We were now ready to join the Manta forces and take on a diving course, Dave’s intention was to do some basic pool skills and then a fun dive in the afternoon. Helen needed to do a refresher so we were together learning and remembering the skills needed to dive later on that day.

Our instructor Thomas was an ex school teacher from Germany living the dream on the Gili’s as a dive instructor. At around lunch time Dave was sucked into doing his Open Water, why not? Thomas had explained that he’d already done most of the skills in the pool…a good salesman but we both knew it would be well worth it. For the next few days Dave was fully on board with the diving and loving it!

Helen would mix in yoga and then diving and was equally enjoying being back to a zen place with the tropical fish below. Dave took to it like a pro and was coming up with around 60-70 bar of air after an hour of diving each time, he pretty much had one to one instruction the entire time which made the videos a little more bearable! Our last dive at Mirko’s Point was in our eyes the best, the coral was so colourful and mesmerising and we saw all kinds of fish, the list would be too long to write on here! Diving with Manta was an excellent experience for us, the prices are fair and with waters as warm as in the Gili’s it’s a really great place to start. Big up to Thomas too and congrats to Dave for now being a certified Open Water diver…WOOO!

For our last few days we enjoyed some more snorkeling, reading, chilling out and yoga along with frequent gatherings with our group of Gili Air friends. For us it was like having a one week holiday, we had loads of fun and could have easily stayed another week. After 7 nights our accommodation bill was around $140 with breakfast which at Chill Out Bar was again excellent. One thing we should mention is that the bungalows we rented were owned by Chill Out, they’re not the expensive air-con one’s but they have a lot of charm in their own right.

So after one week we were finally ready to leave, in fact we had to if we were to make our flight out the next day. We said our goodbyes to our lovely group of friends and were ready for the off. The prices with Ocean Star Express was again good (although they need to sort out their baggage situation), and at Padangbai our transfer to Legian was ready and waiting. We were packed into the front of a taxi van with little room to budge and it took around 90 minutes to reach Legian. We decided to stay in Legian mainly because of its location to the airport, and we didn’t want to stay in the heart of touristy Kuta. Once we’d realised that the Three Brother’s Inn was way above our budget we found the Sri Beach Inn, nothing really to recommend here but it was a cheap room for us to get our heads down for the night and the owner helped us out with a taxi pick up at 4am to get us to the airport.

On our last night in Bali we had a stroll along the busy and popular Legian Beach which was packed with surfers, holiday makers and umbrellas! We also found time for a 2 hour massage on JI Padma Utara pretty much opposite the Warung Yogya, where we enjoyed a recommended a foot reflexology and back massage for 150,000 rupees. It was fanastic, although the little paper undies that we had to wear didn’t too much for us other than to make us laugh!

We really enjoyed our time in Bali and think the main reason for this is that we didn’t follow the tourist trail too far into the wrong places. Obviously Ubud and the Gili’s attract tourists but just not as many as in the peak season and as in Kuta and a few of the other busier areas. Perhaps hitting it before peak season is the best time to go, lower rates, less people and it’s still pretty hot!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, Sony DSC-TX5, processed in Lightroom 3)

After a surprisingly good nights sleep on the side of the dual carriageway/motorway/freeway (and no trees crashing down on our tent) we drove down the road to the local McDonald’s and BP service station. Home made breakfast in the car park, followed by a cup of coffee and some free internet at McCafe we were ready to hit the road and make our way to the Great Ocean Road which starts its coastal journey from Torquay.

To swap our defective hire car (to one with a working seat) we had to make our way to Frankston south of Melbourne which was on-route to what we had already planned so it wasn’t a huge detour. Driving through Melbourne would have taken too long, over 200km from one peninsula to the other so we opted for the ferry from Sorrento to Queenscliff. Crossing the bay by Searoad ferry cost $69AUD including two adults one way which took 45 minutes.

Driving along the Great Ocean Road we stopped several times to take in the beauty of the coastline and walk along a couple of the beaches. Sand and rock pools lie in wait and are great to explore. The road twists and turns its way along the coast dipping inland every so often through fields and hills. With the sun setting on our long driving day we arrived at the Johanna Beach Campground which is free and a great spot for a night of camping. We watched the sun set over the ocean whilst fishermen reined in their catches before a spot of cosmos viewing and shooting star spotting.

The 12 apostles are a great stop over point whilst on the Great Ocean Road, just make sure that you arrive early enough to avoid the mass of tourist buses that arrive later in the morning. There are plenty of places to pull over and explore the coastal beauty away from the main visitor centre but that is well placed with good boardwalks to see the limestone formations. Other notable features along the way are the “The Arch” and “London Bridge” which true to the nursery rhyme has indeed fallen down!

We wanted to have a few days at one campground located on a beach so decided on the Killarney Beach Camping Reserve which is a short distance from Port Fairy and the larger Warrnambool (both libraries in each town have two hours free internet). It was $17AUD per night per campsite which is great value considering the proximity to the beach and bay, a 30 second walk! The amenities are a little rough around the edges, but the showers located near the beach and BBQ area are much nicer than at the main building.

Port Fairy is a nice town to explore as well as Griffiths Island. A two hour walking track around the island gets you close to the ocean, some nice beaches, sea birds and wallabies. Back to the camping site for a BBQ and a walk along the beach before our last night in a tent for quite a while! Port Fairy will be as far as we will be going on the Great Ocean Road, our plans to drive to Adelaide have changed and tomorrow we will head to Melbourne and a stay in a family home, a comfy bed at last.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We found a really good camping spot on Mystery Bay, it’s pretty basic but for the location it’s ideal and set in a big forested area. We found ourselves a sheltered spot where we weren’t overlooked and set up the tent once again. The drive to the coast took around an hour and a half which made up for our long journey in the car the previous day. There didn’t appear to be anyone around to take payment so we decided we would head back later on to the old unkept caravan that parks outside the front of the campground.

We enjoyed a lovely afternoon on the beach, swimming, walking and just soaking it all up. This is quite a popular spot for the Aussie summer holidays but it’s not that busy in relation to other beaches on the coast. Its a pretty rough sea though so we found more sheltered spots for swimming in. Later on we enjoyed a good run up to the main road and back with a few hills thrown in for good measure. We enjoyed another night in the tent and when we left the next morning there was still no-one around for payment so we got ourselves another free night of camping!  This was followed by our usual breakfast where Dave decided to go on the swings and we ate looking out to sea.

We then drove onto Eden, it’s really touristy around this stretch of coastline, while Eden itself is much smaller than it’s neighbouring bays and does offer a quieter place to explore. We took in some of the look-outs, bought ourselves some groceries and had a little chat with the ladies in the Information Centre. We were warned not to take our car too far down gravel roads and so we opted for a little bit of beach time at Boydtown. We have heard that the coastal paths around there are beautiful but it is advised to have a 4-wheel drive.

So with lunch and a beach time done we continued on our road trip towards Lakes Entrance. It’s another 4 hours on from Eden and when we arrived we were really underwhelmed. Lakes Entrance is hyped to be one of the big stopping points along the coast from Sydney to Melbourne, but the central part of so commercial with around 40 holiday parks filling up space, a McDonalds and various other tacky shops and restaurants. We went into yet another tourist info office and this time we were greeted with some helpful hints (its not always the case) mainly for Wilsons Prom where we were aiming for the next day.

Instead if staying in Lakes Entrance itself we backtracked a little and went to a the Lake Tyers Holiday Retreat, it’s a holiday park. We’d been told that camping in central Lakes Entrance would cost over $50 for a non-powered sight and this we didn’t want, so we bargained a little and at the Lake Tyers Park they agreed to give us a spot for $40, always got to try and save where we can! So we found a nice grassy spot and then went for a dip in their crowded little pool on the campsite. It did the trick and we were then ready for our dinner followed by a nice walk along the coast to Lake Tyers where on our way back we had a little drink at the Tavern.

The next morning we were on our way to Wilsons Promontory National Park. By this point we’d rang ahead to find out about camping availability and had been informed that the very National Park Campground does hold back a few spots for international visitors. So armed with this information we set out on another 4 hour journey travelling along the A440 until arriving at Foster where we crossed down to Yanakie and then into the National Park. We arrived at around 1pm and after checking in both at the entrance to the park and the information office at Tidal River. We paid $24 for a site on a packed out campground, but they have really good facilities and are set up for the Aussie summer holidays. It’s a great spot for families etc. The park staff were really helpful in assisting us with communication necessary with the car hire company we had booked through. There was a problem with our passenger seat in that it wouldn’t lock into position so we managed to eventually arrange for us to drop into one of the Europcar offices on our way to the Great Ocean Road which wouldn’t take us too far out of the way.

After our set up and a plan in place for the car we went out on a hike to Squeaky Beach taking in some of the look-outs along the way. We were greeted by fantastic views looking back toward Tidal River and onwards toward Squeaky Beach. We realised just how beautiful this National Park is and were very happy to be exploring it. The rock-formations and colours are breath-taking and the colour of the ocean is mesmerising. We really were taken aback by the beauty of this place.

Down towards Squeaky Beach we photographed the waves crashing in, the rock-pools and mussels along the rocks whilst watching surfers taking in the big waves. The beach itself is beautiful and less busy than the one at Tidal River, it’s still a popular spot though for campers and day-trippers into the park. We were out for 3 hours or so before getting back to camp and cooking dinner over one stove which took ages as it was really windy. That night the tent stood up to some strong winds and it was really loud racing through the trees above.

The next day we opted for a half day hike from Darby Saddle to Darby River again adding in a few look-outs and detours as we went. It was much more sheltered along the coastal walk and we were once again very impressed with the views all the while. This has definitely gone up there with the National Parks of America, Canada and New Zealand. The path was pretty quiet from our end with only a few hikers to pass and some lonely boats out at sea. At Darby River we waited for the parks’ shuttle service and got a free ride back to our car. We then ventured back to Tidal River, enjoyed the sun (but not the sand blowing everywhere) along with a very refreshing dip into the cool sea. We then took advantage of our location and had a shower before making tracks towards a free camping spot for the night.

En-route to Frankston we stopped at a small town called Korumburra where we enjoyed a pizza and salad as well as taking the time to charge up our batteries! We then ventured onwards to a camping reserve along a busy section of highway at Koo-Wee-Rup. It was good enough for the night but with no toilets a little bit of a pain. One main problem for us was that it was still really windy and as we were setting the tent up some of the tree branches were creaking away. Dave raised the thought of moving in case a tree were to fall on the tent, after more creaks we decided to move to an open area of the resting ground and as we were doing so part of the tree behind us broke off and fell straight to the ground. We were definitely right to move!! The wind did die down over night though so it was only the traffic noise that continued.

Earlier on in our travels we did decide to pic up the Aussie campers bible, it’s called Camps Australia Wide 6 and lists all of the camping spots for freedom and budget conscious travellers. We seriously recommend this publication as the $60 you will spend on it will be paid for in all of the free camping spots you find. We picked ours up from one of the information centres along the way after we struggled to located some of the camping reserves from our main road map. We wish we’d have got it sooner but it still saved us money.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We left Gunns Camp after a good little exploration of their museum and grounds, it is full of quirks this place and we most definitely recommend staying here in terms of value for money and facilities. So onwards to Milford Sound it was, which was a pretty epic journey. We stopped as we passed by huge waterfalls bursting out of the rock and close to the road-side before gradually reaching the famous Homer Tunnel. Up until this point we were faced with low cloud, rain and a very grey landscape but as soon as passed through the tunnel we could see the cloud lifting on the other side. The Homer Tunnel is a good little adventure in itself, it’s narrow, dark and very much feels like it’s just been dug out of the rock. It’s one way traffic and you may have to wait a little while at either end for the red light to turn green.

On the other side we kept stopping to take more and more photos aswell as stopping at a few more landmarks along the way. We spotted a few Kea’s getting very close to people’s cars and vans in search of food as bus loads of tourists started to be shipped in. We guess this is the main downside of visiting such a place as Milford Sound…the tourists!! But if you can cope with crowds it’s beauty does manage to distract! Waterfalls come down the walls of the mountains like sheets of ice, it’s difficult to tell at firs that all the white bits on the rock are waterfalls pouring down.

We were surprised that the cloud lifted from this point on and we were faced with sunshine. We later learned that it hadn’t rained for the past 10 days which is very unusual for this area which boasts to receive around 220 days of rainfall per year! We took advantage of the good weather though and photographed from the Milford Sound pier and village. You can only go further than this point by boat.

Unfortunately for us we’d booked to stay at the Milford Sound Lodge as we were heading out at 6am the next morning for our kayak tour. The reason is was unfortunate was the cost of staying in a carpark at $36, and pay for wifi…nothing is free nowadays! Anyway it did the job and we found time to work on the blog. Later on we revisited the path leading out from the road to a reserve on the water-front, as the tide was low we were able to go quite far and did a few long exposures during sunset.

So up early the next day we were picked up by Skirts (our tour guide) from Rosco’s Kayaks, you can see why we chose that company? He was a good guy with plenty of banter and good instruction with it. Our group was made up of 8 including Skrits and it was 2 to a kayak which suited us just fine. So all donned in our thermals, water-proof gear, gloves and hats from the lost property box we were good to go. Dave steered from the back whilst Helen mumbled instructions to Dave which wasn’t heard over the waves and wind, but we managed to get out facing the current into the open water.

As it was so windy we had to raft together a few times with the most laughable part being when a cruise liner came into the Sound, passed us and came back past us again as it did a u-turn. This was a little embarrassing for us; 4 kayaks rafted together in a huge basin with a massive ship going past, but the spectators loved it.

We got as far as Sterling Falls and had to raft up again. We couldn’t go any further which was disappointing but necessary as Skrits didn’t want to risk taking us into 40-50 knot winds. He managed to entertain us as we bobbed up and down with Kiwiana tales and poems lovingly recited with some hot orange. This managed to do the trick for a while but we had around a 45 minute wait for our pick up which didn’t help as it was pretty cold out of the sun.

Eventually though we got the pick up and were taken back to where we started. This is part of the Morning Glory tour but the pick up would usually be at the end of the Milford Sound upon meeting the Tasman Sea. So we didn’t get that far but we did learn that we are pretty good kayakers together which is always nice to know. We do feel that the tour was pricey for what we got out of it at $185 each, it promised so much but just didn’t quite deliver. Still we were at the base of the mountains as they jutt over 1000 meters out of sea. That’s not bad at all. We didn’t take any photos during the kayak as we were worried about the Leica and the waves and stupidly we didn’t take our waterproof camera with us! Doh!

Afterwards we managed to get back into the hostel without having to pay a further $5 each to use the facilities and went back down the wonderful Milford Road past Te Anau and onwards to a free DOC campground at Monowai Lake. We were ready for sleep that night.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We were at the skydive office in Franz Josef nice and early only to receive the information that we wouldn’t be skydiving that morning!! We thought as much because the cloud was low! Instead of committing to a dive that day we said we would be in touch if we felt the weather was changing enough for us to warrant spending the $399 it would cost for the skydive. They also have a strict cancellation policy with 50% of the cost of a dive lost if you cancel the same day. We didn’t want to commit to that!

So we explored the glaciers at both Franz Josef and Fox Glacier Village. The Franz Josef Glacier is perhaps the more visually appealing as we had good views unto the top of the glacier area, even through broken cloud we got a good perspective on the scale of the glacier. The walk takes about 45 minutes from the carpark and we hung around at the viewing area waiting for some more clear sky so the sun could shine through. This didn’t happen so we made a move back to the van and onwards to Fox Glacier. As a village this is perhaps the prettier of the two alpine resorts, we felt it has a more relaxed pace and enjoyed our afternoon working on the blog at the Hobnail Cafe.

Later on we drove to Gillespies Beach having decided to hold off on the skydive. It’s quite a drive along a gravel track heading towards the beach from Lake Matheson, there is a DOC camping area at the end of the track very close to the pebble beach. When we got there we were one of around 5-6 campers already parked for the night and by the evening the parking area was full and more tents popped up. This is a free campground so that explains it’s popularity but it is in a very beautiful location.

Before long Uta and Oliver arrived and we shared a lovely evening meal together, this was followed with a walk out onto the pebble beach which in itself is wild and wonderful. The sunset was captivating and after a while the clouds lifted and we could see the mountain ranges ahead. It was truly wonderful! We fought off the hoards of sandflies and lit a fire alongside the ocean. Pretty poetic!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We started out early and drove to Westport to have our breakfast as there were less sand flies and a supermarket for us to stock up. Next we drove to Tauraunga Bay where we went on a 2 hour walk out to the lighthouse and back with a few stops to look at the beautiful newborn seal pups resting on the rocks. There is a historic lighthouse at the furthest point of the trail and it’s a good stop off point to stretch the legs whilst on the road to Punakaiki.

When we got to Punakaiki we decided to park the van at the Punakaiki Motor Park, they’re the only campsite located within walking distance of the rocks and we were cautious about where to park the van. After a quick check with the DOC office located at the I-site we decided to hike along one of the canyon paths for the afternoon and visit the pancake rocks later on for high tide. The hike took us through lush tropical forest along the Pororari River and ended at the swing bridge before turning around and making tracks back again. We came across kayakers on the river enjoying the few and far between rapids.

Back at camp we settled into our routine of cooking (Helen cooked a delicious curry from the Wholemeal Cafe cookbook!) and washing and after chatting to our friendly New Zealand neighbours, who offered us a sample of their whitebait fritters we walked up the road to the rocks. Punakaiki is a small place much to Dave’s surprise but it does hole a lot of charm and the shoreline heading up towards the rocks is really impressive.

At the pancake rocks it was a little on the quiet side in terms of actual blow holes taking place, however the roar of the ocean bellowing through the rocks below was impressive alone. We sat and listened to the waves crashing in whilst taking in the rare rock formations. On our way back we walked alongside the ocean and stopped to take it all in, the sea was pretty wild and we took our time.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

For the first time in New Zealand we decided to spend two nights in the same location/campsite. Not far from Napier is Eskdale Park a forest with lots of mountain biking paths to explore, all we needed was some bikes and we were ready to go. Avanti Bikes in Taradale was the best bet and at $30 per bike for half a day, good value. As it were quiet they said there was no rush to return the bikes so we loaded the van, which in itself took what felt like half a day, and drove for around 45 minutes to Eskdale.

There is not a lot of car parking space at the two entrances but it was pretty quiet so we  unloaded, donned our safety helmets and set off with map in hand. It costs $7 per person for a park permit which last for 3 weeks which is great value if you are sticking around the area. Starting with a beginner path it soon proved to be fairly challenging as the paths are very narrow with lots of pine cones, roots and tree trunks to avoid. Once more confident we tackled some intermediate class routes with the Klingon and Luge routes our combined favourites.

Felling pretty knackered and ready for lunch we returned to the van at 1pm for tuna sandwiches before returning the bikes. More food shopping followed by a return to the campsite for showers and some evening entertainment provided by Peep Show on the laptop. The sunset that ensued was pretty awe-inspiring, doomsday style.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

After our usual breakfast, with the addition of some toast, we headed from rainy Taupo to Napier on the east coast to try and get some dryer weather. The sun was shining in Napier when we arrived but the odd shower did blow through whilst we wandered around the art deco town. We decided to have some mini golf fun whilst the sun was shining and up until hole 12 it was very close scoring with Helen in the lead. Then disaster stuck with two holes taking at least 10 shots meaning Dave eventually snuck victory.

We found the Napier Photographic Gallery which exhibited some nice work from local, national and international photographers. Neither of us were quite sure about the stage at the one end of the room partitioned off for a portrait photographer with some lack-lustre images and dodgy branding. If it’s to be a gallery with a cafe, keep it simple and keep it about the art on the walls!

Looking for somewhere cheap and cheerful can be difficult sometimes so bearing that in mind we did not want to pay the Napier prices for accommodation in a holiday park. Jason’s camping and caravan guide led us to Clive and the Clive Holiday Park at $14 each per night. They had some nice facilities and the sun was indeed shining. A 15 minute drive away is The Filter Room beer and cider tasting which offers the sampling of 6 decent sized glasses for $12! Great value and the beer garden made us feel very much at home. The 14% scrumpy was our favourite so we purchased a litre bottle to make the night fly that little bit more quickly.

After cooking our evening meal we explored the camp site and walked along the river path until sunset.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We drove from west to east but the distances are never too far in this country. Although when you’re driving Po it does take a little longer! We were heading for the Coromandel Peninsula and it took around 3 hours via Auckland which was a mistake. The road signs over here a little hit and miss! We based ourselves in the Kauaerranga Valley DOC campground at Wainora. The DOC information site there is really good in fact, it seems to be newly built and contains loads of info on the area as you’d expect with the addition of some very helpful staff! We picked up an area hiking map so that we could plan a few hikes whilst on the Peninsula and went off down another gravel dirt path to the 4th campsite on the left.

When we got to the campsite which has some nice tables and fire pits around the camp areas there was one other camper on site. He’s been there for a while already and walked passed us with a freshly killed possum in hand! He just chatted to us as if everything was fairly normal and told us that the hike up was a good one, especially as the sun was out! After settling into camp we got our boots on and hiked up the Waoimu Kauri path. It starts on a fairly easy trail over bridges and streams,  and through dense forest, then come the steps. There are a lot of steps to climb and for the most part we decided to run up them, couldn’t quite manage all of them but weren’t far off.

We reached the Kauri trees after about an hour and fifteen, again big trees that stand out as a phenomenon from the forest around them. The path then continues onwards towards Crosbies Hut, it would take a further 3 hours to reach the hut but we didn’t want to go that far. So we hiked for a further hour through muddy paths, over fallen trees following the orange signs. We then turned around and made our way back to the campground. We only passed 2 other hikers on the route and back at camp no-one else joined us so it was quiet night. Dinner was good; omelette, lentils and pitta bread! Camping meals”us! We hope to get more adventurous!

The next morning we were off again, this time we were heading north. En-route we stopped at Coromandel town to find some wifi and pick up a few food items. Coromandel town is an idyllic seaside town, with a small harbour and old colonial buildings throughout. We found The Chai Teahouse in the centre of town next door to Umo. There is a lovely vibe to this little tea house, old sofas, home-baked delights and a big assortment of chai tea! We opted for the chai and took advantage of their cosiness and wifi offering. They offer the first 30 mins for free and thereafter it should e $6 per hour, we used it for 2.5 hours and only paid for the one, but we did have 2 chai teas and a soup. The staff are really friendly too.

After re-fuelling and getting our much needed blog posts online we set off for the most northern points of the peninsula. It’s quite a long drive although the distance isn’t that much mainly because the last 30km or so is on gravel roads. We stopped off at a few places along the way before eventually arriving at the DOC Port Jackson campsite, this and the previous night had cost $9 each. They have good facilities at this campground including sinks and a sheltered picnic area, plus the other folks camping were friendly locals asking us all sorts of questions and offering advice on where to go in NZ.

We took a round trip 3 hour hike along the coast-line along the Muriwai Coastal track (we notice repetition occurring in name places!). This was another blustery walk with more steps and steep sections, but once agin the views were pretty amazing this time looking out over to the Great Barrier Island. When we reached the metal plate illustrating the places that we were looking out to we turned around and took the road back to the campsite. On our way back we were stopped by staring cows on the hillside and back at camp after dinner the clouds began to clear and we took in the beautiful colours forming fro the sunset. Delicious!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We were up fairly early, enjoyed our usual breakfast; fruit, cereal and yoghurt, packed up the tent and our belongings and set off on the next part of our journey. It took around 5 hours to reach the South Rim of the Grand Canyon with a few stops along the way. Our route from Zion took us out of the north exit of Zion National Park, along the 89 and 89a to  rejoin the 89 and exit onto the 64 which took us straight towards the Grand Canyon Village. We noticed many native American stalls on the road side as we drove, of which over half were empty, a sign of the times.

Our first stop at the Canyon was along the East Rim Drive at Desert View. We had lunch and took in our first proper views of the canyon in the Watchtower, a building built to fit in with the landscape… kind of! Inside are some really interesting wall murals and to be fair the views were amazing. Moving on from Desert View we made our way to the Mather Campground where we had booked to camp for 2 nights at $18 per night.

After setting up the tent we drove out to Pipe Creek Vista and picked up the yellow shuttle bus to Yaki Point. We stayed here until the sun set, photographed, meditated and joined in with the fellow onlookers. The canyon turned from red, to yellow to blue over the course of time. On our way back we picked up some supplies for dinner at the Market Plaza and then enjoyed our first showers in 3 days!

The following morning we were up early and ready for a hike. We had looked into a few options for hikes down into the canyon and knew that making it to the canyon floor in a day and back out again was out of the question (and not advised by the rangers). So we looked at day options and chose the Hermit’s Rest trail so we could enjoy the views and hike without so many tourists. This time we drove into the village and took the red bus shuttle to Hermits Rest. The trail down is steep and we would only recommend it if you have some hiking experience. In the heat and at this time of year we were still advised to take more water and food than normal. It took around an hour and a half to reach the Santa Maria spring where we logged into the trail book, enjoyed some rest and then continued for a further mile before having lunch and making our way back up. It actually took less than we had anticipated at around 4 hours total hike but again it was steep and getting back up out of the canyon was tough. We endeavor to come back and do a 3 day hike down into the canyon floor and out again sometime in the future!!

Not satisfied with the 7′ish miles we continued to walk along the rim for a further 5 before getting back to the car in the village. This was to be our last night of camping in America, so we enjoyed more camp food, showers and an episode of Peep Show (we have been religiously watching and downloading all series since we have travelled!).

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)