Hi Everyone….
So I have finally found the best thing about driving our old Toyota Yaris…. When you are in need of a new car pretty much everything is an upgrade!
Check out our new 2013 Hyundai i20… Even the Hyundai’s over here have power retractable side mirrors, and I know why the parking spots seem smaller!
Buying a car here is so easy! No need to visit the license bureau the plates come with the car and the plate registration is linked to the plate not a person so it goes along with it. When we bought ours it still had a month of registration. We have since purchased a full year for around $600 which include your plates but also your 3rd party liability insurance.
We are both adjusting to driving on the left side of road. It’s the little habits inside the car that are tough to break. The “indicators” and the wipers being reversed is a tough one, as is the knobs on the radio being opposite. The worst of all though, backing up and looking over your left shoulder feels very wrong.
For all the Ontarian’s reading this, what happened to the Yield sign? Here they are called “Give Way” and they are quite common, and great! On the side streets they don’t even have signs, most 4 ways stops are a roundabout and for “T” like intersections you just have to watch for straight thru traffic. Uncle Michael, you look into who is printing all those Stop signs in Ontario, it’s a provincial conspiracy, follow the money (wink, wink)…
Gas is pretty similarly priced although I’m sure on average we are paying more. You can shop for a deal, the price appears to range more here with the news reporting high and low prices that can vary about 20 cents per. The pump stations are also a touch different… Most have 3 kinds of petrol, 2 kinds of diesel, plus they have natural gas filling stations.
Using public transit… We are very close to the Mitchel Freeway, which has a commuter train running down the middle of it, and bike path running alongside. Great idea!
All those sitting in traffic heading into the city have to watch the train speed past, even though traffic here is nothing like the 401… Still, it is great motivation to take transit. From our place we can walk to the station and get downtown in about 40 minutes. Most of the stations on our line have parking lots and you can actually find a spot to park no matter the time and the cost, all day for 2 bucks! Atticus loves seeing the trains from the car and is a great rider.
All else is well here…. We did experience Perth’s second wettest day on record, 114 mm just shy of the 120 mm that fell in February 1992. It was just a long day of rain for us at least, no heavy down pours. Although area’s around the city have washed out roads and lots of the wineries have lost their crop. Several areas have also been declared disaster area’s and unfortunately some loss of life has been reported.
The weather is changing no matter where you are I guess….
Cheers
Paul