Morning glory: the sun rises over Auckland

Sunrise, sunup, dawn, daybreak, cockcrow, first light, the crack of dawn, aurora, the dawning … as usual, the English language uses several different words and phrases to describe that time when the dark of night is replaced by the light of the day.

Whatever you prefer to label it, this is my favourite time of each and every day. It is a time of fresh promise and potential, a time of renewal and hope, a time of beautiful light.

Over the last couple of months, as I’ve been preparing to leave New Zealand for a new start in another country, I’ve been photographing the sunrise from the balcony of my 9th-floor apartment in central Auckland. Here are some of those images.

‘What breaks in daybreak? Is it the night? Is it the sun, cracked in two by the horizon like an egg, spilling out light?’ ~ Margaret Atwood

‘Morning glory is the best name, it always refreshes me to see it.’ ~ Henry David Thoreau

‘And even the sun / in dawn chorus sings, / a celestial melody to the earth / below.’ ~ Tjaden

‘When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.’ ~ Marcus Aurelius

‘The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.’ ~ Rumi

‘There's a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they're absolutely free. Don't miss so many of them.’ ~ Jo Walton

‘It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.’ ~ Aristotle

‘Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.’ ~ Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Auckland: a celebration in clouds

Who doesn’t like to moan about the weather? Yet, despite my initial grumblings about arriving back in Auckland to gale-force winds and driving heavy rain, its weather is one of the things I love about this maritime city.

Yesterday's weather

Perched as it is on the narrowest isthmus of the North Island – so narrow, in fact, that you can walk the 16 kilometres from coast to coast in just a few hours – Auckland enjoys a multitudinous palette of weather. Indeed, there’s a standing joke that in Auckland you can experience all four seasons in just one day. Both a rainproof jacket and sunscreen are essential at all times of the year!

Fierce tropical storms blow down from the mighty Pacific Ocean, bringing hurricane-strength winds and torrential downpours, and ice-chilled Antarctic gales blow up from the Roaring Forties, their fury funnelling north through the always wild Tasman Strait. Yet, despite being exposed to these climate extremes, Auckland’s climate is, for the most part, mild but also, invariably, damp – humid in the summer, and with frequent rain in all seasons.

The good thing about all that rain is the clouds that carry it. The clouds that light up in magnificent shades of pink, purple, orange and red at the breaking of the day and as the sun sets. The clouds that look like enormous clumps of cotton wool and can be imagined as faces or characters or scenes. The clouds that grow dark and angry and threatening then bring us the magic of lightning. And don’t even get me started on rainbows. How impoverished our lives would be without the glory of rainbows.

To show you the infinite diversity of Auckland’s weather, I have photographed the same scene – one of the views from my inner-city apartment, looking towards the extinct volcanic cone of Mt Eden – at different times of the day and the year. Inspired by yesterday's clouds, here then is my celebration of Auckland’s weather.