Before I set off on my North Atlantic trip last year, I entered some prints and digital images in the Australian Photographic Society Interstate Competition. To my great surprise, when I returned I found I had been awarded overall best image and won a Photographic trip for two to New York, sponsored by UDesign Photo Tours. I swapped that (with some adjustment) for Southwest Canyonlands and went on the trip with my partner Jools (or Julie). This is the image that won me the trip:
Michael Hardy at Canberra Blues Society Xmas Party, 2011
Here is the itinerary, with links to completed posts:
19 October Fly from Canberra to Las Vegas, Nevada.
20 October Helicopter ride over Hoover Dam, Colorado River and Grand Canyon West. Back to Las Vegas. Neon Graveyard Museum at night.
- Grand Canyon by Helicopter
- Grand Canyon by Helicopter (IR)
- Grand Canyon by Helicopter (Mono)
- Hoover Dam
- Neon Graveyard
- Las Vegas by Night
21 October Zion National Park (staying at Springdale, Utah).
22 October Zion National Park
23 October Zion National Park to Bryce Canyon National Park (staying at Tropic, Utah).
24 October Bryce Canyon National Park to Capitol Reef National Park (staying in Torrey, Utah or Hanksville, Utah).
25 October Factory Butte to Arches National Park (staying in Moab, Utah).
26 October Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park.
27 October From Moab via Newspaper Rock petroglyph site to Monument Valley (staying in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park).
28 October Monument Valley to Page Arizona.
29 October Antelope Canyon to Grand Canyon. (Jools leaves for a conference in Orlando, Florida)
30 to 31 October South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.
- Grand Canyon Sunrise
- Grand Canyon Walk
- Grand Canyon Sunset
- Grand Canyon (IR)
- Grand Canyon Monochromes
1 November Grand Canyon National Park to Flagstaff Arizona. I pick up rental car from airport and drive to Phoenix Arizona via Sedona.
2 November Fly Phoenix Arizona to New Orleans (and meet up with Jools at the airport) 2 November to 12 November New Orleans
- Royal St
- Besthoff Sculpture Garden
- Mem Shannon
- Marigny to Audubon
- Houses of the French Quarter
- Troy Turner
- Ed Wills and Blues 4 Sale
- Jeff Chaz
- Another Day in Paradise
- NOMA – New Orleans Museum of Art
- New Orleans Botanical Garden
- Dukes of Dixieland
- Some Further New Orleans Bands
- Willie Lockett & the Blues Crewe
- Interstellar Transmissions
- Garden District
- Smoky Grenwell Band and Pentones
- St Louis Cemetery No 1
- Bourbon Street, Saturday night
- Louisiana Music Museum (Old New Orleans Mint)
- Algiers Point
- Arts District
- G String Orchestra
- Marigny Cars & Drain Covers
- In the Bayou
- Louisiana Bayou IR 1
- Bayou Village
- Louisiana Bayou IR 2
- Street Monos 1
- Street Monos 2
- Live Music Monos 1
- Live Music Monos 2
- Bayou Monos
- Queen Mary
12 November Return flight to Canberra, arriving 14 November due to time zone curiosities.
Here is the Canyonlands route, from Las Vegas to Phoenix (click for larger size)
. According to my usual method, I made some temporary posts during the trip, essentially images only.
Murray Foote 
Yikes!!! Great picture. Congratulations. And that trip makes me so darn jealous.
I am originally from Southern Utah, and I have been to those places many years ago. You are going to have so much fun.
I am excited as I look forward to the images you are going to post.
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Thanks very much John. I haven’t got to focus on it much yet. I’ve been too preoccupied recently with commitments and logistics but only a few days and we’ll be there!
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Congratulations on the award – I can see why, as it is a superb image.
Enjoy your travels.
David.
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Thanks very much David.
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Great image Murray, and congratulations, both on the well deserved win, and the great prize, now all the better for your adjustments, fantastic prize, in fact, although I too, am fiercely jealous! Looking forward to those new images and posts. – Arran.
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Thanks heaps, Arran. Just found this comment that you posted just before I left. The Canyonlands were amazing and the pace was hectic and we packed a lot in. New Orleans was great, too. We were staying two blocks from the heart of the music in Frenchmen St where there would have been six bands or more playing day or night.
As you may have noticed, I put up five temporary posts and have just put up the first permanent post.
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Have a wonderful trip. You are certainly coming at the right time of year, it’s just starting to cool off nicely in the desert.
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Thanks very much Jeni – and that’s good to hear.
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Congratulations! Excellent portrait, excellent prize…
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Murray and Jools this is a fantastic journey. I would do this trip again in a heartbeat but i would want six months as their is so many unbelivable photo moments. Have a great trip and i so look forward to see your landscapes. Sunset as you leave Zion Park via( I think) the east end will put you in meltdown!
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Hi Ruth
I think it’s always like that whenever you go anywhere special. You could always do with lots more time. We’ll just have to make the most of what we have.
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The Michael Hardy sepia is a beauty. I see you have Blues as a category. I have a blues CD you might like. You can hear most popular tracks online—Deep Down, You Save Me. Love Leave Me is on youtube. Best.
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Thanks Hattie. I could try to find those tracks online but I have my PC back and haven’t got the sound working at the moment and also not much time until I go.
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A well deserved award I recon, congratulations! What a wonderful prize you got, sounds like a fabulous trip!
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Thanks very much, Fredrik. All systems go at the moment. Not much time to post.
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Absolutely love the photo. Great work. Lived in Southern Utah and have spent lots of time visiting the places you will see, each one so different and extraordinarily different. I wasn’t much into photography then as I am now, lots of opportunities missed. But I know you will feel like a kid in a candy store. So much to see and so little time to do it all. Have fun, look forward to seeing the photos you take.
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Thanks very much Steve.
“So much to see and so little time to do it all” indeed. A frenetic pace and no time to post until now that I am in New Orleans. Certainly saw some amazing places though.
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I can imagine. I’ve never been to New Orleans, but the rest of the places on your itinerary I’ve been to, beautiful country.
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[…] South-West Canyonlands and New Orleans (2014) […]
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[…] South-west Canyonlands and New Orleans (2014) […]
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[…] From Sedona I flew to New Orleans where we were to stay for ten days. I’m expecting around thirty posts on New Orleans to follow this one and they are listed in the Canyonlands/ New Orleans Itinerary. […]
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