Wellington, at 41.3°S on New Zealand's North Island, has Bortle 6 city skies and access to dark country in the surrounding hills and the Wairarapa to the north-east, where Bortle 3–4 conditions are common. The Wairarapa is home to a designated Dark Sky Reserve, and at this southern latitude the aurora australis is occasionally visible over the southern horizon during strong storms. New Zealand's maritime climate brings wind and changeable weather — Wellington is famously breezy — but clear nights reveal a superb southern sky with the Magellanic Clouds and the galactic core well placed.