“My Trip” is an occasional feature that showcases locals and their travels. Mike and Agnes Ternasky recently took a trip to Australia and New Zealand. If you’d like to submit your vacation photographs, click here.
By Mike and Agnes Ternasky
Our trip, from March 4 to 26, was set up by Caravelle World Travel of Gilroy. The owners of the CWT accompanied the 26 of us and provided guidance and suggestions during the cruise as well as the stay over in Sydney. The flight into Sydney from San Francisco was indeed long, and we had an additional five-hour flight to Perth where we boarded the ship, Rhapsody of the Seas, Royal Caribbean.
In the beginning, we thought the 18-day cruise might be too long, but this turned out to be totally false. It was delightful. It allowed for just enough days at sea and enough days in port. We enjoyed both the beauty of Australia and New Zealand. The contrast of the two countries was very noticeable, with New Zealand being very mountainous. It is nice to visit a new country where we know the language and – except for a few times where the accents added difficulty to the conversation –the interaction was delightful. The citizens of Australia and New Zealand were friendly, helpful, respectful and courteous.
If given the chance to visit either or both countries again, we would do it. However, our preference would be to explore by automobile to give us longer stays at preferred locations. Fuel is expensive in each country, averaging about $6.50 U.S. dollars per imperial gallon.
An interesting fact: In Australia the service stations will raise the fuel price for the weekend and then drop it back to regular price for weekday commutes. We found the prices for items in Australia to be high while New Zealand was a little more favorable to the U.S. dollar.
***
“My Trip” is an occasional feature that showcases locals and their travels. If you’d like to submit your vacation photographs, please contact Features Editor Andrea Joseph at aj*****@**********rs.com.
