"marshknute" (marshknute)
05/12/2014 at 19:46 • Filed to: None
5
7|
"marshknute" (marshknute)
05/12/2014 at 19:46 • Filed to: None | 5
| 7 |
I'm currently halfway through my semester studying abroad at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, which is in Australia. That means I am currently 14+ hours ahead of the majority of Opponaughts.
What does that mean? Well, when I wake up, Jalopnik and Oppo are oversaturated with an entire day's worth of articles! In fact, I've been getting up 30 minutes earlier just so I can read all the most important articles and conversations before I go to class.
The bad news? It's almost impossible to contribute to any discussions. The only overlap hours when I can converse with other 'Murican Jalops occur right before I go to bed: midnight in Sydney = 10am New York time.
Anyway, my Mom's visiting this week and we'll spend the weekend going on a glacier tour in New Zealand. We're renting a car, which means I'll be driving on the wrong side of the road and negotiating roundabouts. I've never driven on the wrong side of the road before, so it'll be interesting to see how easy/difficult the transition is. Sadly, the rental will have an automatic. I tried to convince my mom to rent a manual since I'll be the one driving, but she refused on the basis that "you might break your leg on the glacier and then I'll have to drive home, and I hate driving stick." Because that kind of thing happens. Apparently.
I'll do an Oppo review of whatever rental we end up getting. And yes, I'll drive it exactly as Clarkson drove his rented Corolla.
ToyDeathbot
> marshknute
05/12/2014 at 20:22 |
|
welcome to my everyday procrastination cycle (+13GMT ftw!)
twochevrons
> marshknute
05/12/2014 at 20:32 |
|
I'm a New Zealander living in the US – I've been back home a few times, and switching driving sides has never really bothered me. I'll admit to having instinctively got into the wrong side of the car on a couple of occasions, but once I'm actually behind the wheel, it isn't all that big a deal.
You'll be in for a treat as far as driving is concerned. Most New Zealand highways are still undivided, with a single lane in each direction. Combine that with hilly terrain, and you get twisty, challenging, and most of all, fun, driving. Watch out for speed cameras – speed limits are pretty vigorously enforced, but with all the twisty bits, you can have plenty of entirely legal fun.
I look forward to the Opporeview. NZ gets some interesting cars that don't make it Stateside – we import used cars from Japan, so there are plenty of interesting JDM-only cars, as well as the Aussie and European marques. In relation to that, I have a bit of a favour to ask – when I was back in NZ last, I wrote up a few Opporeviews of my family's more interesting cars (including my Dad's insane Citroën BX 16v and my grandmother's owned-since-new 1968 Triumph wagon), but I can't seem to post. I'd be much obliged if you could grant me posting privileges.
rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S
> marshknute
05/12/2014 at 20:43 |
|
I make it a policy not to have regrets in life - but if I had one thing to do over it would be to study a broad (or, preferably, several broads) at Sydney Uni. I've been to Australia a bunch of times since then and my wife is from Sydney (and we rent a house every year in Bilgola), but having a very busy job I spend a lot of time working even at the beach. Seems like being there in school would be much more fun!
Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
> rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S
05/12/2014 at 21:09 |
|
I quite like to study broads.
TA4K
> marshknute
05/13/2014 at 01:22 |
|
It is a bit annoying posting from the other side of the world, but hey, there isn't really much we can do. Have fun here in Kiwiland, as Halkyardo said driving can be great fun and the roads are pretty basic. Where in NZ are you gonna be?
|
marshknute
> TA4K
05/13/2014 at 01:35 |
|
We'll be flying into Christchurch, then taking the Trans-Alpine train to Greymouth. We'll pick up the rental car in Greymouth and drive to Franz Joseph for the glacier tour and finally drive back to Christchurch the next morning to catch our return flight to Sydney.
Do you know of any particularly fun roads I should take on the drive to/from Franz Joseph? Because rental car.
Simplify, then add beer
> marshknute
05/13/2014 at 03:52 |
|
Quit ya bitchin. It was a cracker of a sunny day in Sydney.