Driving on the wrong side of the road!
I finally took the plunge today, as we needed to get around the city to find a house to rent. Clearly, schlepping around on the bus was not going to work. So I talked to my new best mate, Nigel, who made a couple of calls for me to one of his mates and within 20 minutes Brent from AAA Car Rentals showed up with a car. "I know you're a family man, so I thought you could use the extra in the wagon," he said. When I filled out the rental paperwork, it turned out that the extra space usually came at a premium, but he was cutting me a deal, reducing the usual rental rate by about 20%. We had a nice chat about the beauties of Chch, the cold of the ocean, and the price of real estate.
Nigel must have mentioned that we were renting the car but hoping to buy one by the end of the week, because Brent offered some insight into the NZ car market. Most used cars in NZ come used from Japan, so the models are a little different from what is available in the States. Our rental is a Toyota Carib, which is very much like a Subaru Legacy Wagon. I mentioned to Brent that Debi and I had seen one on the road and it caught our eye. He then told me that if I was interested in it, or any other car, he could make some calls to wholesalers he knows and see what he could find for me.
I admit, every time someone says something like to me, my radar begins to go off and I think, "What's his angle here?" It's that in-born New England suspicion of other people, I guess, which I'm hoping won't take too long to overcome, because the truth is, unless everyone is scamming me, people here really are that nice.
So, without further ado, I was on the road. Driving on the other side of the road really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I simply followed the other cars, and was off. I kept thinking, "Shoulder to the center, shoulder to the center." Fortunately, every time I can to an intersection and had to turn right, which takes you across traffic and to the far side of the perpendicular road, I had another car to follow. This was important, because visualizing the turn makes me think about it ... and thinking about it makes it impossible to do. I found that by simply turning off my brain and letting my auto-pilot drive, I was able to do quite well, and by the time I was back to the hotel, it wasn't all that awkward any more.
However, there was still this little bit of fundamental strangeness to it all, like trying to do something while looking into a mirror. It's the same, but it isn't.
Nigel must have mentioned that we were renting the car but hoping to buy one by the end of the week, because Brent offered some insight into the NZ car market. Most used cars in NZ come used from Japan, so the models are a little different from what is available in the States. Our rental is a Toyota Carib, which is very much like a Subaru Legacy Wagon. I mentioned to Brent that Debi and I had seen one on the road and it caught our eye. He then told me that if I was interested in it, or any other car, he could make some calls to wholesalers he knows and see what he could find for me.
I admit, every time someone says something like to me, my radar begins to go off and I think, "What's his angle here?" It's that in-born New England suspicion of other people, I guess, which I'm hoping won't take too long to overcome, because the truth is, unless everyone is scamming me, people here really are that nice.
So, without further ado, I was on the road. Driving on the other side of the road really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I simply followed the other cars, and was off. I kept thinking, "Shoulder to the center, shoulder to the center." Fortunately, every time I can to an intersection and had to turn right, which takes you across traffic and to the far side of the perpendicular road, I had another car to follow. This was important, because visualizing the turn makes me think about it ... and thinking about it makes it impossible to do. I found that by simply turning off my brain and letting my auto-pilot drive, I was able to do quite well, and by the time I was back to the hotel, it wasn't all that awkward any more.
However, there was still this little bit of fundamental strangeness to it all, like trying to do something while looking into a mirror. It's the same, but it isn't.
posted by Jon A at
4:43 PM
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