USA
National Parks of Southwest USA by Juliet Davis (on sabbatical from Oct ’20)
The tour operator I travelled with, Grand American Adventures, describes this part of America: ‘With its desert lands and wide stretching prairies, you can lose yourself in the immensity of Southwest America. Anyone wishing for endless blue skies with the occasional little fluffy cloud will be in their absolute element.… Read the rest
A fab four days in San Francisco by Juliet Davis (on sabbatical from Oct ’20)
This city has been on my to do list for years now and even with great expectations it still blew me away and I really didn’t want to leave! Quite easily the friendliest American city I have ever been to with a very laidback and relaxed vibe, fantastic food options… Read the rest
Exploring Portland and the Oregon Coast by Ian Collier
The Pacific Northwest is very ‘hot’ for Kiwi travellers at the moment. In 2016, I’d enjoyed visiting Vancouver and the Canadian Rockies, Alaska’s inside passage and the Californian coast. As we now have many clients keen to self-drive this region, my partner and I decided to return in August 2017… Read the rest
American Airlines to fly direct from Christchurch direct to the USA
The American South – Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana
A trip through the South is like travelling through a cultural history of America. So many famous place names and events and a very different world to the North…. The first thing you notice about Memphis ( if you can do anything but think about Elvis) is that even though… Read the rest
Miami
Miami is everything you expect. It is bright, brash, colourful, great fun and HOT! You need to stay in South Beach to take advantage of the true lifestyle that people move here from all over America for. The sun is always shining and the beach goes on for miles and… Read the rest
Nashville
Nashville has a vibrant, well off, buzzing kind of energy. In the past it has been a country music pilgrimage destination but it has become newly fashionable and is attracting new people from all over with new and exciting events, places and buildings popping up everywhere. I went for the… Read the rest
New York, New York… by Ian Collier
I only had 5 nights to ‘do’ NYC so I invented a machine that slows down time. If you don’t have one of these, the same effect can be achieved by buying a map & a subway pass, utilising every spare second of the day and not sleeping very much.… Read the rest
And We’re Walking, Washington DC by Ian Collier
Well, when you’re on a coach tour, you certainly can’t complain about not maximising the limited time available! Yesterday, we managed to squeeze pretty much every memorial in DC (Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, WW2, Korean, Vietnam, Holocaust) plus the White House, Capitol, popped across the Potomac to Arlington National Cemetary &… Read the rest