"Dawn" at dawn, in New Zealand

Paul and Aaron Moss in Castlepoint, East Coast of New Zealand had this to say about their "Dawn" activity:

We just had 21 hours of Astronomy!! Left Wellington (Capital city of NZ) at midnight and arrived at Castlepoint (North-East of Masterton) around 4am New Years day after stopping in the middle of the Waiararapa broad valley and gazing at the incredible dark sky, bright with stars!!! Saw a few slow meteors ( from around Orion) and got spoken to by the police patrol (they were happy and sped off).

I managed to get one of the better sunrises I ever saw, despite the fastest winds I ever went out in.. My 10 year old son Aaron was a bit freaked out as we all had to shuffle up the path to the lighthouse with both arms around the fence all the way. It was a wicked GALE for about 4 hours. (Tawhirimatea in full flight, respect!) Extreme Astronomy. For sure. We wandered back to Stonehenge Aotearoa, experienced the visitor presentation, very impressive and hugely informative. The sky danced a bit more with ice crystals and cloud colours. Finished the day with a shot of the new moon.

Photos by Paul Moss. Canon 20D, 18-55mm and 90-210 lens. Polarizing
and ND filters. Location at the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand.