Fractal Blog

I'm writing this entry sitting on the shady balcony, watching the yacht race in the sun-drenched harbour. One of the big pleasures of living here.

The day can already be chalked up as a success: We managed to get Australian driving licenses. This was a rather quicker process than we had expected: We turned up at the RTA office (equivalent of the UK DVLA) and got handed a form. Filled in form, brought with us UK driving licenses, our passports and an Aussie bank statement as proof-of-address, then the officer asked "Can you read the bottom line on that screen". Considering that you'd have to be half-blind not to be able to read script that big three meters from your face this wasn't a problem. They took our photographs there-and-then. Having forked over $142 each as well we thought we'd completed the application process but we were told there would be a five-minute wait. We thought they were checking the information given before letting us go. After five minutes we got called back to the desk. "Here are your driving licenses. Have a good day." They printed them immediately. In the UK this would have involved sending passports through the post and a two-week processing time.

If we hadn't had UK licenses (apparently, the UK is one of the countries deemed to have a driving test "of comparable standard to Australia") we'd have had to re-take the test here. Having observed the general standard of driving on the roads here I'm pretty sure the test consists of the following exercises: 1. Try to frighten as many pedestrians as possible. 2. Stopping on red at the stop line is for wimps. Drive straight through, or, if really not possible, stop directly on the pedestrian crossing, blocking it. 3. Having driven past the left turn you intended to take, reverse down the four-lane major road you're on and make the turn anyway. 4. Having decided that you really want to be going in the opposite direction, swerve across four lanes and do an illegal U-turn. Do this at high speed in order to avoid holding up other traffic for too long. 5. Your indicators are a high-value item that you should avoid using wherever possible. Other road users can see where you're going so there is no point. Demonstrate your appropriate use of the horn if other road users fail to read your intentions correctly (or if you change your mind).

Anyway, we now have a form of identification that can be handed over without a string of explanations. Next admin item, a Medicare card. Given that a driving license is a prerequisite to get one of those it should now all fall into place.

Still no broadband so I'm posting several entries in one go. From a wireless hotspot. I feel crippled without continuous access to the internet.