Sunrise and spire

Back to Auckland's environs for my morning run. A couple of late cancellations meant a later starting time than anticipated, and a bit of a lie in. It was still dark at the start of my run, and nothing took my fancy until very near the end, I was in a position to see the eastern sky, and the sunrise.

This picture was taken from the Grey Lynn ridge on the Arch Hill side looking across towards Upper Symonds Street beyond which is the spire of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Khyber Pass Road. (I note here that few locals add the 'Road"; we normally refer to it merely as Khyber Pass.) The photo is the third I took and the full orb of the sun is above the horizon here, albeit with a band of cloud across the middle.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has become the base for the Anglican Maori Mission, and houses Taitai Hono Marae, a facility for groups as diverse as Maori or Pacifica cultural groups and corporate conferences. A carved verandah has been added to distinguish the building as a Maori cultural centre.

The present large wooden church was consecrated in 1882. The first church of this name was a temporary building erected in 1865 on land purchased by Bishop Selwyn adjacent to the cemetery, where I recently blipped a headstone. This larger church was needed because of the population growth. During the 20th century with changes in where people resided and decreased church attendance, the size of the congregation fell markedly until the transfer from being a parish church to the church for the Anglican Maori Mission.

From this distance, the spire appears sharp