Yesterday I won an auction for a used desk on Trade Me (working from the couch is only comfortable for the first few days). Given the fact I don’t have a car and don’t plan on getting one for a while, I needed to figure out how to get this desk home.  I didn’t really want to rent a truck or SUV so I asked my flatmate to borrow his car.  It’s a sweet Nissan Bluebird SSS; also known as a Nissan Altima in the USA.

This was my first time driving in a car in New Zealand.  The only other time I have driven on the left-hand side of the road was in St. Croix and they use left-hand drive cars on the left-hand side of the road (weird).

So… I didn’t crash or get pulled over, but here a few things that were really weird:

1. I instinctively kept trying to get in the car on the wrong side.
2. I cleaned the windshield every time I needed to put on my turn signal (they call them “indicators” here).
3. Having the rear-view mirror on the left side was really freaking me out.
4. I had no sense of depth on the left side of the car; I felt like I was going to scrape all the parked cars along the road.
5. Every time I adjusted the seat I ended up doing a e-brake power slide. Just kidding.
6. Hanging your right arm out the window while driving feels unnatural and strange.

Long story short, the desk was too big for the car and the nice guy who I bought it from delivered the desk for free.  Kiwis are so nice!