get lost!

I really am quite scared of getting lost.  I was born without a sense of direction and have quite literally never been able to find my way out of a paper bag.  Well, talk about facing your fears!  I have moved across the world to a whole new city grid and plethora of landmarks.  Thank goodness for Garmin, my new best friend, and for googlemaps.  Did you know that you can click on "Get directions" and googlemaps will take you through the whole process of moving from A to B quite effortlessly.  Isn't technology great?!

I am pleased to announce that there are days when I don't even turn the GPS on in the car now and I have totally surprised myself (and my family) by eloquently giving other people directions to a play area or restaurant with the correct street names and landmarks thrown in.  The road system in Perth is pretty straight forward and the beautiful Swan River does a great job of dividing it into halves.  I can now confidently get to swimming lessons, Rob's office, Kings Park and a number of other destinations with only a moment's hesitation before heading in the right direction.  I still have my moments, of course, and if I pull over or into a driveway for any reason, the boys still ask me if I have made a wrong turn or am totally lost.  Over all I really feel that I have done quite well.  I attribute this great achievement to the fact that I really consciously embraced the challenge of the roads.  I got here determined to cement the maps in my brain and overcome my fear.  Well, the fear of getting lost persists, as sadly, we are unable to develop a sense of direction.  The good news is you can master the layout of a city with some effort.

Added to all this driving around is the fact that our driver's licenses are not valid after expiration and can only be converted by taking a Theory and Practical exam.  My license has two weeks validity left so I have been driving around in the infamous little Getz, taking note of my own bad habits and practising driving at 50km/h.  At first I had to put Hugo under the accelerator to achieve any consistency in speed but now I have it all worked out - just hum to the '80s music on the local station and pretend you don't have to be anywhere important before Christmas and you're fine.  I am halfway through the process, having passed the Theory test with flying colours.  (It comprised mostly of identifying roadsigns featuring indigenous species and working out whose turn it is to move in a roundabout).  This Wednesday I don the low cut blouse and miniskirt and head for the testing office to show off my parallel parking skills.

 I just can't wait.