driving miss crazy

So yesterday was the day -- we were to try driving in another country that does things backwards... they drive on the other side of the road. Now - it's trippy to even sit in a cab and watch the madness unfold (everyone looks like their going to turn the corner and ram into each other/cars come from out of nowhere because you're not used to looking to the right for oncoming traffic... it's mahem), but it's a totally different feeling to actually be driving.

We didn't exactly think things through, but for some reason we thought it was better for us to "hire" a car (kiwi talk) to go pick up Kevin Saiki's car (that he's graciously letting us try out/use/sell) instead of taking a cab... I think our thought process was that it would cost us an arm and a leg to take a cab because, hey, on the map the place to pick up the car was forever away -- so we decided to rent. Renting (or hiring) is easy in NZ - just give them your license and pick a car -- then you're off... they didn't even seem to care that we had never driven on the left side of the road before - crazy Omega Rentals.

It seemed like a good idea to rent because we probably did save a few bucks, but what we didn't realize is that we would have to drive back to drop off our rental in caravan style... which is stressful enough on the freeways in the states when we have cell phones, know where we're going, and oh yeah, drive on the right side of the road... but here in NZ we had to follow each other, on the motorways, not knowing exactly where we were going, IN THE RAIN, on the wrong side of the road... yep. Most stressful day EVER...

It started off a little rocky with the rental car -- but we eventually found our groove after I stopped yelling and screaming about how nervous I was - for some reason that made Josh a little on edge... weird...

We made it out to the Oratia area (where Kev's car was located) and then we both got in Kev's car to allow me some driving practice. Like a pro - ... I was constantly too far to the left in my lane and shaky. (Don't worry Kev - the Legacy is doing great and we won't hurt your baby...) Regardless, we made it back to downtown Auckland to drop off the car and then were able to drive together. You can bet that as soon as we pulled up to the rental car place, I rewarded myself with a Tim Tam...

All in all we're safe and have the Legacy safely tucked in the driveway. We're staying at Josh's long lost friends' house in Howick (east of Auckland) and have been enjoying some time with a real kiwi family. The boys are 2 and 4 and have adorable accents -- we'll try to get some footage of them before we leave, but until then, this is kinda what they sound like, so this will have to do... enjoy!