Kaikoura Skies: A natural fireworks show!

During my 2009 visit to the South Island of New Zealand I had the great pleasure to spend time in the fishing town of Kaikoura on the northeast coast. Kaikoura is a very unique place in the world as it has vistas of the ocean and snow capped mountains from the shore. During my short visit there I was able to see sperm whales, huge "crayfish" (what we in the United States call spiny lobsters), fur seals, and some of the most amazing dawn & dusk skies I've ever seen!

As part of the Skywatch Friday and Scenic Sunday memes, I'm sharing two of my favorites image from Kaikoura.

The first image is a dawn image looking out toward the Pacific Ocean from the rocky beach.

Kaikoura Dawn

The second image comes from the same beach and is a shot that I had missed the previous morning so I set up to get it at just the right moment as the sun burst above the horizon and between the craggy rocks.

Starburst

Click in either image to see it in the original gallery

SUNBURST

SUNBURST!

This week's Photo of the Week was a runaway winner with more than double the views of any other Blue Lion Photo. I took this photo at just after dawn on the second to last day I was in New Zealand. We were in the beautifully quaint fishing village of Kaikoura on the NE coast of the South Island. We had visited the same site the morning before and I saw the potential for this shot as the sun rose over the jagged rocks at the shore, but I had missed the timing. Determined not to get skunked twice on the shot, we returned the following morning and were treated to a great predawn color show as the rising sun colored the clouds magnificently. Once the sun was partially above the horizon, I took my spot and waited for the magical moment when I could get capture the sunburst view you see here. amazingly enough, the sun remained in the critical position for less than a minute. Timing is indeed everything!

Click in the image to see a higher resolution version

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Cheers!

John