26 January 2010

Cook Strait cloud

Beyond that horizon: Antarctica
My fascination with clouds and oceans, and particularly the two together, seems inexhaustible. The ferry crossing between the North and South Islands of Aotearoa can be boring, but generally only if it’s a fine, sunny day (a photographer’s nightmare). This time we encountered the marvellous combination of a near calm sea and an almost elegiac sky — the kind that hints at the dawn of time, or maybe its end.
This photo looks south soon after the Monte Stello left Queen Charlotte Sound and entered Cook Strait; the sea’s still swirling with rips and currents at this point. For a vivid account of this ferry crossing on the sister ship Santa Regina, I strongly recommend reading Tony Bridge’s post, Stories from a tin can.

All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

5 comments:

Me from Cali said...

I wonder if there is an extraterrestrial alien ship inside that cloud?

Come on, admit it. You've wondered about that sometimes.

pohanginapete said...

Ha! Nice one, Paul. But I'm not admitting anything — one never knows what's watching and listening from above. [looks around nervously ]
;^)

Batteson.Ind said...

I've often thought about what the end of time would be like and I always imagine it will be less dramatic than we're inclined to first think..
This is such a silent photo.... can't really explain it other than that! I like it a lot :-)

Zhoen said...

Moving water, sea or river, coastal wave or passing cloud, draws the eye irresistibly.

pohanginapete said...

Watercats, thanks. I suspect you're right — the end might come, as Eliot put it, not with a bang but a whimper.

Zhoen, so true. I find those things, especially moving water, hypnotic.