Being English I am somewhat accustomed to driving on the "wrong side" of the road. 'Stay left' is the motto here. Add a 7 meter diesel rig, narrow roads, mountain passes and no straight roads other than beaches and it adds up to some good fun. All roads are signed at 100km/62mph in NZ. It seems the speed you go on any winding road can be up to 100km even if you can only go 30km/hr. Then there are the signs. They don't pull any punches here,straight to the point and blunt. "Drink, drive, die in a ditch". "Drink Drive"but the drive is spelled DrIvE as in DIE. The 100km speed limit often says 100km max: "this is not a target". Then there are the highways. Sometimes we are on a road that is called a "highway" that has curves that slow down to 35 km. We all agreed the best, fastest and straightest road was the beach we drove on for 70 km without turning at all. Incredibly, distances here are different. If I am going 180 miles highway driving in the States would be 3 hrs max. Here it clearly is a different distance. Expect 4 hrs if you're lucky. Overall by the time I get the hang of it I will be sailing in Tahiti at 6 knots with new French rules...
Nigel
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