The problems with driving in New Zealand are not what you would think….

Sure, I still get confused when I see a 10 year old get out of the car on the “Driver’s side”. And yes - I still occassionally turn on windshield wipers when I try to use the turn signal. But, driving on the left side of the road is really not too bad.

2 things that are bad:

1. Roundabouts - no clue if this is how you spell this. Roundabouts basically do not exist in the U.S., so this has been quite a learning experience for Jen and I. Often, we will just sit at the entrance to a roundabout until either a) every single car is gone, or b) someone behind us starts honking. You see, the guy on your right always has the right of way - but the guy on his right (directly north of you) has right of way over him. So, if there is someone on your right, but someone else is coming from straight ahead, you basically pretend you are playing frogger with cars.

2. Right of way turns. So, you come to an intersection and want to turn left (remember - you are in the left lane), however, there is someone coming towards you who wants to turn right (same direction you’re going). One would think that you would have right of way as he will be cutting across the entire intersection to get to the same place. One would be wrong - basically, the rule of thumb is the biggest turn has the right of way. Yes - Kiwis view the world a bit differently.

Let me just say that we found our first big difference – PIZZA.

Seriously – what kind of crazy pizzas are these in New Zealand? First night here we went to a nice little joint up the road called Sago Just for kicks, here’s Sago’s pizza options:

1. NZ COAST TO COAST
Sago’s seafood catch with scallops, mussels, squid, prawns, salmon and aioli
2. THE MEATS
Smoked bacon, pancetta & sirloin, Kikorangi blue, salami, chorizo w Barbeque sauce
3. TENDER CHICKEN
Marinated chicken, spring onions, cranberry jam, charred capsicums, Aorangi brie
4. SMOKED CHICKEN
Smoked chicken with avocado, sweet chilli, capsicum chermoula, tomato and crispy noodle
5. LELE’S GAME
Pepperoni, venison salami, spring onion, pork belly, chorizo, cranberry sauce
6. COUNTRY
Woodfired rosemary potato, bacon w onion jam, fried egg and basil pesto
7. VEGETARIAN
Barbequed corn, pumpkin, zucchini and red bell pepper w sour cream & tomato salsa
8. QUATTRO STAGIONI
Tomato and oregano sauce, ham, venison, pepperoni, fresh tomato and prawns, garnished with olive oil and chives

Now you tell me what the hell you would have ordered!

And it’s not only Sago who has these crazy pizzas – it’s everywhere. You cannot eat a pizza in New Zealand unless there are a minimum of 5 completely unrelated items on it from each of the 5 New Zealand food groups: Seafood, Vegetable, Fried Egg, Chinese Food, and Cranberry Jam.

After much planning, many sleepless nights, tons of help from family and friends, good times and sad – we are finally here! Had some very strange experiences in Los Angeles before we got out here as both Jen and I ran into people from our past within a few hours of arriving in LA – very weird. I tried to take a picture from the plane, but it was so dark outside that no one but me would have the faintest clue what it is. Have to say, the flight really wasn’t too bad. Ella slept for 9 of the 13 hours – half of the time on me, across me, over me, and occasionally on Jen. First taste of New Zealand food was pleasantly nice – Cheese was fantastic.

Once we landed, we cleared through Customs without any problems, and went out to meet the car that was supposed to be picking us up (it was 5:30 AM). An hour later the car still had not arrived, so we rented our first New Zealand Taxi-Van. Checked into the Spencer on Byron Hotel where we would make our home for the next 2 months. The Spencer is quite comfortable, has a nice little kitchen for us, and 2 connected rooms – not quite home, but a great view! . Slept well, but got a call about 11:00 AM from our car at the airport – apologizing for not being there – seems he completely forgot. Have to admit I was kind of amused that the rental car guy called 5 hours later to apologize to someone whom he had never met.