Photo of the day —Maunganui Pink

This time last year, more-or-less, we went on a winter campervan vacation around the Bay of Plenty and East Cape of New Zealand. Despite it being the school holidays, the campsites were almost empty which meant we had access to all the best positions‚ the ones most adjacent to the beach. This beach, Ocean Beach at Mt Maunganui, was one of the most beautiful we came across during our week-long adventure; an adventure because we had never tried out campervans before. Fantastic! Anyway, during our two days and nights at Mt Maunganui there wasn’t a cloud to be seen in the sky. One evening, having walked to a rocky promontory to view the sunset, we walked back along the beach to the warmth of our snug campervan as the light began to vanish from the sky. But as is often the case on cold, clear evenings, pink appeared as the predominant colour in the dusky palette, and on this occasion it was intense. The rocks, volcanic and interesting in their own right were, in fact, of a pinkish hue anyway; in perfect harmony with the sky. The figure paddling in the pink sea was a perfect stroke of luck, too, and makes the photo that much more interesting. It must have been an icy paddle, though.