Driving Miss Me...

I've been thinking about our trip to NSW as I scrap some photos. Our plane trip was exciting and new for Erin and I (Chris - a bit more seasoned with the flying thing) but things really started happening when we arrived at the airport.

I had googled some map directions, telling me that the trip to Terrigal should take 90 minutes. We had packed our e-tag so we could smoothly use the tollways. And Chris had loaded up the trip on his phone which would be our navigator. We were well prepared.


What could go wrong?

We landed in Sydney on a Friday afternoon at 4pm. We hadn't factored in that this particular Friday was the beginning of a long weekend when every single person in the city of Sydney was leaving for a break.

It took about half an hour to collect our bags and hire car. The little manual Corolla was easy to drive and I jumped in the drivers seat for that first journey so Chris could be Mr Maps and guide us out of the city. The first snag was the delay in picking up a signal on the GPS. While we were waiting for that first direction I headed out the way the guy at the Hertz booth directed me, he also added 'follow the signs to Newcastle'.

Well after the first left turn there were no signs! There was no directions from the phone and Chris had his phone out the window attempting to get a signal. What there was was a lot of traffic, rushing in and out of lanes and intent on getting in front. I had no idea where I was going, I kept heading towards Centrepoint tower (lucky that thing is so tall) as we knew that was in the city and I kept hoping for a sign for the Harbour Bridge. I kept saying to Chris 'left or right?' We were pretty clueless but I lucked onto the Bridge and onto the Pacific Highway. By the time the signal kicked in we were heading in the right direction.

After inching along the Pacific Highway and adjusting to the Sydney way of driving, 3 hours later we pulled into Terrigal. We didn't go the toll way, the most direct way and definately not the quickest way but we made it with very little clue of the best way. During the trip the GPS function of the phone worked really well as long as you gave it some time to think.

Our return trip to the airport was much smoother, our GPS took us on a different and quicker route, on freeways and tollways. We even went under the harbour in the tunnel and were ready to check in 2 hours after we left Terrigal.

Live and learn.