The first time I visited Auckland, New Zealand, was in 2002. My daughter and I took a nearly 3 week trip to Australia and New Zealand and we had a tremendous amount of fun. We snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef, climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, skydived in Queenstown, rappelled into caves near Waitomo and climbed behind waterfalls back to sunshine. And many other things. Our trip ended in Auckland and we flew home after spending only about a day in the pretty city.
In 2018 I returned to Auckland, and spent a few days discovering the city before I picked up the ship to sail a segment of the world cruise that year. Auckland is a beautiful, albeit expensive, city, and there is lots to do and see. It has wonderful museums and beautiful green spaces, not to mention lots of water surrounding it.
So what does one do when provided the opportunity to visit again?
Well, why not fly over the area?
That's exactly what my friend Mieke and I decided to do. We had 2 full days to spend in Auckland, and we thought spending half of one of those days airborne would be "just the ticket." The weather that morning was slightly overcast, but there were hints of blue sky and sunshine in the forecast. We normally would have taken a seaplane for this little adventure, but unfortunately the seaplane company's pilot had suffered a heart attack and was recuperating, unable to fly anytime soon. The company offered us an alternative flight in a Cessna (with another pilot), rather than a seaplane. So we went with that. And we weren't disappointed.
It was a tiny little plane - ack! Barely room for 3 normal sized people. Snort and I sat in front next to Mike, our pilot, and Mieke sat in the back. And off we went! The trip lasted about 45 minutes take-off to landing. We flew over the countryside from the little airport, towards the downtown area of Auckland, over the harbour, and out to the large volcano island called Rangitoto. Did you know that Auckland is built on a volcano field? Yep. Over 50 volcanoes make up the hills and valleys all around the area. Of course, these are no longer active. But since they are all magma volcanoes, the magma still flows under the surface and who knows when a new volcano may form.......
Mr. Mike, our pilot. He is a big tall guy!
Snort is acting as co-pilot.
Sitting in the front seat of the plane, I thought I would be able to get some great photos out the front window, however, what my naked eye couldn't see, my iPhone did......a propeller!!!
There's our ship, the Amsterdam, below!!!
Evidence of a volcano, below.
Another view of the Amsterdam
Rangitoto in the distance
One of my favorite overall shots of Auckland. The city and sky tower and bay in the distance, and Mt. Eden, below. 
After our flight, we were dropped off back in the downtown area and we spent some time visiting a couple of cathedrals, then did some shopping. I found a Skechers store and purchased a new pair of shoes, and we had a nice snack with hot coffees at a little cafe.
First signs of things to come........
The churches we visited were St. Matthews In The City, and St. Patrick's Cathedral. I loved the gothic design of St. Patrick's and the wood beams in St. Matthew's
I could not, in good conscience, pass up taking a picture of this luscious creature. He was posing in the window of a Nespresso store.
A pretty double rainbow as the ship sailed into the night.........
Stay tuned for more Pig Tales!!!
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