The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park

Grand Canyon and Monument Valley - By Alison

We arose early and headed to the heliport to catch our copter over the Grand Canyon, South Rim. We had to be weighed in (to balance the helicopter) and I got to sit up front with the pilot! I greeted him and he asked me if it was my first time in a copter. When I replied 'yes', he said 'me too!' and my nerves were ever so momentarily rattled..

The copter ride was amazing - coming over the forest of pines and suddenly it drops away and there! Grand Canyon. It is difficult to describe how amazing this is but it was breathtaking. And I loved the helicopter ride!! I concluded it by vowing to return to Sydney and get my pilots license...he made it look so easy...! :-)

After a few different glimpses of the Canyon, we drove deeper into Navajo Indian reserve land and into Monument Valley. It was stunning. The rock formations are huge and plentiful and the Navajo have a story for each. We took a local bumpy bus ride , guided by a native Navajo Indian, through the Valley to get a closer look. It was a wonderful experience. Later that evening, we headed to Page.

Glen Canyon Dam, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park - By Cam

This morning we saw Glen Canyon Dam on the outskirts of Page and Lake Powell. The locals sometime refer to this Dam as Lake "Foul" instead however as it generates little electricity and in general they question its overall need. An interesting fact was that the planet of the Apes was filmed here before the dam was built and instead of removing the set, they just let the dam flood over the top of it!

After Glen Canyon Damn, we headed into the Morman State of Utah and toward a Western style lunch in Kanab. I really liked Kanab - it had a Western movie feel about it (likely because many westerns had been filmed there!). We also were given the opportunity to be a part of the making of a 'real' western - 'How the West was lost' ;-) Everyone on our bus was given a character to play and when directed, had to act out our scene. Cam and I were the Wagon Master and the Wagon Master's wife. Cam got to crack his whip whilst I shot at the "Indians"! It was a lot of fun.

After lunch, we made our way to the majestic Bryce Canyon, which did not disappoint. Stunning views greeted us as we were now over 8000 feet above sea level (high than Mount Kosciosko!). The air was quite thin at this altitude and some of our fellow travellers found it difficult to breathe and take in the scenic walks.

The breathtaking Bryce Canyon!

After going to several different viewpoints from Bryce Canyon, our journey then led us to the next National Park on our schedule. Zion National Park. After already seeing Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon, we weren't sure how different it could possibly be, however Zion proved to be very different, but just as spectacular as the aforementioned locations. Zion was a brilliant mix of colours and hues with trees seemingly growing out of the rocks where they would seemingly have know place being. Whilst not as deep as Grand Canyon, Zion is still a very imposing sight and our coach wound right to the bottom where we rested for a lunch break. I've got to say, I've eaten in some pretty impressive locations, but this one really took the cake!

After lunch we then made our way away from Zion and were on our way to Vegas. I must confess, I had very high expectations and everyone I had spoken to about Vegas had said it will exceed all your expectations - it surely didnt disappoint....