Upon rental car pickup at the airport, our first challenge was to make sure tall Paul could get in and out of the car we rented. The next challenge was properly setting the GPS to get out of the airport and onto the road heading south-east toward the west coast beach town of Raglan. My challenge during this process was to stay quiet so Paul could concentrate without my well intentioned guidance. It helps that there is not a lot of traffic in the New Zealand countryside but the narrow hilly roads still present a challenge. With left side driving, the driver has to adjust to being so close to the white line in the middle of the road and the passenger has to adjust to being near the edge of the road. For me, this made for some white knuckling as I nervously watched the ditch or drop off on my side as we sped along the curvy roads. Also, drivers merge on the passenger side of the car, not the driver side, which is very disconcerting for the passenger and has led to several moments of screaming and covering my eyes while Paul tries to figure out what I am freaking out about. Paul informed me that during the gasoline crisis in the 70’s there was a slogan tied to a reduction in the speed limit to preserve fuel and which was also sold as a safety measure which stated: “Arrive Alive at 55!” Well, I have renamed it: “Arrive Alive @ 63!” The speed limit here is 100 kilometers per hour which translates to 63 miles per hour. This number also represents the number of candles that will be on my birthday cake in 2019, but only if I make it that long with Paul driving on the left side of the road during our New Zealand travels.
Everything is reversed inside the car as well which means our windshield wipers have gotten quite the workout as Paul adjusted to turn signals placed on the right side of the steering wheel, not the left. This story led to the giggles for a traveling German mother-daughter duo we talked with at a B & B who had a similar experience in their rental car. I keep wanting to adjust the internal rear view mirror for myself, forgetting it is for the driver on the right side of the car, not me as the passenger on the left side of the car. Getting up to speed on passing slower vehicles in the right lane, not the left lane, is also a learning experience. Use of the word: “overtaking lane” instead of “passing lane” only add to the terror.
Adjusting to standard use of roundabouts on the roads is another “deer in the headlight” experience. In general, they make a lot of sense and thank goodness there are typically only three options in the roundabouts here in New Zealand, not counting the one you came into the roundabout on. The best I can say is if you are confused once you enter the roundabout, at least you can keep driving in a circle until you sort out which of the three directional road options you need to take. It helps knowing you have the right of way once you are in the roundabout instead of those trying to enter the roundabout. You can only hope other vehicles trying to enter the roundabout, while you are circling in it, find another way in and out lest you cause a roundabout entry bottleneck leading to three way directional honking…at you. Yikes!
Anyway, after a week of practice, I think the windshield wipers only came on during a mid-afternoon thunderstorm today. What progress!