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!

The Three Belles by Strangefruit

One of the highlights of our trip was catching a surprise performance at the Marina Bay Sands by The Three Belles by Strangefruit.  They are a performance troupe based out of Melbourne, Australia that specialize in a fusion of theater, dance and circus tricks on 5 meter (16 ft!) flexible poles.

These ladies climb up and down on their own effortlessly--these are tall poles!  We took pictures and filmed from the second level.

 

When they get to the top, they strap their legs onto the pole.  Then they pull up their "belle" skirts.

They are standing the whole time as they perform and their level of strength is amazing--they manage to make every little movement so graceful.

Some videos (sorry for the shakiness of the 2nd one--that's B)