on our own

[ilanarama]

Yesterday we had "drive on the left" lessons, culminating in taking Anne and Doug to the ferry terminal to begin their long trip back to the US. The baby birds are on our own now! Although I guess the metaphor breaks down when you consider it's our "parents" who left the nest. But we are going to leave the nest as well (in our borrowed Honda Jazz right-hand-drive car, OMG, please let us not wreck it!) tomorrow; today we are doing laundry and buying groceries and getting ready to head out to the northern tip of NZ, Cape Reinga, for a three-day hike and other touristing.

We are both antsy to get moving, although we enjoyed the Auckland area a lot. The Auckland Museum was really interesting (and had the best museum food we have ever tasted!) and the Maritime Museum had all sorts of nifty stuff. Devonport, across the harbor (where we are staying) is a neat little town built on several old volcanic cones which are fun to climb and give great views from the top. There is a decent beach across the street, and Britt and I played in Anne and Doug's sea kayaks and then joined them in the water for a swim, and yes, ordinarily we would never actually get in the water in the harbor of a big city, but it's pretty clean due to the strong tidal action and, I suppose, enlightened environmental care.

Our visit with Jenine and Nat was a lot of fun but kind of short, so we may stop by and visit them again. Or at least go back to the Leigh Sawmill Cafe and Brewery (attn alembicresearch - apparently it's for sale) because man, that was good beer.

Right now it is apparently snowing a foot in Durango. Heh.

Oh, and happy birthday, Dad, I think. It's confusing when you're just the other side of the Date Line from everyone else you're talking with. ETA: Er, for tomorrow. That is. Darn date line.

Comments

[meesto.livejournal.com]

My biggest problem with driving on the left was getting the wiper and directional controls reversed and keeping cool when the wipers were going at high speed and I was trying to go left.

The most important thing is to remember the "give way" rule: if it is coming from the right you give way to it. This universal rule can be applied to any intersection. If it is on your left you should have the right of way (as you are on their right). This also applies if you are turning across traffic and an approaching vehicle is also turning.

Most any native Kiwi driver will gladly offer advice on the give way rule. Even more likely if you start a conversation with something like "what's the deal with this give way rule? Can't I turn right on red?" This will start all sorts of conversations.

Drive safely and see you in a couple of weeks!

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Anne explained it, and we have a drivers' manual, but it still is very nonintuitive to an American driver. Particularly the bit where if you are signalling left an oncoming driver turning right in front of you has the right of way.

Also, the total disregard of pedestrians here other than in specifically protected crosswalks is kind of frightening. Anne stopped for a group of schoolgirls (like, 8 years old) at a marked but not protected (red not zebra) crosswalk and they were all, "what, we're not getting run over? Sweet!"

You have it totally pegged though that when you put the wipers on instead of the turn signal by mistake, your brain just panics and you forget everything else. The one time Britt pulled in on the wrong side was when this happened. We figure it will take both of us to drive for a while, until we get used to it.

Of course Anne and Doug will have our pickup and are going to have to re-learn American driving habits...

See you on Jan 6th!

[wychwood]

One thing I remember from travelling in France is that one needs to be very careful (when driving on the "wrong" side) when on very quiet roads. It's all-too-easy to get mixed up and drive on the "normal" side, when there's no other cars around to remind you that everything's reversed! I suspect that'd be less of a problem if you're driving a car oriented correctly for the roads, but it's still worth keeping in mind *g*.

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

Yes, quiet roads and parking lots (er, "car parks"?) are problematic. The nice thing about NZ is that there are a lot of blue signs with white arrows which point to the way you ought to be going around an obstacle (like a median or a roundabout) so there are always hints. But I think for a while we will be doing tandem driving where one of us will be actually at the wheel and the other has the responsibility for quietly chanting, "stay left stay left stay left" at all times.

[wychwood]

Hahaha. I do that with my mother a lot ("Supermarket! Supermarket! Supermarket! No, why are you going home?"). That sounds like a good plan, anyway.

[saramwrap.livejournal.com]

If you want any of my dad's advice about visiting places in Christchurch... I can ask him what was magical during his visits. :)

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

That would be awesome! We won't be there until near the end of our visit but I'm looking forward to it - it looks like a cool place.

[jeddy83.livejournal.com]

Whee, I'm glad you are having a good time. I haven't commented because December is like hell for me and that's before you include the birthdays of my mother and niece, but I have been reading. I didn't see half those things in Auckland, so clearly I didn't spend nearly enough time there.

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

Heh, I think we spent too MUCH time in Auckland. And here we are again. :-(

[alembicresearch.livejournal.com]

Hey, ... just catching up on your trip ...
hope you are having a swell time, and remembering to stay on
the "wrong" side of the road.

Thanks for the tip about the brewery for sale.
Maybe when I win the lottery. :-)

Keep an eye out for me when you get to Queen's Town or
elsewhere on the South Island ... :-)

Have a great time!

Cheers,
John