Stay left, look right...or is it stay right, look left?

For those of you who have driven with me in the US, it might seem strange to you that the foolish government of New Zealand would give me a driver's license. But lest you doubt their discerning taste, you should know that they didn't give me a driver's license. I'm not exactly sure why this works, but with an American driver's license, a person can go to Triple A, pay $15, and be granted an "international driving permit," and it's valid for a year. That's right, Triple A sold the peace of mind of all New Zealand motorists for a mere $15.

David and I picked up our rental car two days ago, and you can see it pictured above. I call it the gerbil. For David, getting into this vehicle is something of a gymnastic feat. As we departed A&B Car Rentals, the gentleman who had been helping us shouted out "stay left, look right!" Very sage advice. David was the first to attempt driving on the left, and I must say, he did very well. We stuck to the quietest roads we could find at first, but the next day we needed to go down to Middlemore Hospital, where David will be working, and that means taking the freeway (called the motorway in NZ). Quite a harrowing experience, but we made it there in one piece. The hardest part turned out to be figuring out where the hospital was. It turns out that New Zealanders don't believe in labeling streets, so you might look at a map and see the street you want to turn onto, and find out that there is no such sign within 10 km of you. Question: If a street doesn't have a sign, does it have a name? Answer: It has several, and they are probably all in Maori and really hard to remember.

Next came my turn to drive. I started my lesson in a well-to-do suburb where David needed to do his NZ Medical Council Interview. We got there a half-hour early, so the quiet subdivision seemed like a good place for me to practice. As David is fond of saying, "What goeth before a fall? Pride!" That is to say, I started out doing really well, then I got all proud of myself, then I sideswiped a car. A parked car. Impressive, I know, but don't worry, the side mirrors on the gerbil flip in if they hit something, so neither vehicle was damaged. Needless to say, I haven't tried the freeway yet.