Sunrise

Sunrise


I am not a morning person. 

It's not really by choice, I physically cannot function before 8 AM. Often, I'll get really sick in the early mornings, but by the time noon rolls around, I'll be perfectly fine. 

So it shouldn't surprise you that I don't see sunrises. I don't really believe in them. Besides, I grew up in Colorado, where the sunsets are spectacular as the sun goes to bed behind the jagged Rocky Mountains and sets the sky on fire behind their silhouettes. Why wake up at 5 AM to see a subpar sunrise when I can just look out my window at dinnertime to see that?

But when you're in Bay of Islands with the most beautiful beaches in the world for just one night, sunrises are mandatory. 

I got myself out of bed around 3:30 with a pretty rough sickness, (it's like my body knew I was going to make it get up too early and jumped the gun on me,) but when dawn broke, it's like everything wrong vanished with the night. We raced on a beachside road to find the best place to catch the sunrise. 

We chased the sun, desperate to get to the perfect spot before the sun broke over the horizon. 

Emerald green grass whispered in the morning breeze as we tumbled out of the rental van and ran across the wet sand in the low tide. The sky was a soft purple, that in-between color of a slowly awakening world. 

We waited patiently, wrapped in blankets, hands in pockets. 

And then the sun came up. 

First, the clouds resting over the horizon were tinted at the edges with a vibrant pink. Then the center of the horizon began to glow with soft yellow rays. Then the place just above the islands in the distance was bathed in a harsh ball of light. 

The light bounced off of the glittering ocean and spread across the glassy sand until it reached us and stretched elongated shadows behind us.

And when the sun rose completely, we were speechless at its beauty. 







Torn between the longing to run, laugh and cry in the magic of the morning, and the desire to capture every second on camera, we lingered on the beach for hours until the sun was well and truly up in the air. 


When we loaded back into the van, our grins were frozen on our cold cheeks. The sunlight was still glittering in our eyes. We didn't have to say anything to know that we had just experienced the most beautiful morning of our lives. 

It's a bittersweet feeling, knowing I'd probably never see something so magical ever again. 

Then again, maybe I've been converted to sunrises after all. 

Auckland, New Zealand


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