Aotearoa

Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand and is most often interpreted as "Land of the Long White Cloud" though this translation may be more aesthetically pleasing than technically accurate. Regardless, I have yet to see a cloudless day here, and the cloud formations are breathtaking.

We drove to Piha beach to enjoy the sunset last night despite the thunderstorms, thick rain, hail and wind. The weather here is unpredictable, or rather the prediction always says "rain" and while accurate, as it does indeed rain at some point everyday, it avoids the more difficult question: when will it rain? I am frequently soaked by the rain while the sun is shining, which drives me crazy until I look up and see clouds like this:

Speaking of fascinating and beautiful things in nature and wild sea storms, this is a blue bottle jelly fish that washed ashore at Piha with 10,000 of its friends. Isn't blue bottle a nice name? It's other name is Portuguese Man-O-War. Not such a nice name. I was happy we all wore sturdy shoes as it was hard to avoid all the little jelly fish bodies while walking along the beach. Here's hoping they found their way back home.