Auckland/Queenstown/Lake Taupo, New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand.

Auckland skyline with Sky Tower and harbour cranes seen from Bastion Point, New Zealand — Auckland, New Zealand

Modern apartment living room with ocean view, Auckland — Condo Pics.

Coastal road view, Auckland, New Zealand — View from our Living room Window.

Apartment living room with ocean view, Auckland — The living room of our Auckland condo — the Hauraki Gulf right across the street.

Modern kitchen with ocean view, Auckland — The galley end of the condo, sea view included.

Apartment interior with dining area, Auckland — The dining corner — Rangitoto Island floating in the window.

Drone 360 Shot of our Condo and the Beach across the Street at low tide.

Below is a drone 360 shot of Auckland from Mission Bay.

Savage Memorial gardens and obelisk at Bastion Point, Auckland, New Zealand — Native Land Public Park down the Block.

Savage Memorial obelisk and reflecting pool at Bastion Point, Auckland, New Zealand — The Savage Memorial and its reflecting pool at Bastion Point, a short walk from the condo.

Rocky coastal beach, New Zealand — Good Fishing on the Beach in Front of the Condo.

Our Favorite Store.

On a rainy day we got creative and took a self portrait using a large wall mirror in the condo.

Are we bored yet? What do you think?

Queenstown.

I think Ruth must have forgotten to tell me about her prior LeMans racing history.

View from the helicopter cockpit on the Milford Sound tour, Queenstown, New Zealand — We booked a Helicopter tour of Milford Sound combined with a Catamaran cruise of the sound while in Queenstown. Due to my fat ass and Ruth’s thin one we got to ride shotgun.

Aerial view of autumn river valleys in the Wakatipu Basin near Queenstown, New Zealand — Lifting out of Queenstown — autumn poplars and the river gorges of the Wakatipu Basin.

Braided Dart River flowing into the head of Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand — The braided Dart River meets the head of Lake Wakatipu near Glenorchy.

Aerial of the Dart Valley with braided river and lagoons near Glenorchy, New Zealand — The Dart Valley and its lagoons far below, snow on the main divide.

Deep glacial valley in the Darran Mountains from the helicopter, New Zealand — Into the Darran Mountains — a glacial valley two thousand feet below the skids.

Helicopter parked on a glacier snowfield in the Darran Mountains, New Zealand — Our helicopter parked on the snowfield, high above Milford Sound.

Aerial view of glacier crevasses in the Darran Mountains, New Zealand — Crevasse country — the glacier splitting as it pours over the edge.

Snow-covered ridge above the clouds in the Darran Mountains, New Zealand — Riding the ridge line above a sea of cloud.

Red and white helicopter on a glacier below a sharp peak, New Zealand — Glacier landing: the chopper waits while we wander the snow.

Snow-capped peaks rising through clouds in the Darran Mountains, New Zealand — The high Darrans breaking through the cloud deck.

Dennis and Ruth standing on a glacier beside the helicopter, New Zealand — Two Californians standing on a New Zealand glacier — worth every penny.

Queenstown lakefront panorama with the Remarkables across Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand — Queenstown’s waterfront in autumn, the Remarkables standing guard across Lake Wakatipu.

We had dinner across Queenstown’s lake Wakatipu at a large farm. We got there by STEAMSHIP. A one hundred year old operating cruise ship. Its engine and other pictures are posted below.

Lake Taupo.

Huka Falls, Lake Taupo, New Zealand — Huka Falls, where the Waikato River squeezes into a torrent of glacier-blue water.

Golden autumn tree canopy at Lake Taupo, New Zealand — Autumn gold along the Taupo lakeshore.

Float plane moored off the beach at Lake Taupo, New Zealand — The lake’s float plane rides at its mooring off the Taupo beach.

Trout fishing on Lake Taupo with guide Marty, New Zealand — We went fishing on the Lake and caught 14 legal size trout. We released 4 because the 10 we kept were enormous. Our guide Marty told us our day was next level as to size and that all we missed was a trophy sized grand daddy. See video below.

Helicopter over Mount Ngauruhoe, the Mordor mountain from Lord of the Rings, Lake Taupo, New Zealand — Helicopter Ride Taupo New Zealand Mordor Mountain from Lord of the Rings

Aerial of Mount Ngauruhoe's red crater with Mount Ruapehu behind, Tongariro National Park, New Zealand — Mount Ngauruhoe — Peter Jackson’s Mount Doom — with Ruapehu looming behind.

Blue Lake and volcanic craters of the Tongariro Crossing with Mount Ngauruhoe beyond, New Zealand — The Blue Lake and the moonscape of the Tongariro Crossing, Ngauruhoe beyond.

Aerial of a hidden inner cone crater, Tongariro National Park, New Zealand — Mordor’s Hidden Inner Cone

Close aerial view of the volcanic inner cone crater, Tongariro National Park, New Zealand — Closer View of Cone

Horseshoe-shaped crater on Mount Tongariro's summit plateau, New Zealand — A horseshoe crater on Tongariro’s summit plateau.

Emerald Lakes, sulphur deposits and the hiking trail on the Tongariro Crossing, New Zealand — If you have a high quality monitor you can click to enlarge this photo and then zoom in on the obvious trail next to the lower lake and see pixelated shadows and images of numerous hikers going to Mount Mordor. It takes 9 hours to get there I am told.

Volcanic craters with Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Ruapehu in the distance, New Zealand — Craters stacked on craters, all the way to Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu.

Pale acid Crater Lake of Mount Ruapehu from the air, New Zealand — Ruapehu’s pale acid Crater Lake — beautiful, and not for swimming.

Flat-floored North Crater of Mount Tongariro with steam vents, New Zealand — The flat-floored North Crater, steam still leaking from vents on its flank.

Young pilot at the controls on the Lake Taupo flight, New Zealand — Not Sure He was Old Enough to Drive a Car but Seemed to Fly the Mosquito Pretty Well.

My lonesome best girl soldiering on after the helicopter’s engine stalled and stopped as we were taking off. The pilot remedied the situation by opening the fuel line cock and restarting the engine.