Cruise Holidays

People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home. – DAGOBERT D. RUNES

8 – 28 JUNE • 21 DAYS

NEW ZEALAND – LAS VEGAS two nights Las Vegas

Day 1: We depart New Zealand this afternoon bound for the State of Nevada and the exciting city of Las Vegas,
the start of our America’s mid-West, Parks, Canyons and Prairies adventure!

Day 2: Today we can explore the famous Las Vegas Strip, shop, relax by the pool and perhaps take in an evening show. The day is yours to do as you please.

LAS VEGAS – ZION & BRYCE CANYON one night Bryce Canyon

Day 3: After breakfast we depart the glittering city of Las Vegas and cross the State Line into Utah. We travel through the spectacular cliff and canyon landscape of Zion National Park, a wilderness full of the unexpected including the world’s largest arch Kolob Arch, with a span that measures 94.5m. Keep your eyes peeled for mule deer, golden eagles and the elusive mountain lion that inhabit the park. We continue on to Bryce Canyon National Park and see the delicately carved spires and etched pink cliffs that rise in brilliant colour, formed over millions of years by the forces of nature.

BRYCE CANYON – SALT LAKE CITY one night Salt Lake City

Day 4: After a leisurely breakfast we continue on our journey from Bryce Canyon to Salt Lake City, founded in 1847 by Brigham Young and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who were escaping persecution in the East and looking to set-up an independent State run by the church. Our orientation tour of the city takes in the main highlights including Temple Square, site of the famous Mormon Temple, Capitol Hill, Place Monument and the downtown area.

SALT LAKE CITY – JACKSON two nights Jackson

Day 5: Our journey today takes us north past Bear Lake and into Idaho. We trace the footsteps of the pioneers at the Oregon Trail Center in Montpelier. Step into the days of the Oregon Trail by taking a simulated Wagon Trail Adventure and experience what it was like to travel back in the 1850s. Continuing on we cross the border into Wyoming on our way to Jackson, located in the shadows of regal and imposing snow covered peaks of the Teton Range, which stand nearly 2,134 metres above the valley floor.

Day 6: Our activities today include an exciting ride on the Jackson Hole Aerial Tram to the summit of Rendezvous Mountain for a spectacular 360-degree view of Snake River Valley, Grand Teton National Park and the Gros Ventre Range in the distance. We visit the National Museum of Wildlife Art and its award-winning architecture renowned for its amazing synergy with the Jackson Hole landscape.

JACKSON – YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK two nights Yellowstone

Day 7: We spend the day discovering the awe-inspiring Grand Teton National Park with its massive mountains, pristine alpine lakes and rivers, teeming wildlife and evergreen forests. From Jenny Lake to the jagged peaks of the Teton Range, you’ll find breathtaking vistas everywhere you look. Keep on the look-out for bear, moose, elk, deer, wolves and North American buffalo which thrive here. Late afternoon we continue on to America’s first national park, Yellowstone, which was established in 1872, where we’ll find one of North America’s most famous icons Old Faithful.

Day 8: Yellowstone has 10,000 hot springs, thundering waterfalls, two thirds of the world’s geysers and endless forests. After breakfast we set-off along the parks ring-road for the day to explore many of the parks natural wonders. Firehole River, Fountain Paint Pot, Mammoth Hot springs are just three of the many colorful mud-pots and springs we’ll see throughout the park. We follow the Yellowstone River whose churning waters carved over millennia the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Photo opportunities abound and be alert for that once in a lifetime wildlife photo shot on the drive through Hayden Valley.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK – CODY – BILLINGS one night Billings

Day 9: This morning we journey through the Shoshone Canyon and Absaroka Mountains heading east to the town of Cody founded in 1896 by ‘frontiersman’ William F “Buffalo Bill” Cody. We get a glimpse into the fascinating history of the American West at the Buffalo Bill Historical Centre where you can delve into the culture of the cowboy, the role of the firearm in the early days of the West, and culture and art of the plains Indians.

BILLINGS – LITTLE BIG HORN one night Little Big Horn Ranch

Day 10: This morning enjoy stunning scenery as we cross the Big Horn Mountains and Bighorn National Forest. We follow in the tracks of Lewis and Clark, the West’s greatest explorers. Time permitting we’ll visit Pompey’s Pillar National Monument before continuing on to the ‘Little Big Horn’ where on the 25th and 26th of June 1876 General George Armstrong Custer and the 7th cavalry fought a ferocious battle against an overwhelming force comprising of warriors of the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho nations led by the famous Sioux chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. This afternoon get ready for a taste of the true Wild West and cowboy lifestyle, for we’re staying at an Old-West working dude ranch in the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains. If you wish you can join in some ranch fun with a hands-on dummy-cow branding, horse riding and saddling demonstration. Tonight we’ll enjoy a typical ranch-style dinner finishing the day under the stars ‘round a roarin' fire’.

LITTLE BIG HORN – KEYSTONE two nights Keytstone

Day 11: After a hearty breakfast we continue east to the famous land mark Devil’s Tower proclaimed by Theodore Roosevelt as America’s first national monument. The majestic Devil’s Tower rises nearly 396 metres above the Belle Fourche River in eastern Wyoming. This iconic monolith was part of the climactic scenes of the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” After exploring the area around the eroded core of this ancient volcano we continue east and cross the state border into South Dakota and on to the quaint “City of Gold” Keystone, once a gold mining boomtown.

Day 12: Today we discover more of the natural and man-made wonders of the Black Hills with a drive through stunning scenery on our way to see the presidents sculpted at Mount Rushmore. It took 400 artisans 14 years to carve the sculptures of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln into the mountain. Next we head to the famous Black hills of South Dakota. At Thunderhead Mountain, gaze in awe at the Crazy Horse Memorial. A work in progress being carved into the mountainside, the “world’s largest sculpture” honors the famous war chief of the Sioux Lakota people.

KEYSTONE – FORT LARAMIE – DENVER one night Denver

Day 13: We follow the Oregon Trail to its best known milepost Old Fort Laramie. See the fort’s living history exhibits, learn about the harsh world of the pioneer family as they fought distance, unforgiving terrain and weather to reach Oregon – and the native tribes who gave their lives trying to prevent it. We continue south bidding farewell to Wyoming as we cross the State Line into Colorado and on to the mile high city of Denver for the night.

DENVER – ARCHES NATIONAL PARK – MOAB two nights Moab

Day 14: This morning we ascend the mighty Rockies before descending to the magnificent Arches National Park. Here nature’s elements have sculptured the sandstone to create the greatest concentration of naturally formed arches in the world. Arches National Park is a kaleidoscope of geological time as you watch the light play upon the ancient multi coloured rock.

MOAB – MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK – MONUMENT VALLEY PARK – MOAB

Day 15: Today we travel to Mesa Verde (Spanish for green table) National Park which offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from 600 A.D. to 1300 A.D. Today, Mesa Verde National Park protects over 4,000 known archeological sites, including 600 multistoried cliff rock dwellings and the Cliff House, the largest cliff dwelling in the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We continue on to Monument Valley where we take a guided tour of the Mesas & Buttes with a local Navajo guide and learn a little about the Navajo culture and connection to the land. Monument Valley’s spectacular landscape has been preserved forever in classic movies such as Stage Coach, The Searchers, How the West was won, My Darling Clementine, The Lone Ranger and Forrest Gump to name a few.

MOAB – GRAND CANYON two nights Grand Canyon

Day 16: Sit back and enjoy the scenery as we traverse the Painted Desert enroute to the Grand Canyon National Park. As we draw closer to the World Heritage Site, and one of the seven Natural Wonders of the World 2 billion years of geology slowly reveals itself as the Grand Canyon panorama unfolds before your eyes. This evening watch the colours change by the minute as the sun sets on the Canyon.

GRAND CANYON

Day 17: Today is dedicated to a full day of sightseeing at the Canyon and after a leisurely breakfast we’ll set-off to see many breath taking views from vantage points all around the Canyon’s rim. There are nature trails to explore and ample opportunity for those who wish to take an optional fixed-wing or helicopter sightseeing flight to see the Canyon from above.
GRAND CANYON – LAS VEGAS one night Las Vegas

Day 18: For those who want one last chance to see the Canyon in a changing light we’ll get you up early to catch the first of the sun’s rays. After breakfast we’ll hit the road, joining famed Route 66 as we journey toward Las Vegas. We’ll make a point of stopping at some of the “old highway” hot spots and step back to a bygone era as we see those classic motels, roadside diners and gas stations in towns like Seligman and Kingman. Then it’s full speed ahead and on to the glittering lights of Las Vegas. Tonight we’ll celebrate the end of an amazing journey with a farewell dinner.

LAS VEGAS – NEW ZEALAND

Days 19–21: This morning there’s time for some last minute shopping before we bid farewell to those who are leaving us and continuing on with the next chapter in their journey. For the remainder we transfer to the airport and take home with us new found friendships, great memories and amazing images of some of the most awe inspiring natural wonders that you are ever likely to see anywhere in the world.