Laundry or Driving?

Which has been more of an adjustment for me, doing the laundry or driving? Surprisingly, drying the laundry.

Laundry - In New Zealand laundry is dried outdoors. I find this challenging in the damp, chilly weather. At first I was using a clothes line in the back yard; however, it did not get any sun and limited wind. So I started asking people how they got their laundry dry. One person said he uses his conservatory (greenhouse). Another said she dries stuff inside on a clothes horse with a dehumidifier in the room on the "laundry" setting. So for a while we were bidding on dehumidifiers on Trade Me.

Over time I've figured out a system. I check the weather in the morning to find out if it's a good drying day. (I found out the kiwis do this too.) I started using the clothes horse on the porch. A clothes horse is a large collapsible drying rack. We have a large and small horse and Tom strung up some extra clothesline along the sunny corner of the porch. After about 1/2 to 1 day the laundry is dry. I bring it inside and spread it on my bed to warm up. We do have to watch for rain storms and sometimes need to move things around on the porch.

Another essential tool of the trade is clothespins. Because Wellington can become very windy at a moment's notice, everything has to be clipped with strong pincher clothespins. Ads for clothespins are in the women's magazines. Unfortunately Dennis learned the hard way the necessity of clothespins. He removed them from his wetsuit that was on the clothes horse. We have no idea how far away it flew or where it might be! (Yes, a wetsuit needs to be dried so it doesn't mildew.)

Driving - I was nervous about driving on the left. Not anymore. I am becoming more and more comfortable. We are getting to know our way around and learning the rules and "giving way." I am especially vigilant at roundabouts and pedestrian crossings. When I show my ID at the bank, I talk about needing to get my NZ drivers license. I am assured that the written test is fairly simple and I can buy practice tests at the BP station. We bought and have read the Road Code books ($25).