Aurora over Queenstown – Stuck in Customs

Daily Photo – Aurora over Queenstown

I’d been awake for two days. It all started the day before after I put the kids to bed. I got a Facebook message from Stefan Haworth. It turns out that he and Eden Brackstone were headed out for a little viewing of the big solar storm that was hitting the atmosphere.

Down thisaway, it’s called the Aurora Australis (not Borealis). Back then I’d never before seen an aurora (despite countless attempts in Iceland), I was ready to suit up!

And it turns out that one of the best places we saw them was right near here in Queenstown! We drove down along Lake Wakatipu until we were just past Wye Creek. I got out of the car, let my eyes adjust, then saw colored shafts of light shooting up through the edge of our snow-globe. It wasn’t like I expected! It’s…. hard to explain.