09 October 2012

Driving On The Left Side Of The Road

For the rest of my time in Australia I'm going to avoid motorized vehicles. They're like the oil to my water, and it's just not working out. They say third times the charm, but in this case my charm might be deadly. So I'm just calling it quits.

The story starts with Fraser Island. The biggest sand island in the world, Fraser is just a 20 minute ferry ride from the tiny little town of Rainbow Beach. When I arrived in Rainbow Beach I was gearing myself up for a fun three days of four-wheel driving in the sand, amazing beaches and lakes, and some fun goon times on a campsite. And while I did get that, I also learned that driving on the left side of the car, whilst on a sandy track, is no piece of cake! I decided to have a go at driving the 4wd Toyota Land Cruiser, thinking that if I attempted to drive on the narrow inland track, where a track was basically already embedded into the sand, it would be much easier than driving on the beach. Boy was I wrong! About 20 minutes into my drive, while already struggling to stay on the track, I ran smack into a tree! Luckily, I was going very slowly and nobody was hurt, however I did manage to crack the radiator and put the car out of commission. While it was pretty embarrassing at first, afterwards I was the talk of the camp, and I still managed to have an amazing time. But the crash really should have been my first sign that I just shouldn't drive in Australia.

Fast-forward four days and I am in the teeny tiny town of 1770. Aside from the beach and a couple shops, this town has nothing to do aside from the famous Scooteroo tour on motorbikes. Forgetting my struggles in Fraser Island, I of course signed up for Scooteroo. At the start of the tour we were dressed up in leather jackets, tattoos (fake of course!) and given our own motorbikes to ride. I struggled a bit on the practice track, but figured I would get the hang of it once I got on the road. And again I was proved wrong. I kept hugging the left side of the road (which I blame on being used to driving on the right!), couldn't keep myself centered and thus was very wobbly, and was incapable of mastering the sharp turns. After about an hour in, the tour guides could easily see I was struggling and offered to let me ride on the back of one of their bikes. I was more than happy to jump on the bike as a "koala" and let someone else worry about the driving. And once I did I had so much more fun, and got to go even faster than one of those motorbikes would go!

So as an end result from both of these trips I have decided it's just not in the cards for me to operate motorized vehicles in Australia. I have struggled one time to many, which I am taking as a sign, and I am not doing Americans any favors as an ambassador for our impeccable driving skills! In reality, I think I am much better suited on the back of a bike and so I'm just going to stick with that from now on!

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