On the way back from Wellington yesterday I picked up 2 NZ driving licence forms. We’d decided to get them done, so I thought I’d find out if we could do it locally. Yep! We can! It looks like its only about £20 and there’s no exam or anything (well, maybe an eye-test!).

Played RPG with the guys back in Bridgend over Skype again – brilliant fun! The random dice generator seems to roll as many bad dice as I do normally! No change there then….

I completed the driving license forms in the early afternoon (getting Louise to just sign hers LOL) and we popped down to the AA office in Paraparam. The lady behind the counter groaned a little when she realised that there two “foreign conversions” to do, but put a brave face on things and ignored the queue building up behind us. Nearly all the Kiwis behind us could see we were going to take awhile and popped into the other queue, but one stayed. She did look a bit frazzled and on edge though.

I’d worn my contacts as it was a bright sunny day (again….) and had no problem with the eye test – there was a machine on the counter and she even stopped me reading out the lines because I could see too well!). The only downside for me is that it will stste on my license that I HAVE to be wearing corrective lenses (contacts or glasses) when I’m driving. No real problem there though as I can’t see otherwise! The police would take a dim view of me if I was found not to be wearing them though, and kindly help me lighten the load on my wallet by the removal of several $20 notes!!

Louise had no problems either, although she had to move away from the machine a bit while checking her peripheral vision – she was hugged up too close to the machine!

All in all a nice friendly experience. Nothing like the hassle I’m sure most Kiwis could look forward to if they were doing the same thing in the UK!

Back home for a cheap rump steak and salad again. We would have got chicken of course, but the price of “chooks” makes it a non-starter. Its cheaper to go to KFC for a chook-fix!