The views

After going through pictures from two iPhones, one Canon Powershot and a Nikon D3100, I am exhausted and ready to throw in the towel.  However, I've been not so subtly reminded that I'm overdue in posting trip pictures so I give you a quick look at the amazing and diverse views we saw over the 3 week period of our vacation.

At the beginning of the trip, we flew to LA and spent the day there, exploring Warner Brothers Studios and Santa Monica.  The weather was lovely and the pier was lively.

I've posted many pictures of Singapore before.  This time, we explored somewhere I had not visited in a while--Little India.   There were an abundance of gold jewelry shops, beautiful silks and embroidered fabrics and smells of incense and jasmine.

On to Auckland, where the Sky Tower is in view just about anywhere you go in the city

View of the harbor from our hotel room 

We spent a few days driving the north island to Lake Taupo.  Here's an awesome sheep building in one of the sleepy towns we passed.

We went on a geothermal walk exploring Craters of the Moon (we've got some great video of the mud pools and sulphurous steam pouring out of the earth)

We also visited Huka Falls--the water was the clearest blue I've ever seen

On our way home, the view from the Qantas lounge with the city of Sydney in the background

And my super luxurious seat on the plane--an Airbus 380!

Almost back to normal

(Image credit)

We've been back from vacation for about a week now and the worst of the jet lag is over.  The unpacking is about complete and we're back to our usual schedule.  I do have a whole lot of trip pictures to share but have been dreading sorting and organizing them all.  Digital cameras are great and all but they tend to make me trigger happy.  So I'll get to it...just after one quick nap...

New Zealand

Our first glimpse of New Zealand

A nice welcome! (Sky tower in the background)

Travel

A happy coincidence that my vintage travel calendar was for Qantas Airways this month. It's our first trip on Qantas and we are super excited!