Brian Thornton and his wife went so far a break that any further and they'd have been on their way home!
Our journey covered around 5,000 kilometres or about 3,000 miles in three weeks. All that driving in a Ford Transit, aka a Campavan - did it not make you feel tired, you might ask?
No! But when the road surfaces are as good as they are in New Zealand, one's reason for not being tired is the relatively less amount of being thrown around in the cab. Now, why can't we make our roads like that in Ireland?
New Zealand shares a similar population to the Republic of Ireland (3.8m), although its land area is greater - about the size of Great Britain - and top to bottom of South Island would take around 13 hours' driving by road. New Zealand's car population is a bit less than Ireland, and at times made us wonder if the gates of the local motor museum had been left open all night! The economy is so poor that cars that we most probably have scrapped are still plying New Zealand's roads. The other reason is that there is a WoF (Warranty of Fitness) every six months, so generally these cars are kept in roadworthy condition.
In many ways New Zealand reminded me of Ireland two decades ago: the 'Green' party exercises much influence, so New Zealand exports timber and buys in matches made in Sweden by Bryant & Mayes, for instance. A Filipino fishing boat scoops fish from the Pacific Ocean along the New Zealand coastline, and comes back as value-added tinned product. It became accustomed to supplying Britain with much frozen sheep meat, a trade that slackened when the UK entered the EEC. It got a boost this year the dreaded FMD in these parts!
Tourism forms a huge part of its economy, and driving a hired Campavan provides the ideal solution. In something along the lines of our recent boarder vehicle spraying to keep out FMD, bananas are not allowed into New Zealand. Those try to carry in bananas are taken aside and have their luggage thoroughly inspected. The locals make a point of carrying bananas, as the separate queue is so much shorter and ensures quicker entry to the country!
Our two-berth came equipped with hot shower, flush toilet and of course, a gas cooker. Nice to pick a seaside location in the sun, and relax with a G and T before cooking that steak and having a bottle of New Zealand wine before a late evening stroll along the beach when all others - often as many as 30 other people! - have long since left to go home.
So, why then do they manage to kill so many drivers and pedestrians annually? We met with Geordie Cassin in Automobile Association of New Zealand - New Zealand's answer to Conor Faughnan, if you will. In New Zealand, the AA carries out many more tasks than here - ranging from the issue of licences through formulating a base for future legislation in Parliament, and of course motor insurance dealings.
The AA's answer to what is seen as appalling driving is that drivers are not properly trained, and that drivers are thought to be an aggressive breed. In fairness, the latter was not our experience. Perhaps it was because a Maui Campavan is most likely to be driven by a visitor, probably from the US and therefore not used to driving on the left as in Ireland - in each case a hangover from the British Commonwealth days. Thus, other drivers stayed their distance away!
New Zealand drivers are permitted to drive cars on the public roads at the age of 15 years, albeit on a graduated driver's licence with engine capacity limited. In Ireland such persons may blast away in any capacity fast car, without any mandatory tuition or test, or questions being asked on knowledge of the Rules of the Road until recently - and even that will not be operational until June 2001. That's a whole three months after junior Minister Bobby Molloy TD announced in April that a random question computer test must be passed. Previous Minister for the Environment Michael Smith TD told this scribe that such a test would be unfair, as many drivers might be illiterate and unable to pass a written test!
Not surprising then that New Zealand has some of the worst drivers in the 15 to 24 year age group. The Land Transport Safety Authority appeals to that section of drivers 'that they must realise that they are not bullet-proof'. Drivers of any age who hold a learner licence will be required to display an 'L' sign on their car, and to hold their licence for a minimum period of six months before applying for a restricted licence.
Applicants for a driver's licence must now have a minimum of 32 correct answers out of 35 written questions. When Ireland got to that point, applicants must pass 35 from 40 random questions. This, plus an eyesight certificate if they cannot pass a test to check distance and to the side, must accompany learner, restricted and full, licence applications.
New Zealand drivers must also pass an eyesight test each ten years before a driver's licence will be renewed. That is an annual 20,000 or so persons to be eyesight tested every year in New Zealand - but still nothing is required by Ireland's speeding drivers who presumably just as vision impaired!
By comparison, Irish drivers only need a medical report for all vehicles other than cars. New Zealand drivers are tested by a private organisation, and due account is taken over possible hesitancy.
New Zealand requires new and used cars to pass a test every six months (two years here, and then for only pre-1997 registered cars!). Owners cannot get annual licensing in the absence of obtaining a WoF, or Warranty of Fitness. New Zealand commenced car testing in 1987 (Ireland only in 2000), and all 'grey' imports from Japan and Korea must pass the WoF test prior to going anywhere on New Zealand roads. As with Ireland, these 'grey' imports have found their way around the Pacific Rim.
Whereas the traffic police used to be employed by the MoT, (Ministry of Transport), now such police act on behalf of the Land Transport Safety Authority, which makes the road safety rules. In our many miles of driving, throughout Europe and of course in Ireland, after 40 years of driving, we have never had to blow into a breathalyser. After seven days in the antipodes, we encountered a police block of around 14 officers, breath testing everyone and that in mid-afternoon! We were later to find that there was a 'blues' festival in the locality, so persons with drink taken might well have thought to drive home in that condition. The limit is 50mg, compared with Ireland's 80mg per 100ml.
Given continuous threats to have a demerit points system in Ireland for traffic misdemeanors, New Zealand has larger figures than what is proposed for Ireland on the same lines as in Britain. Speeding can attract 50 demerit points, and when any person reaches 200 points in two years, that person will be sin-binned and off the road for a period. Most New Zealand people with whom we discussed the topic, are under the impression that points obtained previously will automatically be wiped after a rolling two years.
Don't mention a word of it in Ireland, but the New Zealand law through its ambiguity actually says that the slate will not be wiped clean until a driver has gone for two years without incurring additional points. Being clear for two years after last detected, in addition to up to two years before that since the first demerit points were added, could leave a nasty situation in place for four years. Ponder on that one!!
In New Zealand, it is the purchaser who must call to a Land Transport Safety Authority agent and obtain a change of ownership card showing vendor's and purchaser's addresses. If not, the vendor will be liable for any fines or such until the change is registered, so this system leaves the purchaser in the clear.
All that said, New Zealand really is a beautiful country, and which is the first country in the world to see each new day. Its population is just under four million inhabitants, while at Central Otago are the most southern vineyards in the world at 45 degrees south - Ireland is around 530 (degrees) north. The culture refuses to allow the modern world to do anything to injure its environment. While Galway is coming to accustomed to separating refuse to be made into compost, recycled cans and true 'rubbish', and a similar scheme in west Dublin went belly-up, this separation is second nature to New Zealanders.
In fairness, every little hamlet has mains drainage and which has very efficient treatment for sewerage systems. So clean is the water, that on one overnight we parked the Campavan very close to the treatment plant - they are often on the side of a road - and there was no trace of smell. Even the seagulls were in the next outlet and were not attracted to swim or feed where the sewerage outflow pipe was. By comparison, Galway City in Ireland is still constructing its treatment plant - the famous Mutton Island scheme that passed through every court in the land where objectors were against such a project. The result is that raw sewerage from a city of 50,000 souls is still discharged untreated into the sea.
As your interest is obviously in cars - otherwise you would probably not reading this magazine - do make sure you leave time for a visit to the Southward Museum north of Wellington and near Paraparaumu. Pedestrians among you will have a ball: people are encouraged to walk in forests, over hills, most of which were volcanic in origin, on two glaciers and in nature parks.
They say that travel broadens the mind: it probably also broadens one's seat or posterior too! Having been given instructions just where we could park on our first morning in New Zealand, we decided that the space was tight for two vehicles just where the little subsidiary sign indicated "2". The was more space on the opposite side, where the sign seemed to allow "15" cars to park, and none had yet done so. An hour and a half later we returned having watched the yachts that took part in the America's Cup races. We were surprised to have a parking ticket affixed. We were later to learn the little figure represents the time, and not the number of vehicles that can park in the spaces indicated!
Our appeal to the Auckland City Fathers was met with sympathy, and they graciously agreed to waive the fine. Showing an address some 12,000 miles (20,000-km) distant may also have contributed, suggesting that I was too far away for pursuing! That the World is a village seemed to ring true when we learned that Martin McDonagh's "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" was on stage in Wellington. We were reminded that its origins in the west of Ireland - where we live - is a place "where you can't kick a cow without someone bearing a grudge for 20 years". You can check out what is showing at http://www.circa.co.nz/
We stayed a period in the US on the journey. Paperwork there requires persons to complete a lengthy form. Learning about the form, 2 minutes are suggested; completing the form, 4 minutes is suggested; for an estimated average of 6 minutes per response. If people have any suggestions for making the form simpler, the advice is to write to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) at the rather quaint "Office of Management and Budget at the Paperwork Reduction Project (my Italics) in Washington DC. Too bad they keep the form with your details and the address of the Paperwork Reduction Project, so offering little prospect of such a communication reaching the Paperwork Reduction people!
June 2001
by Brian Thornton