Clouds over Cook Strait

In Wellington, spring is marked by calm and sunny weather, like yesterday, or northwest gales, like today.

I took this photo on the south coast, looking across Cook Strait towards the South Island. The sky was streaked with cloud, shaped by the fierce northwest wind. Across the Cook Strait, Mount Tapuaenuku (2280 metres) was silhouetted against the orange sky.

Cook Strait is named after the great Pacific explorer Captain James Cook, who first passed through the strait in 1769. It is one of the rougher sea passages in the world.