Awesome story and pictures, never knew of that station first time I was in the area. I remember being blown away by the cluster of stars up there, mind blowing.

You know, I'd like to have as a riding buddy on my road trips on the motorbike, you'd be in charge of the story telling.
 
BTW, I'm about 150 something jumps from my first waypoint before TIR.
Slow going as I scan almost everything with the FSS? and will sometimes land here and there. Sure wish I hadn't forgotten a surface scanner.
 
Slow going as I scan almost everything with the FSS? and will sometimes land here and there. Sure wish I hadn't forgotten a surface scanner.
I confess I'm not scanning much at all. I honk every system and then quickly switch to the FSS for a quick look while fuel scooping just to see if there's anything especially notable about the system before I jump out.

You know, I'd like to have as a riding buddy on my road trips on the motorbike, you'd be in charge of the story telling.
Thanks! Speaking of which ...
 
Day 13 - 30.12.3306
ONWARDS TO POLO HARBOUR

Nicely rested it's time to pack up and move on, thanks for the hospitality Caravanserai!

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First port of call today is another nebula in the BLUA EAEC region about 1500ly from here.

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I've plotted a course for a system near the "top" of the nebula ..

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.. which soon starts to loom large in my forward view.

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Once there I have a cunning plan. I'm going to switch to economic routing and then plot a course right through the heart of the nebula, hoping to discover some notable stellar phenomena of my own.

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Approximately 25 jumps later and I've discovered ... absolutely nothing. Actually, I tell a lie ... I did (somewhat randomly) decide to drop into an asteroid cluster (you know those things that everyone almost immediately filters out of their nav panel) and I found a rock.

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It strikes me that notable stellar phenomena are actually incredibly rare in the grand scale of the galaxy, the chances of randomly stumbling upon one without using something like EDSM must be tiny. Anyway, from here my next waypoint is Polo Harbour planetary outpost in Boewnst KS-S c20-959, a system which lies inside another nebula ... looks like I'm nebula hopping today. Here's a couple of interesting snaps I take along the way.

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And here's a couple more views from inside my cockpit of the next nebula approaching.

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When I arrive at Polo Harbour (who's system appears to be overrun with pirates by the way) I decide to land outside the base's perimeter so that I can drive the final 10km in the SRV.

Incoming!

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It's a quaint little town ..

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.. but I really need to get up higher for a better view.


That's more like it.

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Time to bring up the galaxy map and start planning the next stage of my journey. I'm actually only around 5kly from Colonia ..

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.. so I could be there tomorrow in theory but I decide to take a little detour first. I've found a system in EDSM (Dryoea Flyi II-S e4-6870) which hopefully contains some stellar phenomena I've not seen before. It's a little out of my way but it does take me into Odin's Hold, a new region of the galaxy ..

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.. and in fact I can also stop off at Eor Aowsy GR-W e1-1381 on the way which contains a glowing green giant.

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Excellent ... that's a plan then!
 
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Day 14 - 31.12.3306
GREEN GIANTS AND LIGHTNING STORMS

Damn it!

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I'm getting ahead of myself tho. The day starts back at Polo Harbour where I've taken the SRV out for another spin. Unfortunately some ill-advised tomfoolery leaves me with a fine for blocking landing pads. No problem I think, I'll just go back to the station, pay off the authorities and all will be forgiven. Alas that turns out to be harder than expected ... no authorities!

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Errr, well that's awkward ... I guess I'll be moving along then. But, as if that's not enough of a bad start to my day, as I'm trying to leave one of the pirates who, as I mentioned yesterday, seem to have overrun this system, decides to try and interdict me.

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Sorry Icebun, not today thank you ... and with that I'm outta here.

Next stop is Eor Aowsy GR-W e1-1381 and a date with a glowing green giant. Along the way we enter a new region of space called Odin's Hold.

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Beyond this point I start getting a whole slew of new Codex vouchers, even for simple things like star types, so it seems that Rat Catcher is correct and that Codex discoveries are numbered per region. Anyway, some time and several Codex entries later ...

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Yup, that's green alright. I try re-using a previous style of photography again but it doesn't really work as well this time ..

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.. so I take a different approach.

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And that gives me another idea ..

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.. which then leads to this. Presenting the deluxe G3 Guardian Timepiece!

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Also available in video form.


Fighter retrieval sequence initiated.

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Next stop is the Dryoea Flyi II-S e4-6870 system which should contain at least one of: storm clouds, amphora plants, crystalline shards, gyre pods or stolon pods - either way something I haven't seen before. It's about 1500ly from here (every waypoint I pick seems to be about that far away!) and I decide to make good on an earlier promise and route via white stars only.

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Here's a quick summary of the journey.


What I find when I get there is easily worth this entire detour and something I've been hoping to see for a long LONG time.

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It's a storm cloud (a Luteolum Lagrange Storm to be precise).

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I've no idea if this is dangerous or not but ... let's go and take a closer look.


The storm does seem to have the ability to damage the ship if you fly into the heart of it but I chicken out and retreat back to its outer edge before that happens. I do manage to photograph some of the crystals illuminated by lightning flashes tho.

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However, none of this explains the damage that I started this post with. Believe it or not I think that's down to this little chap.

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It's a K 12-Type anomaly. I found it slightly deeper inside the cloud and was busy trying to photograph it ..

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.. when I suddenly heard the unmistakeable sound of my shields going down. About 10 seconds later I was beating a hasty retreat and down to 81% hull which is where we came in.

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Note to self : maybe consider equipping repair limpets next time!

All in all a fascinating morning's adventure which leaves me with a bunch of new Codex entries and a decision about how much more of that 81% I dare risk in order to venture back inside the storm for a second look.

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Day 14 (continued) - 31.12.3306
STORM CHASER

I couldn't resist the urge to venture back into the storm again in pursuit of those K-type anomalies and I'm happy to report that this time I managed to do so without incurring further damage.

There's one ..

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.. lightning strikes but only weakens my shields a bit ..

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Say cheese!

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I decide not to push my luck any much further and move on to a neighbouring stellar phenomena which turns out to be another storm, although a lighter one.

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I even feel bold enough to risk taking the fighter out for a quick photo opportunity (although worryingly I can't tell what's happening to the ship while I'm gone). You can't quite see it in the photo unfortunately but the fighter is trying to compete with the storm by using its weapons to generate its own lightning, miniscule by comparision.

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By the way, I forgot to mention that this system has its own planetary nebula and an unusually green Earthlike world.

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Anyway, that's it for today (and indeed for 3306) ... join me again in 3307 as I continue my journey to Colonia.
 
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Day 14 (continued) - 31.12.3306
FINDING A BLACK HOLE

Actually it turned out that 3306 had one last adventure in store.

With a little bit of extra time to kill I settle back into the pilot's chair, open the galaxy map and review my current situation.

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My detour up here into Odin's Hold has left me Northeast of Colonia while most of the remaining waypoints on my original list lie to the Southwest (circled yellow in the above image). Since I've been hanging on to all the exploration data I've accumulated so far it now seems foolhardy not to go to Colonia next and turn all that data in (especially as one of my waypoints is the World of Death). So I'm basically looking for one last thing to do in the area circled in blue. EDSM has nothing enticing to offer and there are no obvious nebula, however while idly examining the galaxy map I do stumble upon a black hole!

For those curious here's how I found it.


Well that's perfect - I lay in a course to Whamboe MX-U F2-2172 and about ten minutes later I'm greeted with the sight of my first black hole of the journey.

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Anyway ... time to leave that dark black, light and life consuming well of emptiness (aka 2020) behind and strike out into a new year with the hope of brighter things to come. Happy 3307 commanders!
 
I've ran into a few Black Holes in Odin's Hold, along with a couple of "C" class and WR stars, I like it there! It also has a vast 'field' of WD stars which I have been plodding through on occasion seeking a class I'm sure exists... maybe 🤔

Nearly there, Alec - thank you for showing us your travels so far - I'm envious of your camera skill and enjoying the shots you have shared with us all.
 
Happy new year. I tried to play last night but had to many wobbly pops so after about 5 jumps I just park it.
I am getting closer to you though, find it hard to believe I have not come across an earth like planet so far.
Today I should be able to continue my journey.
 
Day 15 - 01.01.3307
NEW YEAR'S DAY

Not actually much to report today. I leave the Whamboe black hole behind and head off for Colonia which is now only about 4kly away. I am looking for one thing as I travel tho' - a landable planet with just the right amount of contrast between its surface and subsurface colouration.

This one should do ... yeah, this should do nicely.

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Not my finest work (like Marbat I have had a glass or two of bubbly today) but it is at least visible from over 2km up.

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Actually, scratch that ... it's visible from over 3km up.

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Right, Colonia here I come ..

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.. doh! One too many neutron boosts I guess, thankfully I did at least remember to bring a repair kit. I park up for the night with just 25 jumps remaining leaving the AFMU to do its work.

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When you arrive drop in and take a peek at Carcosa and Robardin Rock orbiting a gorgeous lava world. No warm Loren's Reapers welcome any more, sorry...
..although you could flash your lights at my main's FC parked around CD2 for mining practise.
 
Well now heading for TIR, only 384 jumps, LOL. Don't think I'm gonna make it there any time soon.
Maybe things will get more interesting, kind of looking forward to get at a station so I can equip my ship with a much needed module.
 
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