The Golden Hour

 Today was day 5 of lockdown and with the hours stretching in front of me and no need to taxi anyone anywhere I was able to spend the whole day in the garden. One of my favourite places to be. Woohoo!

It was quite a mild day but cloudy due to the high nor-western arch in the sky. This is a weather phenomenon we get where we live because of the geography of New Zealand. Strong nor'westerly winds from the West Coast blow and when they hit the Southern Alps mountain range down the centre of the South Island they become turbulent and cause the increase clouds to have a rolled edge which forms the typical arch we see. By the time the wind has blown across the plains to reach us it has warmed up so the temperatures are always warmer that is typical for this time of year and can make it quite pleasant to be outside. 

The high grey cloud can make the day feel quite dreary but when the end of the day comes and the sun starts to go down and drops out behind the arch of the clouds it makes the golden hour appear almost suddenly and it feels so much more magical.

Everything looked gilded and glowing - I did not need to put any filter on this photo to make it appear richer! Nature did it for me! To top off this gift from nature the starlings were gathering together for the night and it was great to just stop and watch and feel like all was right with the world for that moment.