New Zealand : Wellington Daybreak from Mount Victoria
Before visiting the South Island for the first time, I spent a week with friends in Wellington, New Zealand at the beginning of July 2012. I didn’t have my own set of wheels, but I didn’t need a car in a compact city that is easy to cover on foot. If necessary, the buses work well to reach most destinations in greater Wellington.
The winter weather had been beautiful and relatively calm, which I thought was a little unusual for winter in “windy Welly”. But I was definitely not one to complain, and before leaving Wellington, I wanted to watch the sunrise from the summit of Mount Victoria.
At a height of about 200 metres or 660 feet, Mount Victoria (Tangi Te Keo in Maori) may be more like a hill, but it’s tall enough to get a great view of the city and the harbour. Wellington harbour is also known as Port Nicholson, and Te Whanganui a Tara in Maori.
I caught the first buses of the day: what would I see? Would the skies be clear? I was the sole person to alight the bus at the summit, just minutes before sunrise. There’s something to be said to be the only person at the summit to welcome the brand new day.
Sunrise
CBD at sunrise
Te Whanganui-a-Tara
1st ferry out
Miramar peninsula (Whataitai)
Morning ferry to Picton
Illuminated Pouwhenua (MΔori land post), Admiral Byrd memorial at lower-left, Interislander Ferry – 12 July 2012.
Admiral Byrd memorial, pointing south to Antarctica
To the northeast
I made the photos above on 12 July 2012. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-2ck.
Fotoeins Fotografie 
15 Responses to “New Zealand : Wellington Daybreak from Mount Victoria”
Beautiful pictures! I can see why you liked it so much.
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Thanks, Deb! New Zealand really is a beautiful country: I miss it lots! If you haven’t visited yet, I hope you go soon!
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Loving your New Zealand stuff. I spent a month there earlier this year and was touched by the place everyday.
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Hi, Erik. I spent a month there, too, and I think you’d also agree a month in New Zealand isn’t enough time. π Thanks for reading and your kind comments!
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The sun shot with the droplets is striking. Very clever!
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Hi, Kathryn. Sometimes it’s good to be lucky, and that I was thinking about this shot just as the sun rose above the mountains in the background. Thank you for reading and for your comment!
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[…] on the first buses of the day, just to arrive on a hill to watch the sunrise. And so it was, with daybreak under clear skies at Mount Victoria in Wellington: crisp, beautiful, and worth the effort of waking up and getting out of a warm bed on a […]
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its so much awesome….
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Thank you, ARK! I think it’s good to be lucky sometimes to able to get those kinds of shots. π
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[…] harbour • click here for my Interislander ferry trip across Cook Strait β’ Β click here for a beaut of a sunrise over […]
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[…] Wellington Harbour (Te Whanganui a Tara), from Mount Victoria at sunrise […]
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[…] First light on Te Whanganui a Tara: Wellington, New Zealand – 12 July 2012. […]
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[…] Bluebridge ferry leaves from Picton: from Mount Victoria at sunrise (HL). […]
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[…] Winter sunrise from Mount Victoria (Tangi Te Keo) – 12 Jul 2012 (450D). […]
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[…] Bluebridge ferry leaves from Picton: from Mount Victoria at sunrise (HL). […]
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