Aotearoa translates to land of the long white cloud, so if our country doesn't host competitions like 'Cloud of the year' then I don't know who will!
Every week nation's trusty weather service MetService shares a photo of their 'Cloud of the week' . This photo is chosen from all the photos that they recieve on daily from across the country.
MetService has revealed the top four finalists, and now it's all up to Kiwis to choose which photo will be crowned as the winner for this year's 'Cloud of the Year' - it's tough!
"MetService staff have whittled down all the submissions to these top-4 images (that was mighty tough!), and now its up to you to select your favourite!" MetService wrote on Facebook.
At first it felt like it would be easy to just vote for one. But nope, they have made it tough by selecting some really strong entries!
The first photo is of a beautiful stratocumulus cloud captured at Piha beach. The photo was captured by Natalia Teller.
The second photo is stunning with the sun either setting or rising, and the clouds are perfectly below and in between the clouds making it look just stunning. This photo was captured by Suzy Bevins.
But apparently, this particular photo is controversial.
"This one was highly controversial in the office actually. Big discussion about whether this actually belonged in the cloud of the year competition" Angus Hines from MetService told The Project NZ.
The third photo is just a really great capture of the cloud shaped like a flying bird. The photo was captured by Rob Vaz.
The fourth photo is another gorgeous one with clouds draping around the Taranaki maunga along with a halo-like cloud on top. The photo was captured by Suzu Bevins.
If you've already found your favourite among the four, go ahead and vote for it on MetService's Facebook post.
