Driving in New Zealand

To put it succinctly, everything is backwards here.

It's just wrong.

You drive on the left side of the road, the driver is on the right side of the car, and the stick is on the left of the driver (yes, were are driving a manual…). These are all things that we might think of when cogitating on what it must be like to drive like the Brits but there are other things that one might not think about like the drive-thrus are all backwards. It is a strange sight indeed to see a line of cars going through the KFC drive-thru the wrong way.

Another, slightly scarier thing is that oncoming traffic is now coming at you from what, one long plane ride ago, was your side of the road. This last one isn’t so bad once you are used to it and once you’ve been driving for a few minutes. However, it is still very unnerving when, riding in the passenger seat looking at a map, you look up to see a car barreling toward you in the right lane. My heart skips a beat each time that happens.

Hang on!

The RV drives nicely but you sit high in it and, as you may know, if you are used to driving a low-sitting vehicle (a Mustang, for example), when you ride in a high vehicle it feels like you are going really fast and curves feel like you are going to tip over or run off the road. That is exactly how I feel in the RV.  To make it worse, the Garmin displays our current speed so I always know precisely how fast we are going. When we come to a particularly nasty bend in the raod, here, as in the States, they post a recommended reduced speed. But honestly, who actually abides by these? Well, when you feel like you’re already going to tip over in every twist and turn, it only makes it worse to know that you are going through said curve 10-20 km/h faster than recommended by safety experts. I think I have a minor panic attack each time we go through these, so that’s only about 75-80 each day. That can’t be healthy; I will email my doctor to find out if I need to add additional pharmaceuticals to my diet as a precaution.  Until he responds I have taken to bracing myself with the chair arm on my right and the door handle on my left (not the latch, the handle! I don’t intend to let myself out in the middle of the curve!) On the bright side, with my heart rate up this much, I might be able to count this as exercise.

On top of all the backwardness, New Zealand is a hilly country. As Lewis put it, ‘They don’t have to worry about people going to sleep on these roads! This is engaged driving!’ Lewis does all of the engaged driving here. In fact, he does all of the driving.  He was voted into the driver’s seat unanimously even though all three of us are listed on the contract as eligible drivers. He is the most confident driver and actually enjoys the challenge of driving on roads that resemble Brittany Spears’ career (little ups followed by steep, plummeting descents, and you never know what’s around the corner). I enjoy driving challenges too. Like driving from San Francisco to Portland non-stop, or trying to get to school from the house in less than twenty minutes. But strapping myself into a silver bullet on roads that are opposite of everything I know and try not to kill us all? I think not, at least not yet. Although it would be good strength and endurance training for my hands as they are locked in a death grip on the wheel for the drive.

Hmm, who knew? RVing through NZ might turn into a total body workout.