Best sunset I have ever seen

You've seen those sunsets that pop
with colors that would make your eyes widen,
your heart swell, your soul take flight.
​
This was one of them.
But this was the best of them.

I've seen my fair share of stunning sunsets.
Whether it's sunset over Uluru, or sunsets in the tropical Islands.
And I'm not even a sunset person.
But the one we saw on top of pa site looking over ANZAC Bay was somethin' else.

You'd have the open sea on one side,
the channel where the great Matakana Island sits on another side,
ANZAC Bay and all that rolling mountain range linking one region to the next in Bay of Plenty straight ahead,
and also an expansive distant view of Waihi beach on the other side.
​
First of all, it didn't start with a bang.
The sky was grey...

We stayed at Naxos for our final nights - at no. 16 of Seaforth Road.
Though the sunrise was beautiful every morning regardless of the weather,
and the view was breathtaking from on top of the mountain,
The full day ahead was actually dull and quiet,
​full of that gloom-and-doom of Wellington weather.

The evening we saw this amazing sunset,
The temperature had dropped,
it felt like summer had truly left us and we had entered into autumn at last.

There was initially that long line of soft orange below the clouds,
it did not feel like a hint of what was to come in any shape or form.
​
But the moment I noticed the hills were beginning to reflect the pink and red of sunlight on all the trees,
that was when I realised - something amazing was about to be put on show:
"Sunset!!"
I pointed at the lookout point and we RUSHED uphill!

The sky was soaked with pink and purple.
What is captured on the phone camera is not exaggerated saturation,
it really was this purple.
Rich, and unhindered.
You wouldn't even remember that there was a whole day of gloom before this.

Then it got red, and more and more red.
Finally it was orange. Deep blood orange.
Burning into our eyes and into my memory...

I cannot think of any other sunset that I have had the good fortune to view, 
and with a 360 degree panoramic full-frame full-scale full-strength atmosphere  like this one here at my favourite part of Te Ika Maui.
​Bowentown, you've truly topped it all.