Human Hamster Wheel and a Practice Prius

A Prius is being dropped off by Manawatu Toyota today for a test drive.  They drop it off at your house, hand you the keys, and lend it to you for 1-2 days for free.  Talk about customer service!

Getting a used car here is the way to go, since new cars start at about 35-45 K New Zealand Dollars, and you can get a decent used car for 15-20 K.  Most locals get cars from the auction house, which is open M, T, W evening.  At auction, you can get a car for cash for 3K-30 K.  They even have financing available for pricey models. Trademe, our Ebay for Kiwis, also does a ton of business on car sales.

Being an immigrant on a work visa, you have only as long as your visa permit to pay off your car loan.  This is a bit rough for us, since we are here on a 2 yr visa.  A used car worth 15-20 K must have a 4-5K deposit and a monthly car payment of about 800 dollars for 24 months.

So anyway, I am test driving a Prius and a Focus on the left side of the road this week.  Wish me luck with the driving on the roads here. There are also a ton of Round A Bouts here, similar to England.

Today was Mike's first day at work.  He is scheduled to be at work from 8:30-5:30pm daily.

Driving was super scary at first.  I drove 15 minutes out of town towars Felding and all the cow and sheep farms before mustering up the courage to turn directions.  After trying out a Prius and a Ford Falcon, the kids preferred the Prius. I liked the Falcon, but a smaller car is easier to park places here, and the Prius gets 4.4 to 5 L per 100 km! That's a good gas mileage for a car.





My Lamb Burger at McD's.

How do Kiwis exercise off those lamb burgers? The park has a number of fun and wacky slides and rides to offer. They use the Human Hamster Wheel at the park!

Ben goes barefoot like the other Kiwi kids and gives the Hamster Wheel a try at the park.

At McDonald's, you can order a Lamb Burger!

Tastes a bit like a gyro from back home.