car rental - Australia and New Zealand

mack wrote:


If you're coming from a country that drives on the other
side of the road, I'd spend a week or so walking around
getting used to the new arrangement.

A week to get used to drive on the other side of the road? Wow.

Driving on the other side is as easy as switching from gears to
automatic transmission. Stickers saying "Drive left" may help. A day, at
leats two and you are used to it.

A lot of american
tourists die in Australia (of all tourists they have the
highest death rate).

Well ... ;-)


Having now driven
on the other side of the road for 25yrs, I find going back
there quite hard.

I nearly had an accident back home as I tried to drive on the left lane.
Going back really seems to be more difficult then getting used to
driving on the left side.

Also why are you driving so much, you're going to be exhausted?

On our first trip to Australia we drove 7.500 km on sealed roads within
a month, to see as much as possible. (We didn't expect to come back that
soon.) Although it was quite a bit of driving we enjoyed every single
kilometer.

Unsealed roads can be quite exhausting. You need more attention to watch
the road (and look out for irritated kangaroos, too). And some streets
(i.e. from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock) can be a bit booring. (Still
better then driving to work in a commuter train! :-) )
Bego
--
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we.
They never stop thinking about new ways to harm
our country and our people, and neither do we."

- George W. Bush, 5.8.2004

mack wrote:


If you're coming from a country that drives on the other
side of the road, I'd spend a week or so walking around
getting used to the new arrangement.

A week to get used to drive on the other side of the road? Wow.

Driving on the other side is as easy as switching from gears to
automatic transmission. Stickers saying "Drive left" may help. A day, at
leats two and you are used to it.

A lot of american
tourists die in Australia (of all tourists they have the
highest death rate).

Well ... ;-)


Having now driven
on the other side of the road for 25yrs, I find going back
there quite hard.

I nearly had an accident back home as I tried to drive on the left lane.
Going back really seems to be more difficult then getting used to
driving on the left side.

Also why are you driving so much, you're going to be exhausted?

On our first trip to Australia we drove 7.500 km on sealed roads within
a month, to see as much as possible. (We didn't expect to come back that
soon.) Although it was quite a bit of driving we enjoyed every single
kilometer.

Unsealed roads can be quite exhausting. You need more attention to watch
the road (and look out for irritated kangaroos, too). And some streets
(i.e. from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock) can be a bit booring. (Still
better then driving to work in a commuter train! :-) )
Bego
--
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we.
They never stop thinking about new ways to harm
our country and our people, and neither do we."

- George W. Bush, 5.8.2004

Peter wrote:


More notably the astronomer Gene Shoemaker died a few years back in an
accident depressingly familiar.

I heard that he'd died on a country road in WA. I'd assumed it was
a headon from driving on the wrong side of the road, but had
never heard any details.

I was sorry to hear of his untimely death. He did much for us all.

He was driving on a narrow outback
road, crested a rise and found a truck heading at him. The normal thing
to do is for each driver to move from the middle of the road to their
side, but of course he naturally moved to the right side of the road,
which as it turned out was the wrong side.

Joe

--
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
jmack (at) wm7d (dot) net - azimuthal equidistant map
generator at http://www.wm7d.net/azproj.shtml
Homepage http://www.austintek.com/ It's GNU/Linux!

Peter wrote:


More notably the astronomer Gene Shoemaker died a few years back in an
accident depressingly familiar.

I heard that he'd died on a country road in WA. I'd assumed it was
a headon from driving on the wrong side of the road, but had
never heard any details.

I was sorry to hear of his untimely death. He did much for us all.

He was driving on a narrow outback
road, crested a rise and found a truck heading at him. The normal thing
to do is for each driver to move from the middle of the road to their
side, but of course he naturally moved to the right side of the road,
which as it turned out was the wrong side.

Joe

--
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
jmack (at) wm7d (dot) net - azimuthal equidistant map
generator at http://www.wm7d.net/azproj.shtml
Homepage http://www.austintek.com/ It's GNU/Linux!

Bego Mario Garde wrote:

mack wrote:


If you're coming from a country that drives on the other
side of the road, I'd spend a week or so walking around
getting used to the new arrangement.

A week to get used to drive on the other side of the road? Wow.

Driving on the other side is as easy as switching from gears to
automatic transmission. Stickers saying "Drive left" may help. A day, at
leats two and you are used to it.

Everyone is different. I know some people in England who have
no trouble driving in Europe. I'm not surprised to hear that
people can drive on the other side cold.

It took me 2 years after coming to USA to be confident that
if something untoward happened that my instinctive reaction
wouldn't be to do a Gene Shoemaker. I had one near accident
like this the first week in USA and had nightmares about it
for a year later.

My cousins live about 800km out of Sydney and on one trip
I had to choose between the train and driving by car.
I called them up and asked what I should do. They said
"no way in hell should you drive - an american tourist
killed himself here just the other day".

After a trip to Australia one year, I returned to the US and pulled out
of a petrol station here onto the wrong side of the road and had
cars diving off the road everywhere to avoid me.

A friend of mine from Australia drove down from Philadephia to
DC to meet me, on freeways most of the way (the easiest driving
as far as being on the other side is concerned) and he was a wreck
by the time he got to me and wanted me to do all the driving for his
visit.

I actually take about 2 weeks in Australia, riding a bike before
I feel safe to drive. Turning corners at intersections requires
some thought - you can wind up on the wrong side of the road.
Looking at the front passenger of the other cars for clues as
to what the car is going to do next is another problem.
You also tend to offset the car in your lane. On my first trip
back to Australia in 10yrs, I turned a corner at an intersection
and ran the outside hubcaps into the cement gutter, not realising
that the car now extended to the left of me. Even now after
many trips back, on a divided road in Australia, I have the
hardest time figuring out which is the fast lane.

If you aren't good at changing sides, then you are a menace
to yourself and other people on the road. I believe I'm just
an average driver. Where I fit on the chart of ability
to change side I don't know. I maybe one of the worst cases
for all I know. American tourists have about double the chance
of dying in Australia of any other tourist. I don't know why,
but until you know you aren't going to join them, people
coming to Australia should know that changing sides is a
problem for some.

Joe

--
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
jmack (at) wm7d (dot) net - azimuthal equidistant map
generator at http://www.wm7d.net/azproj.shtml
Homepage http://www.austintek.com/ It's GNU/Linux!

Bego Mario Garde wrote:

mack wrote:


If you're coming from a country that drives on the other
side of the road, I'd spend a week or so walking around
getting used to the new arrangement.

A week to get used to drive on the other side of the road? Wow.

Driving on the other side is as easy as switching from gears to
automatic transmission. Stickers saying "Drive left" may help. A day, at
leats two and you are used to it.

Everyone is different. I know some people in England who have
no trouble driving in Europe. I'm not surprised to hear that
people can drive on the other side cold.

It took me 2 years after coming to USA to be confident that
if something untoward happened that my instinctive reaction
wouldn't be to do a Gene Shoemaker. I had one near accident
like this the first week in USA and had nightmares about it
for a year later.

My cousins live about 800km out of Sydney and on one trip
I had to choose between the train and driving by car.
I called them up and asked what I should do. They said
"no way in hell should you drive - an american tourist
killed himself here just the other day".

After a trip to Australia one year, I returned to the US and pulled out
of a petrol station here onto the wrong side of the road and had
cars diving off the road everywhere to avoid me.

A friend of mine from Australia drove down from Philadephia to
DC to meet me, on freeways most of the way (the easiest driving
as far as being on the other side is concerned) and he was a wreck
by the time he got to me and wanted me to do all the driving for his
visit.

I actually take about 2 weeks in Australia, riding a bike before
I feel safe to drive. Turning corners at intersections requires
some thought - you can wind up on the wrong side of the road.
Looking at the front passenger of the other cars for clues as
to what the car is going to do next is another problem.
You also tend to offset the car in your lane. On my first trip
back to Australia in 10yrs, I turned a corner at an intersection
and ran the outside hubcaps into the cement gutter, not realising
that the car now extended to the left of me. Even now after
many trips back, on a divided road in Australia, I have the
hardest time figuring out which is the fast lane.

If you aren't good at changing sides, then you are a menace
to yourself and other people on the road. I believe I'm just
an average driver. Where I fit on the chart of ability
to change side I don't know. I maybe one of the worst cases
for all I know. American tourists have about double the chance
of dying in Australia of any other tourist. I don't know why,
but until you know you aren't going to join them, people
coming to Australia should know that changing sides is a
problem for some.

Joe

--
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
jmack (at) wm7d (dot) net - azimuthal equidistant map
generator at http://www.wm7d.net/azproj.shtml
Homepage http://www.austintek.com/ It's GNU/Linux!

mack wrote:
Peter wrote:


More notably the astronomer Gene Shoemaker died a few years back in
an
accident depressingly familiar.

I heard that he'd died on a country road in WA. I'd assumed it was
a headon from driving on the wrong side of the road, but had
never heard any details.

I was sorry to hear of his untimely death. He did much for us all.

A man very well liked and respected by his peers.

"Gene Shoemaker, renowned both as a geologist and an astronomer, and a
member of the Board of Directors of The Spaceguard Foundation, was
killed instantly on the afternoon of July 18, when his car collided
head-on with another vehicle on an unpaved road in the Tanami Desert
northwest of Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory of Australia. His
wife Carolyn, who had closely collaborated with him in both his
geological and his astronomical activities for many years, was injured
in the accident and is in stable condition in Alice Springs Hospital."
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/sl9/news81.html

"The world has lost one of its most renowned scientists with the death
of Eugene Shoemaker at age 69. On the afternoon of July 18th, Gene and
his wife, Carolyn, were involved in a car accident in central
Australia. He was fatally injured; Carolyn suffered broken ribs but is
expected to recover. The pair had arrived in Australia just six days
before to study some of the continent's numerous impact craters -- an
annual trek Down Under that they'd made a habit in recent years."
http://www.xs4all.nl/~carlkop/shoemak.html
And some pictures of Gene and his work: http://tinyurl.com/4muxx

Peter

mack wrote:
Peter wrote:


More notably the astronomer Gene Shoemaker died a few years back in
an
accident depressingly familiar.

I heard that he'd died on a country road in WA. I'd assumed it was
a headon from driving on the wrong side of the road, but had
never heard any details.

I was sorry to hear of his untimely death. He did much for us all.

A man very well liked and respected by his peers.

"Gene Shoemaker, renowned both as a geologist and an astronomer, and a
member of the Board of Directors of The Spaceguard Foundation, was
killed instantly on the afternoon of July 18, when his car collided
head-on with another vehicle on an unpaved road in the Tanami Desert
northwest of Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory of Australia. His
wife Carolyn, who had closely collaborated with him in both his
geological and his astronomical activities for many years, was injured
in the accident and is in stable condition in Alice Springs Hospital."
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/sl9/news81.html

"The world has lost one of its most renowned scientists with the death
of Eugene Shoemaker at age 69. On the afternoon of July 18th, Gene and
his wife, Carolyn, were involved in a car accident in central
Australia. He was fatally injured; Carolyn suffered broken ribs but is
expected to recover. The pair had arrived in Australia just six days
before to study some of the continent's numerous impact craters -- an
annual trek Down Under that they'd made a habit in recent years."
http://www.xs4all.nl/~carlkop/shoemak.html
And some pictures of Gene and his work: http://tinyurl.com/4muxx

Peter