Today was literally a mind-blowing day! After a 6am breakfast, we were picked up by two tour guides, Tracy and Han, from Detours American West who took us from the desert landscape of Phoenix to the Colorado Plateau, 7000 foot above sea level, equivalent to the altitude of Mt Kosciusko. Upon reaching our destination, we were guided in single file and directed to look down at the shoes of the person in front of them. We reached a point where we were directed to face to our left, see this link. We were then instructed to turn around and we were just blown away by the grandeur of the Grand Canyon. As well as walking along the South Rim we also had the opportunity of hiking down the Bright Angel Trail, where we took the opportunity to film some Shout-Outs for our sponsors. Local squirrels were an added interest in our Grand Canyon photos and they made great companions, especially when food was around.
Leaving the Grand Canyon at 2:30pm, we then had another jaw-dropping experience passing through the Oak Creek Canyon on the way to the red rocks of Sedona. Every corner revealed a new vista of remarkable rock landforms, emerging from dense green pine forests. No set of pictures can capture the variety of landscapes we saw, finishing up with the famous red rocks of Sedona, providing many more group shot opportunities. Our tour guides Tracy and Han, were really wrapped with our tour-guide koalas that we gifted them with, for giving us such a wonderful day.
Our day finished with a very nice meal for our very large AUSSEF and NZ delegation in our hotel restaurant.
Each day we are uploading photos and videos onto our 2026 ISEF Supporters/Sponsors Photo and Video Gallery and sponsors are welcome to use these photos and videos for promotional purposes. You will find a large collection of today’s photos in the 8th May – Friday folder.