#2.16 Tokyo, Shinjuku Gyoen, Tina Holmstedt, April 24, 2015
Tina Holmqvist has been on a very exciting expedition to Tokyo where she and Moonhouse #2.16 have been exploring the legendary cherry blossom in the Shinjuku Gyoen garden. As we all can see the house blends well with the cherry blossom. One would wish that the house could bring a cherry tree to the Moon where the blossoms would be off-set wonderfully agains the black sky and crisp star field. This expedition is poetic to the level that we have to rename Moonhouse #2.16 to Cherry Blossom.
We thank you for sharing the beautiful pictures from your exciting expedition Tina. We wish you fair winds for your coming expeditions.
In the quest for reaching ever more extreme environments and setting out on ever more delicate expeditions there is an ongoing development of ever more capable Moonhouse models. The Moonhouse #X-series are the prototypes of tomorrow’s Moonhouse models. Before the X-series the prototype models were part of the nominal series. Examples are the plastic #2.18 and the negative #1.5. The #X.1 is the first of the moonhouses made from clay. The #X.1 is of similar size as the #3-series and has negative bouyancy in water, meaning that it will sink to the bottom. The #X.2 is similar to #X.1 as it is made from the same material but where the X.1 is comparable in size to the #3-series, the #X.2 is comparable in size to the #2-series. The #X.2 also features a a base magnet making it attachable to magnetic surfaces.
Any prototype has to be tested and Moonhouse #X.2 is no exception. On May 12 endavoured on its first expedition, with Emil Vinterhav to Konradsberg. See the results below.
#X.2 20140512 Konradsberg, Stockholm, Emil Vinterhav
#X.2 20140512 Konradsberg, Stockholm, Emil Vinterhav
#X.2 20140512 Konradsberg, Stockholm, Emil Vinterhav
#X.2 20140512 Konradsberg, Stockholm, Emil Vinterhav
#X.2 20140512 Konradsberg, Stockholm, Emil Vinterhav
#X.2 20140512 Konradsberg, Stockholm, Emil Vinterhav
#X.2 20140512 Konradsberg, Stockholm, Emil Vinterhav
#X.2 20140512 Konradsberg, Stockholm, Emil Vinterhav
#X.1 The Reef 20140102 Radja Ampat – Melissa’s Garden, Papua, Indonesien. Explorers Robin Lilja and Niclas Evestedt Fotocredit Niclas Evestedt
Today we are treated to a one of a kind, never seen before picture from the colourful land under water of a tropical coral reef. An earlier landfall on this expedition brought us to the well cared for nest of the Volgelkop Bower bird. On this landfall (waterfall(?)), on January 2, 2014, Robin Lilja and co-explorer Niclas Evestedt explored the coral reefs of Melissa’s Garden off the coast of the Raja Ampat Islands near Papua, Indonesia.
Thank you for the stunning picture* and congratulations, Robin and Niclas, to your very successful expedition. We wish you fair winds for your coming adventures.
*According to rumour ther are more stunningly beautiful underwater pictures like this which we hope to share soon….
#2.35 in the Indian Ocean Petra Vainionpää, Maldives New Years Eve 2013.
The Moonhouse really has a predisposition toward exotic beaches and the ocean. Perhaps this is in anticipation of and longing for an eternal existence on the shores of the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon.
Here the seasoned explorer Petra Vainionpää treats us to a magnificent scene from the Maldives in the Indian Ocean with Moonhouse #2.35 basking in sunlight with bungalows built in stilts in the back ground. (Wouldn’t we all have liked to be there to take the picture…)
Congratulations on your successful expedition Petra and fair winds for your coming adventures. (Petra was one of the first explorers and something tells me that the Maldives may not be the last landfall Moonhouse #2.35 makes with Petra. We certainly wish to continue to part-take in Petras exotic expeditions wherever they take here and the Moonhouse Expedition.
#2.19 Kwau, West Papua Robin Lilja December 26, 2013
From his expedition to South East Asia, exploring both above and below, Robin Lilja sends this report. Robin has installed Moonhouse #2.19 in the nest of a Vogelkop Bowerbird at Kwau in West Papua, Indonesia. The Vogelkop Bowerbird is famous for its elaborate building style and for decorating its nest with colourful accessories. Try a google image search for vogelkop bowerbird or the BBC:s website for stunning and beautiful examples. Robin recommends a look at the ”Birds” episode of the BBC Life series for more information.
Congratulations on your ongoing and already successful expedition Robin. We wish you fair winds for its continuation and look forward to future reports.
Times Square #2.34 in Times Square New York, John Olof Vinterhav, December 5, 2013
Admittedly, there is not much snow at HQ at the moment and we are not likely to get any more before Christmas. How lucky then that Moonhouse #2.34 brings back some of that wintery feeling. The house carries the thin snowflakes all the way from Times Square in New York to HQ and to everywhere else around the globe in need of that special Yule ambiance.
The wintry imagery is brought to us by John-Olof Vinterhav with co-explorer Ulla Vinterhav from their expedition to New York in the beginning of December, 2013.
Thank you for getting us into that special holiday spirit John-Olof and Ulla. Congratulations to the successful expedition. We wish you fair winds for your coming adventures.
On Monday, November 25, Moonhouse #X.1 of the all-new experimental underwater design was placed in the keep of seasoned explorer Robin Lilja in anticipation of an upcoming diving expedition to Indonesia in December.
#X.1 has been extensively tested for submersion also into unfriendly environments. In the image above it is seen in a setup testing the compatibility with 10 yo Glenfarclas concluding that for future similar expeditions the varnish need to be more resilient to this liquid.
The whiskey test was the second submergence test and it was done to see if the design was suitable to use as a non-melting ice-cube. The test failed as it made the whiskley taste bad. The first submergence test was to establish that the model had negative bouyancy and that it did not dissolve in water.
We wish Robin fair winds on his diving expedition and look forward to learning more about it in reports to come.
The Underwater Room was conceived by Mikael Genberg, the very same artist that conceived the idea of placing a house on the moon. Moonhouse #2.10 explored the Manta Resort and Pemba in February 2013, when the Underwater Room was still under construction. Be sure to check out the report!
#2.29 Ipanema, Brazil Lotta Liljelund, November 2013.
Finally! After a full year of exploring the world, the Expedition reached South America at last. In November 2013 Moonhouse #2.29 on an expedition with Lotta Liljelund became the first Moonhouse expedition to explore South America when it made landfall on Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Congratulations to your successful expedition Lotta and fair winds on your coming adventures!
Ha Long Bay #2.24 Stefan Lundin in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. November 10, 2013
On the Vietnamese expedition Stefan and Moonhouse #2.24 made (or maybe failed to make) landfall in Ha Long Bay on November 10.
Stefan writes cryptically:
Ha Long Bay was, exactly as everything else, fantastic. The water was around 26 degrees. I have swum in a lagoon and met Mochba. Tonight I have jumped over bamboo canes to the tunes of drums and falsetto song.
Congratulations on your continuing success on the Vietnames expedition Stefan and fair winds for your coming adventures.
