Mini Golf Misadventures

The last few days have been fairly quiet. We are planning to do some more travelling for a week or so, departing on Saturday, so that will be more exciting, but nearly everything was closed over the last week so there wasn't much point in leaving Chch before now. We've been to the beach a couple of times, and I got to enjoy my new body board while splashing about in the waves at Woodend, and we also fitted in a game of crazy golf. It was well named; the golf course was clearly laid before an earthquake or some other such traumatic event, because the tarmac courses were far from flat, and some of them had canyons running right across the middle. There was also the occasional plant rearing its head through the middle. It made for an amusing but very frustrating game!

However, the lull did give us a good opportunity to swot up on the New Zealand Road Code, and yesterday morning Skry and I headed to the AA shop to take our driving tests. My application to convert my UK driving licence cost $84, and involved some form filling and then the theory test. Skry was also taking the theory test as he has applied for his learning licence (his application and test cost about $80). Luckily for us, the rules of the road here are very similar to those used at home, so we already had a good background knowledge and it was more a question of picking out the few bits that are too specific to remember all the time, and the bits that really are different here. Of the latter, the most obvious one is the rule that says you must give way to those coming from your right at intersections. This gets quite confusing for me, and I always have to think about it when I'm turning left at a crossroads, and remember to check for people coming from the road directly opposite me who are turning right. In any case, we both passed our theory test with flying colours, and I now have a full New Zealand driving licence. Skry has his learner licence, but he can't get behind the wheel without a qualified supervisor, and part of that qualification involves having held an NZ licence for at least two years. Obviously I don't fit that category, so I have to apply for an exemption, which costs another $22 and takes about ten days to come through. The delay's annoying, but hopefully it will have come through by the time we get back from our next trip, and he'll be able to take a few turns behind the wheel whenever we visit the North Island.