Catherine Mesina
Union City, CA
Once more, an intent desire to visit another country inspired me to travel. Hence I decided to visit the Land Down Under. Do you know what country I am referring to and where it is? Of course, most of you do. But please permit me to answer the questions for the sake of those who are still uninformed about the topic for consideration. I visited Australia, an is land, a country and a continent. It is located in the southern hemisphere.
My nephew, Cody, and I enplaned for Australia at 7:00 o’clock in the evening of Wednesday, August 19, 2009. Our flight lasted for fourteen hours and a half more or less.
August 22, 2009
Dear Dad, Mom and all,
Here we are in the Land Down Under! Thanks God, we had a safe flight and our landing was on schedule. We arrived here at mid-afternoon of Friday, August 21st.
After settling in our hotel, Cody and I agreed to rest for the remainder of the day and begin exploring the place in the morning. In the course of our conversation, I told Cody that we have had a very memorable experience during our flight and he remarked, “There was none that I knew of, Tita. What was it?”
I informed him that we crossed the equator, the imaginary line that divides the earth into Northern Hemisphere and Southern hemispere, if you remember what you studied in your geography class and to this he nodded.
Wasn’t that a notable experience?
More news next mail, our regards and good night.
Love from,
Kay & Cody
September 8, 2009
Hi to everybody,
Cody and I are leaving for New Zealand tomorrow.
I am attaching some images of our time spent in Australia. We had a good time, blessed with great weather so we were able to see amazing places. My favorite adventure was sailing the Whitsunday Islands on a beautiful sailboat for three days and three nights.
Whitsundays is composed of 74 islands and only 8 are inhabited. We
soaked up the rays and reefs from our boat cruising the aqua waters around Whitsundays.
Also, for another three days and three nights, we snorkled the Great Barrier Reef. It was incredible to snorkle literally eye to eye with the fish that vary in size from tiny to the size o Mia. The abundance of coral and fish is amazing. We saw turtles, sting rays and we found Nemo.
Our next adventure was a two-day safari drive on Fraser Island, the longest sand island in the world. There was sand everywere.
The roads leading to the beach was so bumpy so that the forward gets stuck frequently. There’s no paved road and the beach is the main highway.
Overall, we like Australia., but was put off by how expensive everything is, especially the food. If the food is good, we probably won’t complain so much, but it is very bland and expensive. Following is our barometer for food here:
1. It could be worse.
2. It doesn’t suck.
3. Where is the nearest McDonalds?
We have found some good places in or near Chinatown at reasonable prices. We ate more Asian food than Australian food and thank goodness for American fast food. It’s sad but true that we had to frequent good ol’ McDonalds to quench my hunger and my budget.
Here are some samples of prices in Australia:
Candy bar – $3.00
An apple or a banana – $ 1.00
Soft cover book – $ 24.00
Movie – $ 17.00
Experience – Priceless
Wallet – Empty
Good day,
Kay
September 24, 2009
Kai Ora,
We love Waitomo. Cody said New Zealand is like a big post card. It truly is beautiful. Waitomo is known for its caves. We went abeseling and ziplining inside the caves. So much fun!
Cody wants to do tendem skydiving in the next town. I hope that it keeps raining.
Catherine
October 12, 2009
Cody and I arrived at Wanaka 2 days ago and it has been raining the whole time. He dared me to skydive if the weather clears up; hoping that it doesn’t , I accepted. Lo and behold, I woke up this morning and it was a clear, sunny, spring day!
What to do? What to do? Pop a pill, jump from 15,000 ft and hope for the best. Please see attached photo for proof (note: camera adds 20 pounds). As you can see from my smile, it was the most fun that I have ever had!
I have listed scarier things to do than jumping off the plane for encouragement to those who are remotely thinking about doing it.
1. San Francisco Muni bus ride
2. Shopping at any Walmart store
3. Parachute ride at Knotts Berry Farm
4. Working at the Gap
The list can go on and on…. If I can do it, you can do it too!
Catherine
November 2, 2009
Kia Ora,
Cody and I are finally going home this Thursday. We’ve had lots of wonderful experiences and lots of scary and fun adventures, I don’t know what can top this trip. I can imagine that I will have some adrenaline withrawal when I get back, so when you see me jumping off everything and anything, just ignore me.
I will leave you with some of my pictures of New Zealand. Enjoy!
Cheers,
Catherine
Thank God, they returned safely! Some of their adventures were simply risky for me.