Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

I was just wondering if those of you who drive in Aus find it easy or otherwise to find your way around?

I spent several months of Aus back in the 90s but didn't drive anywhere. This was due in large part to being unable to drive! I was in plenty of vehicles as a passenger though, but for some reason I have a bit of a mental block as to what road junctions, freeways and general sign posting was like. I guess I was too busy looking sideways at the passing scenery, wildlife etc.

I especially would like to hear from folks who regularly drive around Melbourne, where you need at times to share the road with trams. Is this ever a problem? Also, are large road junctions there easy to negotiate? I remember the dotted lines on the roads that guided the driver doing right hand turns, but that's about all. Finally, do freeways have junction numbers, as my UBD maps don't appear to show them if they do.

This is more for Cas's benefit than mine, though I will learn to drive myself when I get round to it. Just curious as I may be acting as navigator!

Cheers. :)

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

Just curious as I may be acting as navigator!




oooooooooo errrrrrrrrrr tony...does this mean you'll be going over before youve finished your training? ;)

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

blimey, we better steer clear of melbourne then!? ha ha
seriously, my best mate is from melbourne, she has all the info you could need,will chat to her tomorrow and if you and cas want anything im sure you can email her. will let you both know her email address tomorrow when i emerge from nights.

Trish :zzz:

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

Blimey, I could read that reply in about five different ways, LOL! :D

If I finish my training here, then I would not see Cas for well over a year, unless I could scrape together the money to visit during holidays, but it just wouldn't be the same. I might be able to find a way to do it in Aus. I need to discuss this with Cas. :)

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

Thanks Tony! :rolleyes:

I have driven all over Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, as well as in the middle of Florence at the height of rush hour.
Also driven from New York to Montreal, and back another route.
It's not the junctions etc, etc that bothers me - or the other traffic, however much there is of it - it's just the way that roads/routes seem to alter between looking at a map and deciding which way to go! Worse at night when all roads seem to change direction - driving with me at night is like driving in the Twilight Zone :scared:

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

Cas is going to kill me for posting this thread! :eek:

She's a terrific driver btw, before anyone thinks that tram collisions might be on the cards! Thanks for the help re: your friend, mucho obliged. :)

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

Driving in Melbourne is certainly not dull. Most drivers find the trams a nuisance and you will see that the objective of many is to get past the tram as soon as possible :rolleyes: . I have become like that a little as the traffic goes pretty slowly when you are stuck behind one. The other interesting part comes when you are ‘accidentally’ blocking a trams path and the driver rings the bell and makes a big song and dance :eek: .

A new traffic rule to be learnt is the famous “hook turn�. In Melbourne City centre you are not allowed to turn right, from the right lane, it holds up the traffic and so you need to move into the left lane, and position yourself in front of the cars going straight and then go when the light turns green (does this make sense??,) anyway, it takes getting used to, also if you are pedestrian.

I find the driver more aggressive than in the UK. So many people driving high powered vehicles and in a big rush to get past everyone. I got dinged by a taxi a couple of weeks ago when he moved out of a parking space without looking (also pretty common, and so we figured it was only a matter of time before it happened).

All that said, the roads are in a “grid� style and places are easy to find and get to, all you need is a ‘Melways’ (like an A-Z). :D

Oh yes, and make sure that you don't get onto the Citylink accidentally - something we have done :o

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

Sorry Cas, as soon as I posted it I thought you might take it that way. I should have actually said that this thread is mainly for my benefit as I will be at times navigating, and I'm often hopeless at junctions because I'm going much faster than on foot, the speed I'm used to when normally navigating my way around. I'm sure you remember a few incidences of this when we were travelling around Kent, notably the time we zoomed off into deepest Sussex before I realised we'd gone the wrong way. :D

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

LOL, the sad part was that I didn't even realise - which says a lot for my route-finding skills (and seeing as it was dark - the way roads change as night falls!)

Cas

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

Thanks for that Shellfish! :)

I should perhaps also point out that I don't make a good passenger a lot of the time and I am usually fighting to control a panic attack on freeways and in busy traffic. I just don't like road travel, but see it as an essential evil in Aus.

I will never forget a coach journey out of Brisbane on the Pacific Motorway. I think my blood pressure doubled as we were tailgating other vehicles the whole way and everybody appeared to be jostling for space on the road. Not an experience I care to repeat.

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

Thought that was the way of driving on Motorways! :D :eek:

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

OK, you're scaring me now....... :eek: :D

Any info on junction exits folks? Are they clearly marked? Might seem like a damn fool question, but I really can't remember the freeways other than thinking I was going to die on one or two occasions........

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

think you need to stop panicking tony, just chill...mind you think youd be safer on horse back! hee! only joking cas, sure youre ace.
you must try and get to sunny swindon soon! :rolleyes:
Trish :)

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

Love to Trish - can we fix up a date?
btw do you know I ride horses too, and have tried to persuade Tony to come with me in Aus? :D
Cas
ps are you at work?

Re: Trying not to get lost in Aus!
 

naughty boy tony! :p

just wondered how you were going to get on without cas......
get it worted mate and finish training in oz!

btw...my friend is a mental health nurse and his wife is a social worker and they say that melbourne is a centre of excellence for mental heath care.unlike WA....their comment not mine :p