Nick and Mel

Oh Mex-i-co! We were very excited about this trip to Rocky Point with a huge group of friends! Nick and I (along with Lucas and Amy obviously) were on the road by 8.30am. It took us 3-4 hours to make it south of the border, were we were waived into Mexico without even a glance at our passports!! A real contrast to the high tec American border control just meters away. As soon as you drive over the border you notice the difference, obviously not a lot of money there! The most amusing thing was undoubtably the road signs in Mexico on the way to rocky point. There was sign after sign warning you to watch out for different animals. After a while we were wondering if it was a joke of some sort - really ... read more

Sedona Sky Harbor Airport is HUGE, as we found out on the Thursday night when we went to collect Lyn and Jeremy!! Eventually we found the right place to meet them and were greeted with hugs and gifts of NZ food!!! (Cant survive for long without the vogals and light ‘n’ tasty!) The Arizona monsoon season did its thing with a small electrical storm as we drove North. After a 2 hour drive we were in Sedona. We had chosen to stay here rather than Phoenix as Sedona is far prettier (it is known as one of the prettiest spots in the state). A couple of months back we had driven through Sedona on our way into Phoenix but couldnt stay and look around as there was no where to park with the trailer! So we ... read more

We went to Biosphere 2 just a little way out of Tucson. Many of you will remember this failed science experiment from the 1990s, where 8 people were housed in a huge structure completely cut off from earth. The goal was to make them completely self sufficient inside a ‘biosphere’ that mimicked earth (for example they had their own ‘ocean’ and ‘desert’). It was to be a step closer to life in space. To cut a long scientific story short the project failed - twice, it has been a research centre and is now a tourist spot. It was fascinating to hear about all the work that went into it. While in Tucson we also went to a little Mexican restaurant called Mi Nidito which President Clinton had visited. They proudly displayed photos of him and ... read more

Grand Canyon From Tuba it was on to the Grand Canyon! As we drove into the canyon there were heaps of scenic points to stop and look. It was 28oC (at 11am) but got much much hotter as the day wore on. One of the first gift shops we came across had a brick tower next to it. You could walk up the narrow winding staircase (about 4-5 stories) and get a great view out over the canyon. The whole interior was covered in Native American artwork walls and ceiling. We found our campsite and hid away from the sun for a while, later we ventured out to see the visitors centre and a couple more gift shops (that sold every type of souviner you can imagine!). We had planned to go to a Star Watch ... read more

Colorado to Arizona Silverton was our next stop, but on the way we drove past the Red Mountains, the sight of a booming mining region in days gone by. Our photos do not do it justice, the rock was a far more intence red, a beautiful contrast to the white snow. Silverton was another beautiful little town with the smallest church I had ever seen! We drove down the main street and had a look but didn't stay long. Then we drove on to Durrango where we stopped for lunch. We drove from there on to Mesa Verde National Park. At Mesa Verde we saw amazing Native American Indian ruins. The most spectacular being the Cliff Palace where the native people set up a series of buildings on a ledge within the canyon. (After all a ... read more