And for our last day in Vegas...

So yesterday we did 'exhilarating' and today we did 'spectacular'.  At a revoltingly early hour we got our wake up call so that we could be picked up at 5:50am to be delivered at the airport for our Grand Canyon helicopter trip.  We found out when we got there that the river ride part of the trip had been cancelled as there had recently been a flash flood that took out the jetty.  Initial disappointment disappeared he moment we were off though - any small part of the trip would have been worth the early wake up.

We flew over Hoover Dam and dropped into the bottom of the canyon for a quick stop, before back on the helicopter for a quick ride to the airport at the top of the west ridge.  There were 3 stops on the ridge with a bus that ran between them in a loop.  the first was the "Huluapai Ranch".  If you ever come here, skip that stop.  It was completely naff, so bad we didn't even take any pictures, although the Asian tourists seemed to love it - so I guess we just weren't te demographic.  It made us nervous that the rest would also be disappointing - but Oh. My. Goodness!!

The next stop is Eagle Point, where the skywalk is.  You get off the bus and the edge is right there .  I mean - right there!  No fences, no path, nobarrier at all between you and 4000 feet straight to the bottom.  Not even any signs of warning.  We could not believe it.  In the helicopter we had to wear flotation devices in the unlikely event that we would have to crash land in the water, yet at Eagle Point there is not even a sign that says "Yes, this really is the EDGE!". perhaps not

Brett did the skywalk, but defo not for me so I sat close to the edge and got some shots of him up there.  We got quite brave though - although quite as casual as we are pretending to be in the photos lol.

The final stop is Guano point, where again no fence, but at least the odd sign.  From here you can see the helicopters coming into the canyon - below you!  We completely lost track of time so missed the bus that would have given us plenty of time to get back, so ended up running like mad once we got back to the airport - no mean feat in the heat, but we made it.  On the way back we were up front in the helicopter - way cool.  Normally you can't change seats as the computer figures out the best balance, but it seems that each of the pairs of people made up a similar weight, so we all got a go - yay.  Most of the photos are on my camera and the cable isn't working, so we will have to wait to check them out until after we are home.

We wandered again this afternoon and then got ready for O, which was here in the Bellagio.  Another mouth gaping experience, so enthralling that the hour and a half show seemed more like 20 minutes. We felt it only right that we finish off our Las Vegas experience in style so, especially as we had only time for a pretzel-dog and a Lobsticle (which is a lobster tail battered on a stick like a NZ hotdog), we had martinis and caviar with a cheese plate in the piano bar.  A final bit of fountain gazing from our room and it's all over.

The whole thing has been incredibly difficult to get our heads around, like being in a movie - certainly a long, long way from real life.  It has been full-on too, so we are looking forward to getting to Hawaii tomorrow to see everyone and get some well needed R & R.  Farewell vegas, you are a wild and crazy town, but we have had a blast here - and not even done a cent of gambling!