Day Trip @ MindSay 
So for awhile I thought I was going to be stuck living in on campus for my extent of the trip with only gallons of alcohol and crazy people to keep everyone occupied. I guess thats the tough thing about most people here being aussie and not many international students around. But a couple days ago I met a couple students... julia from canada and Mari from Tokyo. Mari is sweet and she has some trouble with english but she is fun to be around. Julia is all about traveling so we will prob do a lot of trips together. Julia and I went to a Res(residence) party and met a boy named Dean who works in the city. He told us that he could drop us off when he went into work the next day so we jumped at that opportunity.
We woke up early and woke mari up to meet with Dean. The drvie was about an hour and then we had to take a 5 minute bus into the city. He pointed out where to go and we just started exploring. First place we went was Circular Quay which is where you will see the Harbor Bridge and the Opera house. It was amazing and there was also an aboriginal band playing native music. We then hopped on a fairy and went to the Taronga Zoo. It was really cool because once you get there you take a cable car to the top of the hill where you just start walking down to see all the animals. It was amazing because as ur looking at the animals you can see Sydney harbor in the backround. The kangaroos were the best part because they were just hopping around right infront of us. After the zoo we headed to Hyde park which is pretty much the "central park" of NY. It was amazing!!
After that it was around 5 oclock and we had to find our way back by train. It was very confusing but eventually we figured it out. Once we got off the train we realized that the school's bus didnt run on sundays and so we had to take a 20 min walk back to campus. As we got in it was getting dark and we watched the bats (i think they were flying foxes) fly over us. It was def an amazing day!! I hope there will be many more like it!!!
Hi Guys
I have never been here for a couple day. I just got home from a wonderful tripat Maryland. The beach is my favorite place to go when I have a free time. I can relax by looking it. It took 3 hrs from Annandale VA to The Bethany Beach, MD. We stayed at the Ocean Place condominuim which was far from Ocean City about 30 minute driving. We left home on Sunday evening. Spent time there for 2 nights and 3 days. However, I bet my beach in Thailand more beautiful than here!! Heheh
The first day was rainny, but I felt good bcoz I hate the sunny day that made me get darker skin. We enjoyed sitting on the beach, playing with sand and walking by the shore. That was pretty good for me to take my breath away from all the problems in my life. I tried to look at the sunrise and thought about someone I really missed and loved with no wonder... I was busy all day butI had a lot of fun things to do with the kids. They were my freinds. I think, I should go back that beach again with my a freidns. We would have fun and happy one another. I got some taffy and postcards to my friends. You know!! my skin hurts so bad after I got home...That why I didnt really like sunny....
In Ocean City..there were a lot of shop and store a long the boardwalk. I went riding a roller coaster with my host mom. That was fun tho!!!!
I would like to show you guys about my picture and wonderful trip then....
Kitty
I had fun too, though admittedly through the first leg of our adventure, I felt more like I was doing a show for fear factor – I scared the willies out of myself!
First stop, Chimney Rock Park. We had breakfast while sharing a table with a friendly couple we had never met before. Then, after a quick run through the shops looking for some walking sticks, we headed up the mountain to the ticket office. The parking lot was too small to accommodate the unusually large crowd, so a large field was converted into a parking lot and we rode a bus to the lower lot. Fear factor #1 conquered – a large, top heavy bus LOADED with people, winding its way up a NARROW road, sharp corners and in many spots, driving on what seemed to be just a few inches from a scary precipice.
OK, I survived that. At the level that is the actual parking lot on an average day in the summer, we headed down the tunnel/cave toward the elevator that goes 14 stories to Skyline Lodge where all trails converge. Fear factor #2: We opted to abandon the 1/4 mile long line for a brave adventure on one trail I had never been on before, the Needle’s Eye, a 185 stair incline that ascends almost straight up between Rock Pile and Pulput rock. The WORST part of this story is that it was MY idea to tackle this particular trail.
Next to my first ride on a rollercoaster, I think this was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever undertaken. Granted, it looked intimidating from the bottom, but I was sure it would get better. NOT. Once we got up into the rock, the stairs became VERY narrow and began a steep spiral into darkness. Ok, this HAD to be the worst of it. NOT. Once making it through the spiral, the stairs again go straight up in what seems like an even steeper incline. It gets worse. The rock overhead will no longer allow you to stand upright, the railing ceases to be, and the only way to tackle the steepness of the incline is to literally grasp the step in front of you and climb the next flight of stairs like a ladder. I swear to GAWD, I thought I was going to DIE before I got out of that hell-hole. I was bordering on tears. Yes, I wanted to turn back, but once I got high enough into that darn thing to realize how terrifying it was, the thought of turning around and looking BEHIND me and DOWN from where I’d just come, seemed even MORE terrifying. By the time we came into the daylight, I was shaking like a leaf – not really sure if it was from muscle fatigue or sheer terror. I confess however, that upon seeing others far younger and fit than myself, emerge from this hole, ashen, crazy-eyed and trembling, I did not feel like so much of a wus.
I eventually made it to the Skyline Lodge, though I had to take a few lengthy stops to catch my breath in hopes that my heart would not completely fail me before I got through this entire ordeal. At one of my rest stops, one poor girl was so traumatized that she was vomiting. I did not make it to the top of that blasted mountain, but I was able to get up to the Lodge, which in my lofty opinion, was a MAGNAMOUS feat of courage and tenacity on my part.
Needless to say, we took the elevator back down to the parking lot. Fear factor #3, riding 14 stories down on a teeny 6x6 elevator packed with people like sardines in a can. And YES, you could FEEL the drop. Holy shit, by the time we endured ANOTHER bus ride down the mountain back to our car, I felt like I was suffering post traumatic stress. (I’m sorry if I offend anyone with that descriptive expletive, but that was exactly what I meant…holy SHIT).
Here’s a view of Lake Lure from somewhere we traveled in Chimney Rock Park.
A view from one of my rest stops…
Can you guys find Kendall and Kiki in this pic?
Dead Man’s Gulch…
Can you see Kendall and Kiki’s feet at the bottom? No doubt when this hole got it’s name, it was named after some poor soul who had just attempted to conquer the Needle’s Eye. He likely died from the sheer terror of it all.
From Chimney Rock, we headed toward Asheville and the Blue Ridge Parkway. To be continued...
The tide is extremely low lately, even with the high surf being suffered at many beaches in So Cal. The tidepools were full of anemonies and other flora. We also found a sea urchin and many starfish. LARGE starfish! I saw one who was interrupted in his meal by the tide being out. You could see the carnage of opened clam shells on the rocks nearby, and he was even partially perched on his latest meal. Only one sea slug this time. A kid was shrieking that he found an octopus waaay out there, but we have our doubts.
We found minimal shells and sea glass on this visit. I figured with all the pounding surf, and low tide we would find far more stuff. Not really. Oh well. We had fun looking. The air and the water temperatures were very similar, so it didn't feel too bad to wade a bit. The Malibu Creek is quite full and fast. Most unusual from the way it normally is. VERY COLD!!! Lots of surfers to the southwest.
After about 4 hrs at the lagoon, we went on to Malibu State beach further up the coast. It was VERY windy and the beach was well groomed to the point of there being no shells or rocks or anything of interest to us.
We fed the seagulls Sun Chips again. I have no idea how a bird of that size can stuff down a whole chip! Then their necks are all crooked! Sis gave them wasabi Funyuns and they liked those as well. One fellow was quite bold and would take things from our hands and would chase all the others away with his beak biting their tails and wings beating them around the head. Quite the piggy. I think he attempted to barf at one point. Or maybe it was a burp. Then he proceeded to beat up a few other birds.
Today was spent in much laziness and taking sis to her clinic appt for her ear infection. It seems her culture came back as yeast, so the antibiotics aren't helping. Time for diflucan!
I have so much to do and am not feeling the energy to do it at the moment. I've got a stack of laundry a foot high that needs to be hung up. I Have put away the stuff that could be folded and put into the dresser. I just hate doing the hanger thing.... Did hubby help besides all his protestations of always being the one to take care of it? Nope! He's having work stress, so I won't bring it up tonight. I guess stuff is hitting the fan at his shop and it ain't perty.
There was a Bioawareness day going on in Kernville today. Lots of wildlife related stuff on display with some other stuff for sale here and there. Nothing big, but very cool. I had a snake crawl on me. They're much softer to the touch than I thought they'd be. Kinda squishy to be honest. But nice and smooth.
After the bust in finding anymore old cemetaries, we stopped by the river and clambered amongst the big boulders all along the banks. Some are eroded in really cool swirls and circles and polished smooth. We climbed down to a eddy zone and picked up some smooth river rocks that I wanted to take home. They're cool! I think I found some petrified wood that's been tumbled smooth. I'll try to post some pics from our day tomorrow when I'm more awake.
I totally pigged out at dinner! OMG! I was craving Mexican food and we went to a local place. I had enchiladas rancheros. Mmmmmm! Lots of sour cream and guacamole! A blow to my diet, but it's not like I do this sort of damage every day. Oh it was good, though! :)
I did get a bit of a workout toting those rocks back up the road to the car. We were parked a good quarter mile away up hill! Who needs cardio and weights when hauling rocks?? I was totally afraid to climb on the rocks on our last trip, but this time I felt much more able to handle it and I felt a bit more sure-footed.
Crap ton of stuff to do tomorrow. Laundry for work and gym clothes, trip to Costco, groceries, etc. Tired...