I think the time has come to introduce you to my partner in crime on this trip, meet Sheila the Second.
When I got to New Zealand, I had squarely decided against getting a car. But, when I realised that I would be working a bit out of the way*, late in to the nights**, and that a lot of places I wanted to (or would want to) explore are hard to reach without a car, I started turning my mind to the idea. Mostly, Shane just convinced me I needed a car if I wanted to experience some of the coolest things in New Zealand and make the most of my time here. I was a bit hesitant about making such a big purchase abroad for several reasons. The two biggest reasons were that (1) I had never owned a car before and (2) they drive on the “wrong” side of the road here.
Shane and Mel gave me a quick run down on the general things to be aware of when purchasing a car to alleviate the first issue.
For the second issue, it was time for a good old “I’m 16 years old and just got my learner’s permit” driving lesson again. Shane decided to risk his life by taking me out on the Tauranga roads. It all felt wrong: the transmission was on the wrong side, I kept cleaning the windshield when I wanted to change lanes, roundabouts everywhere, and it was all in kilometres. Oh wait, Canada does that too. Just seeing if you’re paying attention here…
Eventually, I got the hang of it. Two days later I tested out a few different cars and picked out Sheila the Second. If you’re wondering why this car is names Sheila the Second, when it’s my first car, you’ll just have to ask me about it in person.
*As it turns out, the interviews at “the bar around the corner” were for a bar in the next beach town over and I’ll actually need to drive a good 15kms each day to get there.
**The bar might close as late as 2 a.m. I was told.
Impermanent Establishments 