Daily Photo – Dunedin Before Dawn

I was up early as a special kind of calm settled over Dunedin, just before sunrise. The city hadn’t quite woken up. The streets were mostly empty, the air sharp, and the lights glowed against a soft violet sky. It was that minute, that hour, that moment when night hadn’t entirely let go, and day hadn’t quite begun.

Down the main street, baristas, bakers, couriers, and delivery vans were starting to stir, streaks of light cutting through the not-yet-congested roads – but the alleyways remained silent. The rest of the city slumbered behind the darkened windows of the grand old buildings which watched in silence, their stone façades catching the faint promise of dawn.

In a city known for its energy and eccentricity, there was a quiet beauty. It was almost as if the city itself paused to breathe, waiting for the first light to spill over the hills and touch its buildings. And for a brief second, the city dreamed.