Rob always jokes about everything in Australia being upside down or backwards. While they don't drive upside down or backwards, fortunately, they do drive on the opposite (left) side of the road. And the steering wheel, dashboard and signals are all on the opposite side of the car.
My first day of driving went better than I expected. I lost count how many times I turned on the wipers instead of the turn signal, but I was only honked at once. I'll consider that a win.
Repeating to yourself, "just keep left...keep left..." helps for the most part. Instinctively, you can follow the flow of traffic in front of you. It's when you're on a side street or at an intersection that messes with your head.
Then you throw in a few large roundabouts, which are daunting just by themselves. Just imagine you are approaching a roundabout where traffic is going in a clockwise direction, you have to counterintuitively look right to merge all while trying to get a glimpse of the overview sign for an indication of which turn you'll need to make it out of that roundabout.
Oh! And don't forget that the wipers are probably going because you hit them instead of the turn signals. Yes, the folks in the other cars are shaking their heads at this point. Just ignore them!
Can you imagine trying to drive a manual transmission car with your left hand on top of everything else? Uh, no thanks!
I'm grateful for the frequent road signs and painted info on the roads here. I also don't know what I'd do without my Google maps not just showing me where I'm going but also telling me in which lane to be to actually get there. Siri is my copilot.
There is great public transit here in Brisbane, but there's nothing like being able to go where we want when we want. Quite liberating.
With an engine under the bonnet (hood), we can throw our bags into the boot (trunk) and explore Australia.
Comments