Bits and Pieces - Driving

Bits and Pieces - Driving

Kiwi's drive on the left side of the road which clearly, is not right. To be perfectly honest, it intimidated me more than just about anything I've faced on this adventure thus far. I didn't even test drive my car but rather asked the owner to drive us around. I didn't want to crash it until it was mine at least. For at least the first full week literally every moment I was moving, I was repeating the mantra "stay left, you (meaning the steering wheel) should be in the center of the road". It took a good month before I actually felt wrong being on the right side but turns still confuse me sometimes - "left turns are easy, right turns are hard" is the turn mantra. Meaning going left is as easy as going right in the states. I am beginning to believe that I will never stop turning on the windshield wipers every time I want to signal a right hand turn.

Roads here are not great, often rough, narrow and very rarely more than a bare minimum 2 lanes. At times there's only one lane with the expectation that drivers will yield for one another. This happens especially with bridges. I'd even go so far as to assert there are more one lane bridges than 2 lane ones but then I suppose I don't really notice a bridge when it just works so probably my count is skewed. In general I'd say there is a greater expectation of driving cooperatively and yielding to your fellow driver when needed. There are few stop signs, many yield (give way) ones with roundabouts at most intersections.

They call parking lots car parks here. It makes me smile every time I leave my car in one, thinking it's having a good time while I'm gone.

All in all I am SO grateful for my little car. There are so many wonderful places I never would have seen without it. A vehicle really is the only way to see this country.