Our first trip to Tasmania in the 24 years since we arrived in Australia brought us on a whirlwind tour of Hobart and Cradle Mountain eventually depositing us on the East coast of the state near a little town called Freycenet.

We stayed in a really comfortable AirBNB not far from the coast and forayed out from there exploring the surrounds. We were following our noses on one of these excursions, just seeing where we would end up when we took a turn at a sign marked "lighthouse"

The Cape Tourville lighthouse complex features a nicely laid out walking path which takes you on a winding path up to the lighthouse and then around along the cliff edge providing a great view of the Freycenet peninsula and Wineglass Bay. Our wanderings had brought us to the lighthouse in the late afternoon but given the view I resolved to come back early to catch a sunrise from this great vantage point.

The Photographer's Ephemeris gave me time and position of sunrise and Cloud Free Night dictated a trip 2 days later to maximize the chances of an interesting sky. Proximity to the lighthouse meant I had a later than usual start-time and arrived at about 5am to set up.

I must have practiced the panorama sweep across the scene 10-15 times taking shots each time as the sun began to light the sky while I waited for the dawn at 05:54. Dawn finally came and the darkness got light but that wonderful illumination was nowhere in sight!*

Unfortunately, dawn had managed to coincide with the arrival of a thick cloud bank on the horizon which turned off the lighting on my scene as effectively as any switch. For a moment I lamented my bad luck but on further examination was that a small gap in those far clouds?

At 06:31, for about 45 seconds, the sun peeked through that distant gap and presented the possibility of the shot you see here...then it was gone and the day's chances were over. Thank goodness for all that practicing.

*apologies to Dr Seuss

This shot is my first attempt to capture a shot of Wineglass Bay from the Cape Tourville lighthouse in the early morning. (Check out Akasha (Aether) for my second attempt) 

I had spent the previous few days intermittently checking Cloud Free Night to determine the amounts and direction of travel of all the high, mid level and low cloud around Cape Tourville from about 4 hours before dawn to about 2 hours after it. For a shot like this, which is so dependent on lighting, having a large cloud bank on the horizon blocking the sun would have made the effort of setting up in the dark to wait for the shot moot. 

In the end the clouds did form and blocked the sun just as it rose but 5 minutes later a gap in the cloud-bank on the horizon allowed this amazing illumination for about 45 seconds before it was gone for good.