Chapter 10 - I Forgot My Mantra

In which our hero has a go at driving on the wrong side and very nearly makes a mess of it...

This morning I had a bit of a lie in. Till 10 a.m. Yes, I'm one of those people again. 10 o'clock is sleeping in. It's kind of good to be back like that. I'll have a couple of 8 a.m. starts once classes get going, so I might as well get used to it. Yesterday I had a good day wandering around campus. Productive and satisfying. I decided that today I'd finally buy the bike off Wen Ying, and take it down to the shop for a tune up, and possibly some less knobby tires.

I woke up, had my brekkie, and decided that first I should write some postcards, so I could post them in the post box while I was down at the shopping centre, because that's the nearest mail box, as far as I know. This led to copying my whole paper address book onto the computer. Then writing the postcards. Then waiting for Wen Ying to come back, as she was out, then buying the bike from her. The final price was $55, including lock and helmet. I think I'll probably need a new helmet, though, because this one is pretty raggedy. Then we sat and talked for a bit. Then it was 4:30, so I figured I should go down the hill and post my postcards and get to the bike shop. So off I went, all the while reminding myself “Keep left, keep left”. I got down there safely, posted the postcards in the postbox, and went to the bike shop. They closed at 1, because it's Saturday. So off I go back home.

Navigated the roundabout successfully twice (there and back). That's something. Then I was at the corner of Heslop Rd and Philip Something, about to turn left, waiting in the far left position. I was eyeing the far right lane, and had it in mind as my destination, as it would be in a normal place, where people drive on the right side of the road. The light turned green. I started aiming for it. About halfway across the road, I remembered “Keep LEFT!”, and so abruptly changed course. Now I was on the right side of the left two lanes. Quick shoulder check. No one behind me. Moved over to the far left. Phew.

Now there was a right turn approaching, from Heslop Rd onto Entrance Rd. The road I was turning on to was divided down the middle. I successfully turned on to the left section, but again I was on the right of it. I looked back. There was a car just turning on to the road behind me. Eeep! Try not to panic! Swerved over to the left, and kept going. I'm sure they thought I was either intoxicated or some irresponsible teenager who thought the rules didn't apply to them, because they'd most likely been coming down the hill and seen a bit of the first situation on Heslop Rd. Holy good grief. At least it wasn't like mad rush hour traffic.

The next challenge was to get to the top of the hill. This stupid thing causes me grief when I'm walking, let alone riding. I made it to the top of the hill that's the bottom of my road, and walked the rest of the way up to the house. I'm sure I'll be able to make it up eventually. Sigh. It's not my legs that can't do it, it's my lungs.

Anyway. On my way up, I saw this tree full of cockatoos. Apparently there's black cockatoos as well, which might be what those black and red parrot things I saw at the uni were. These ones were white, though. Take a look.  They're incredibly noisy and squawky.

And, I discovered something awesome. My house mates informed me that with a Go Card, if you make more than ten trips in a week, everything after ten is free. Go Cards can apply to anything related to the TransLink system, which is buses, trains, ferries, whatever. So in a normal school week, when I'm going to and from school every day, that's ten trips. Then, on Saturday, I could take the train to Brisbane for FREE!! How much awesome is that?? And home again for free, and all around, and go on the ferries and water taxis and things, and whatever accepts a Go Card! Sweet deals!