Driving

I spent every morning this week in a different Early Learning Centre, and had a great time in each of them. Unfortunately, 4 out of 5 days, I drove to said ELC. I really want to be biking, and feel quite guilty getting into my car, but it keeps happening. Part of the reason (which I think is justifiable), is that the sky has been on the verge of dumping rain on Whanganui all week, and has done so at least once per day. I deeply dislike getting caught in rain on my bike, especially when it's not very warm. It's been about 18C (64F) all week, which is fine until it's starts raining.

The other, (somewhat less justifiable), reason is that I feel so cool driving on the left side of the road! Turning right across traffic, flipping on my blinker (they call it an indicator here) with my right hand, parallel parking on the left side of the road (from the right side of the car), all make me feel powerful and suave. It amazes me how fast I have gotten used to it, but I am glad that it's still enough of a novelty that I enjoy it so much.

That being said, as soon as I get a forecast that give me a reasonable degree of certainty that I will not get rained on, I will be biking more. The locals have assured me that it doesn't usually rain this much in spring (although the wind is normal), and that soon it will clear up and be a beautiful summer.

On the topic of driving, I feel that I should mention roundabouts. They have them everywhere here! There are some stoplights downtown, but the rest of the town is entirely roundabouts. J and I have heard from various people that Kiwis consider roundabouts to be a very safe, effective solution to regulating intersections. What I like about them is that you usually don't have to wait for very long, and if no one is there, you just have to slow down. This is much nicer than a stoplight, where you often have to wait for no one. On the other hand, I find the rules of giving way (yielding) at roundabouts rather confusing, and often wonder how their aren't more miscommunications and accidents. I don't know how it works in the States, but here, you always have to give way to cars to your right (remember that we're going around the circle clockwise). That seems fine, but it even means that if I'm already at the intersection when car reaches it on my right, I still have to give way to it, which feels odd. Also, signalling is a bit tricky in roundabouts, since all ways are left when you're leaving it. But I am getting used to it, and I enjoy driving all the way across town without having to stop at a traffic light.

Another thing that is hard to get used to is merging lanes. There are a lot of roads that have two lanes right after an intersection, and then switch to one, with one lane clearly ending and the other continuing. In the States, whoever is in the continuing lane has the right of way, while the person in the lane that is ending has to find a gap to merge into. Here, on the other hand, whichever car is ahead has the right of way, regardless of what lane it is in. I don't think that that is specifically written into the driving laws (or at least I can't find it), but I have yet to see any examples of it not being followed. It freaked J and I out the first couple times, because we thought we were waiting for a gap, and the car in the other lane slowed way down for us. But now that we know the convention, it works just fine.

The one thing that I am still struggling to use appropriately is the rear view mirror. I can use the side mirrors fine (and in such a small car, they are almost sufficient), but I CANNOT look to my left for the inside rearview mirror. And when I manage to do it (always after checking the right side mirror by accident), it's almost like I can't incorporate that information as what's behind me, because it's not in the right place. It's a strange thing to be hung up on, but that's how it goes.

In conclusion, I am really enjoying the challenge and excitement (and inexplicable ego boost) of driving, and appreciating that I can get to ELCs on rainy days, but I will also be glad when I can get back to biking.