At dawn

The sixth of February is a day of special significance in Aotearoa New Zealand: Waitangi Day. This year, I had the opportunity to be part of celebrations and events for this national day at Waitangi. Spending the last few days in this special part of New Zealand has been an amazing experience; one of the highlights was marking the start of the day with a dawn ceremony. Not being a morning person, the fact I am saying that I actually enjoyed being up and about at 4:30am really says something. I was reminded that the dawn is a particularly incredible part of the day; as the depths of the darkness and the sparkle of the Milky Way gives over to the glow of sun on the horizon, it is a time of day where the world seems all at once full of possibility and overwhelming in its magnitude, whilst also peaceful, with the land, sea, stars, sun and sky all working together as one incredible whole. I will be sure to share some more pictures tomorrow.

View of the sun rising over the water from the Treaty Grounds, Waitangi, New Zealand (looking towards Russell)

- CIA

Photo by CIA, Waitangi, Far North, New Zealand, 6 February 2013.