Driving in Australia

So, we are slowly getting used to it. For those who don’t know, Aussies drive on the opposite side of the road, which also means everything in your vehicle is flip flopped as well…windshield wipers, turn signal, mirror adjustments, shifter, etc.  It definitely takes some getting used to. 
Brian drove back in February when we visited and it was pretty scary the first time-for both of us!  The roads are very narrow here, so if you’re more used to driving on the left side of the vehicle and more or less being aware of your space on that side to the line, then flip-flopping things gets confusing and the passenger of the vehicle FREAKS out often as it appears you are going to hit everything on that side of the road. 
I was pretty hesitant to drive when we arrived…Brian kept asking, and I kept saying, soon.  In my defense, it rained for the first 5 days here and I didn’t want my first time driving to be in less than ideal conditions.  Finally, the weather seemed nice, so Brian asked as we got ready to go have lunch with a co-worker and I said, “Okay, but just for a little bit…I don’t want to drive into the city.”  Well, guess what…I ended up driving into the city (downtown Sydney)-think driving in Chicago, but on the opposite side of the road with very narrow roads in the widest vehicle they have there…that was me!  I survived….even parking!  My heart was racing and I was super tense, but I did it! 
So, now I’ve gotten fairly used to driving around the suburbs, other than some roads where everyone is parked on the side….I really need to get used to my space on the left side…no big deal when there aren’t cars in the opposing lane and I can go around these cars, but when there is, I just try to hug the inside line and hold my breath and suck it in as I squeeze between vehicles.  Thankfully-no accidents yet!  I’m sure there is all this space over there, but it sure doesn’t feel like it!  The other thing I need to get used to here is parking!  Parallel parking was something I was finally good at doing when driving on the left…no idea how to adjust to that one.  And even parking in a space-it’s so much narrower and even the space between parked cars is smaller, so backing out is also a challenge.  I pretty much drive around until I see a really good option for this big old mini van. 
Here’s me in our smaller rental car:

A few other things to get used to:
-Not turning left on red lights, UNLESS it says you can (and will sometimes list times that it’s allowed)
-That 2P (or 1/4P, etc.) means 2 hour parking
-Talking on your phone or operating the GPS while driving is against the law
-There are roundabouts everywhere-so ALWAYS look…and look in the correct direction!
-Passing on the right side on the highway-I guess it’s actually illegal to remain in the right lane unless “overtaking” another vehicle
-They have speed cameras in a lot of places, but GPS can warn you of them
-They do RBT (Random Breath Tests) since they have such strict drunk driving laws (.05 legal limit) We actually saw them doing RBTs in the middle of the day when we were here back in February.
-Speed limits are signposted at regular intervals, and can change frequently
-You do not have to come to a complete stop for buses dropping or picking up children (same applies for emergency vehicles)
-And then of course just getting use to kilometers and meters!