From the beginning of the Road Trip

In New Zealand you drive on the left side of the road. Approximately 90% of the country's inhabitants do not have car insurance. As you may be able to guess...our NZ adventure started real quick! Here is a summary of the first minute of our roadtrip. Being the alpha male I am (no laughing!), I volunteered to be our first driver in one of New Zealand's most populated cities -- Auckland. J.R. is our navigator and sits in the passenger seat. We slowly roll out of the Spaceship rentals driveway and we are on our way on the left side of the road. Suddenly our GPS malfunctions and we immediately miss our first turn. As input is simultaneously given by all passengers in the spaceship, I manage to find a lot/driveway to turn around in. This is when instinct took over...I turned around but I found myself on the wrong side of the driveway (easy to make a right turn, but not on the left side!). Foot on the break, we pause so a large truck can go around us and enter the driveway....but he doesn't go around us enough! The truck's narrow turn caught the side of the spaceship. J.R. yells, "We just got hit by a truck....in our first minute!" Sam sits in the back saying driving was a stupid idea! Ben signals to our other spaceship that we have been struck. Next, the truck driver pulls ahead a bit to get out of the way. He looks back at us and then just drives off!!! Here is a picture of the spaceship's battle wound:


Although a rocky first minute to the trip, everything was easy after this. The majority of the country is two-lane highways and city driving quickly was no big deal anyways. Driving on the left side is not overly difficult and it is actually pretty fun. Still, we will always remember when we were hit by a truck in the first 60 seconds of our road trip (even if it was only a 5 mph scratch!).


Also, here's an inside look at the Spaceship...seating for 4 in the front half, bed in back! (king of reminds me of a mullet....business in the front, par-tay in the back!)


The rest of the trip to come later today...