Note: Apologies for the radio silence but it has been an odd couple of weeks. I have been keeping notes; I just haven’t got around to adding them to the blog. To help me keep track I will be back-dating the posts, so the previous few and next several posts will catch me up to date.
As always, this road trip introduced me to, or reminded of, differences between driving in Canada and the UK.
Roundabouts: My Dad was not a particularly demonstrative man (did I mention he was Scottish?). Years ago, the day before I was leaving with my sister for a road trip around Scotland, I was surprised when he phoned me (he never phoned in those days; that was Mum’s job). He said, “I’m just calling to say one thing.” Aw, I thought, he’s calling to say he loves me. Awww. He went on, “just remember, always yield to the driver on the right.” Then he said good-bye and hung up. Okay, so not the most touching phone call I’ve received, but you know what? The BEST advice I have ever had. Pulling up to a roundabout as a newbie driver in Scotland? Just remember to yield to the cars coming from the right, and that you have right of way over all those on your left. Thanks Dad!
The UK does roundabouts much better than Canada (obviously, as they have been using them for a lot longer). Canadians almost never indicate at roundabouts, which is so annoying. Here, most people do. But there are complexities: think of a roundabout like a clockface, and you are approaching from 6 o’clock – and driving clockwise, of course. You indicate Left if either: you are taking the first exit (which could be as far around as 12 o’clock), or any exit between 6 and 12 on the left. You indicate Right if your exit is after 12 o’clock, but must then remember, once you are on the roundabout, to indicate Left just before coming to your exit. Now, if your exit is anywhere between 11 & 2, people often Don’t indicate at all, at least not until they are in the roundabout & about to hit their exit, in which case they should then indicate Left. As any of my visitors over the past year could tell you: once I am off-island, I will have at least one stressful, shoulda indicated there, shoulda turned here, ‘sorry to everyone else’ hiccup at a roundabout. But they are still a much more efficient way to move traffic.
Reverse Lights: They only use one. They have two reverse lights fitted on their cars, but only have a live bulb in one. How peculiar. I helpfully pointed out the burned-out bulbs on my neighbour’s and cousin’s cars and they both said thank you, but then did nothing about it. This is also true for my car – when I took it in for its MOT (annual check-up), I told the mechanic I needed a new bulb, and he said, “No luv, you’re fine. It’s still got one working.” Again, how peculiar.
Police: I was driving through Carluke the other day and I heard a siren, then saw a police car heading towards me in the oncoming lane. So I pulled over to the left and waited as they wended their way past me and the parked cars. As they passed me, the officer driving the car gave me a nod and a thank-you wave. He waved! Seriously. How polite is that? I guess it’s just ingrained into every British driver that, given the narrow roads and the roadside parking, you just automatically acknowledge the cars letting you by. It made my morning.
My Confidence: Obviously, as per my last post, I am still not the most confident of drivers over here. But I’m feeling so much better than before. My cousin’s daughter (also my cousin by definition, I suppose), was flying into Edinburgh to come to stay in Carluke to support her Mum. I offered to drive to the airport (about 50 minutes away cross-country) to pick her up. Viv asked if I was sure. I said, “Oh yes, I’d be happy to.” Now, a year ago I would have said exactly the same thing because my mother raised us to be polite and helpful, but, I would have been lying about the ‘happy to’ part. But this time I meant it. It was a lovely day, the hills and countryside are beautiful, and I was more than happy to make the drive. Progress.
I did miss your posts. I was going to email you today if you still were in radio silence. I was worried. And I was hopeful you were surprising us all with a visit back here for the holidays.
Oh, wouldn’t that have been fun! Just pop into the Holiday Dinner and shout, “Surprise!” Part of the reason for not posting is that it is harder to post photos from my tablet when I’m travelling, and I had left the PC at home. But this blog now has me in the habit of writing my experiences pretty much each morning when having my tea, so they’re easy to post once I’m back in Orkney.