleep, but about 600-odd frames from 10:40pm to about 5:20am this morning, AUSTRALIA DAY.
Myself and two friends were alone up there all night. About thre-ish this morning, I noticed lights in groups coming up through the valley from Charlottes Pass. Several people turned up with their LED lights blaring just before dawn, at which point I shot down the path to greet them and ask as nicely as I could, if they could please turn them off and move to the side of my feild of view. They were all very nice about it. I even got to point out what I think was the international space station passing to the south. Man it was bright! Caught heaps of meteorites all night too.
As the dawn cracked over the horizon through smoke from distant fires, someone started singing, "Advance Australia Fair" at which point others joined in. It was an iconic moment. Others turned up later with a big Australian flag and waved it around.
After 18 kilometers on foot with 30 kilograms worth of camera and computer, food, water etc, I am home and absolutely STUFFED, with sore shoulders, legs and big blisters on my feet. IT WAS WORTH IT!
I am now going to sleep before even attempting to put the frames together in the time-lapse. Stay tuned!
Until then, good-ni..........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
![[smilie=admire.gif]](./images/smilies/admire.gif "admire")
