Friday, November 1, 2013

A Bit About Driving In Oz

So, I think I have the hang of driving on the left side of the road now. But, I will tell you I was pretty petrified in the beginning. What makes learning to drive challenging, at least here in Sydney, is that the flat, grid-type roads I was used to in Illinois, are non-existant here. There is not one flat or straight road and the lanes are quite a bit narrower. It's all up - down - curvy - curve:-P You really have to pay attention! You can come upon a parked car in the left lane in an instant, cars switch lanes constantly (most will signal), and people on bikes ride dangerously close.

I will say, however, drivers here are, for the most part, very courteous. Drivers will let you merge in front of them (make sure to use your signal indicator), turn out from a side street, stop for pedestrians. I was pleasantly surprised. Where I came from, drivers would speed up so you couldn't merge or change lanes (even with a signal indicator), block the path so you could not turn or pull out onto the road, and ignore people trying to cross the street. Another interesting fact is that you cannot turn left (which would be right in the states) on a red light unless a sign says you can. Quite opposite of what we can do in the states.

I also have to mention, parking garages. I haven't parked in many in the states, but the ones I have parked in never had sensors. I love how most of the parking garages have digital indicators saying how many spots are available down which lane and which level. There are also red and green lights at the end of each stall so you can see from a distance which stall is open. Sure saves a lot of time looking for a spot:-)
Sorry so blurry - took it quick while driving.
Notice the little red lights above the cars,
they are green when the space is empty.
Much easier to see what's open looking down a row
as well as the nice arrows show how many are open.

Cheers!

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Rough Start

G'day mates:-)
After hauling 15 overweight pieces of luggage and a stroller through Sydney Airport and into a huge van - we made it to our leased house in Pymble (20 min north of Sydney).  I won't go into detail, but let's just say the house wasn't set up how I expected.  It's taken almost two weeks to buy and get cable tv set up. Let alone learn how to drive on the left side of the road in a country with no straight roads. This Midwest girl likes a good grid system;-)

I set up temporary wifi in the house and am attempting to post from my iPad. It's a holiday weekend here in Oz (what Aussies call Australia) so I won't be able to call for install help until Tuesday (Saturday night right now) so bear with me. I'm sure I'll see the forest through the trees (or bush as they call it here) at some point, but right now with a screaming three year old in an all tile house, I'm rather stressed.

My husband and 11 y.o. went to see the international fleet review at Sydney Harbour this evening while I stayed back with the toddler. My son has been so patient and helpful with this big move, I didn't want him to miss this historic event. I hope he was able to get a glimpse of Prince Harry. I'll try and make time to post pics of the event if my DH is able to get a few good shots. Right now I think I'm going to try to watch Elementary online before they get back.


Cheers!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

All Packed Up!

All I can say is, "Wow"! It was like a video in fast motion! The packers/shippers showed up at 7 am ready to go and within 8 hours all of the contents of our house was packed, wrapped, and documented. I have never seen such speed and efficiency before. Simply amazing. Tuesday they came back and had everything loaded into this container for shipment in 4 hours.


I'm working on tying up some loose ends and tomorrow do a dry run at packing what's left to make sure we enough suitcases for Tuesdays departure. Whatever's left needs to fit.

Catch you on the flip side:-)