Our trip carries on...

We leave Sydney today.

This best known Australian city has been our home for the past week and a half. We've become well acquainted with the transportation system, sat under its many trees, appreciated its beautiful beaches (and people), traversed its rocky terrain, and partook in its multicultural restaurant scene.

Familiarity has not bred contempt.

In fact, the comfortability of this knowledge and experience will be missed.

Sadly, we never got to see the 'Man fields' up close and personal.

We DID, however, watch an Australian Rugby game on TV. Our host tells us Australian Rugby is a mix of Rugby and football. I love football, but this was far more entertaining and moved much more quickly. Furthermore, it seems to require a more advanced and honed skill set, as tackling is not an option and there is no protective gear. The men are in incredible shape - all of them. We have yet to determine the multitude of rules.

We are setting out, in about an hour, to head towards the airport to pick up our first rental car. We toyed with the idea of buying a car, but the logistics of that just haven't meshed yet. We'll probably end up doing that once we hit Cairns (pronounced cans) and the Great Barrier Reef.

I'm terrified of the idea of driving on the left side of the road, while positioned on the right side of the car. Today is our first experience with that. Luckily, we're picking up the car at the airport, and not heading into Sydney traffic. Left turns become tight turns, while right turns become wide. Round-abouts now flow clockwise, to the left, instead of counterclockwise, to the right.

We were watching Tommy Boy the other day and Mel commented - he's driving on the wrong side of the road! Her mind has already adjusted to the left side of the road being the correct side.

Mine, however, has not. When I first arrived, cars on the left just looked off. That was simple, because I could definitively tell you which side of the road you were supposed to drive on, simply because it was the opposite of what I knew.

But now.

Now, I'm just confused about which side of the road to drive on. Nothing seems correct anymore. Because I can't even tell you which side is wrong, figuring out which side is right becomes all the more complicated.

[Disclaimer: the word wrong simply means opposite from American standards. Neither is right or wrong, but rather what I am used to. I don't expect Aussies to conform to any other standard, it's just the simplest way to describe to you my perceptions.]

The other day, we were walking out of McDonalds (through which the drive-through flows in an opposite direction around the building as well). A lady ran past us, and banged on the hatch of the car to our right. It drew our attention (she was trying to give the passengers a bag they had forgotten) and my first connection was with the driver. He was a young boy, probably 7 or so.

Split second confusion.

Split second recognition.

He was the front passenger, driver on the other side.

It happened again later that day. We were on the sidewalk, waiting to cross the street. A fire truck comes blaring by. Mel and I both catch the driver reading a newspaper and immediately wonder how he is driving. Of course, he wasn't. But the mind was very disoriented.

Adventures in driving, day 1.
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We picked up the car.

Let me interject that our cab driver, an Asian-Australian, was very interesting. He kept referring to the rental car companies as 'dictators' because they are a private company. "They're not democracies, like the public companies." He said.

He made me laugh a lot, though I'm not sure whether it was at him or with him.

I'm now writing, and surprised to be alive, at a McDonald's somewhere south of Wollongong. Driving in Australia is even worse than I thought it would be.

I honestly thought it might not be as bad as I thought; however, it's worse.

For example, I didn't consider depth perception. I'm sitting in the front seat with Walter, who has opted to drive first. And I'm scared out of my mind. I keep thinking he is going to hit the cars that are around us.

Walt is a good driver; however, he brakes a lot differently than I do. We're flying down the side of a mountain going 140 and I'm trying not to freak out.

That's 140 KM/H, not 140 Mi/H. But it still feels really fast.

Walt goes into a story about how his dad drives like an aggressive madman, claiming that he, himself, is tame compared to this.

Thank God I never have to drive with his dad. Ever. I would probably have a heart attack.

Also, I think the lanes are smaller. Walt swears it's our minds, not reality, but I don't think a SUV would fit in one of these lanes without crashing into the other cars.

We also got lost on the way out of Sydney. Luckily, we had a tiny little map with tiny little red lines on it.

We will likely be investing in GPS rather soon.

Do GPS have scenic routes within? Here's crossing my fingers.

We're carrying on South for another few hundred miles today. We have three days to get down to Melbourne, which should be plenty of time.

I miss having high speed wireless to share our video blogs with you guys.

Cheers!