Glorious morning - amazing sunrise - gale wind

Couldn't sleep, got up about 5, looked out the window and thought - There's going to be a sunrise! On with clothes, down with toast, grab camera and off.  Luckily we only live 10 minutes from the beach at that time of day. The sunrise was amazing - but the wind was terrible, at times it was hard to stand, and I was trying to keep the camera out of the blown sand and spray. This is the New Brighton pier. Have added an extra without the pier because I couldn't decide which one I liked best!

The sun didn't really come up, there was cloud on the horizon, but it lit the clouds beautifully.