Navimigation

The car is reeeeally nice to drive! It's by far and away the biggest car either of us have ever driven, both in physical size and engine size, but it's really easy to drive. Feels very lazy driving an automatic, but I like it and could definitely get used to it. Just hope I don't forget how to drive manually!

Yesterday I got a new gadget, a Navman S30 Sat-Nav. It's a luxury, not a necessity, but it's a luxury that will make it a lot easier to get around. I'm going to try it out Thursday as i've offered to take Anna (not sure if i've mentioned, we're sharing with another Dr and his fiance.. she's the fiance), to Tamworth Airport so she can catch a flight to Sydney. She's been here just under 4 weeks and she's jetting back to Rome and Barcelona for two weddings before going to London and flying back to Oz. Crazy.

Sarah had to be at work for 7:30am today, so she wasn't very happy about that, but she'll have been fine when she got there. Not a morning person, bless her. Then again, neither am I.

The Falcon flies

Second hand cars are quite a bit more expensive here than they are in the UK, so we weren't sure how soon we'd be able to get a car, or even if it would be possible to manage without one at all. As it turns out, while we're here in Tamworth, it's possible to manage without one. However, yesterday we went for a look to see what was available and came across a really good deal. So, we're buying a car!

It's a 2001 Ford Falcon (which is a saloon, not a million miles away from being an Aussie Mondeo). It's green, has tinted windows, air-con and cup-holders! It's really spacious inside and has a big boot too. Oh, and of course it's automatic and has a 4.0 litre, 6 cylinder engine. We would both have preferred to have a manual, but autos are more common here. The engine is huge, but much like american cars, it's not as powerful as the engine size might suggest. 

It's only had one previous owner, an elderly couple that kept it in great condition. The other good thing is it's only got 75,000kms/46,000 miles, so nice low mileage. The test drive went really well and we can pick it up friday. 

The challenge will be getting used to the kilometers an hour, new speed limits, school zones with different speeds at different times and the indicators being on the wrong side of the steering column!