They say a picture paints 1,000 words ...

... but in this case, a hundred or so words will have to do.

You see, my absentmindedness got the better of me once again. Here I am, at the beginning of my trip down the Southern SCENIC Route, and I go somewhere without my camera. I even thought to myself, before leaving the hotel room, "Will I need my camera at the restaurant? Nah!"

So picture me this (pun intended): I park on the oceanfront, in front of a restaurant called The Esplanade. It's on a street named - wait for it – The Esplanade, and it overlooks the Pacific Ocean. It’s 7 o’clock at night, there is a dense, moody bank of clouds obscuring most of the night sky except for a large, trapezoidal hole about ¼ way up from the horizon out over the ocean. Down through this hole shines a bright patch of moonlight from a full moon, illuminating a strip of seawater with silvery light. The water looks this cool silver-greenish color in the moonlight. I've never seen anything like this before and it was pretty spectacular.

The silver lining here (again, pun intended!) is that in reality I probably would not have had enough light to get a good picture. There was also a lot of backlight from the restaurant and streetlights as well, so I probably would not have had much to show for it. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

In short, you just had to be there. Nonetheless, it’s one of many captivating moments I’ve had while here in New Zealand, and I’ll remember it always.