Yesterday I rented a car and drove from Sydney down the eastern coast with Chloe and Chantelle. We stayed overnight at Bateman's Bay after sunning at Surf Beach, and explored Jervis Bay today (or, rather, they sunned while *I* explored some great hiking trails). Then we hit a quaint winery on the drive back. The beaches were really spectacular, and we (yet again) lucked out with beautiful weather. On the drive home it rained just a bit, but at that point we didn't care. It was really cool to see all the lightning bolts off in the distance (not a common sight in CA). Let me say that for a few minutes it was COMPLETELY FREAKY to be sitting in the driver seat on the right side of a car and driving on the left side of the road! But the brain adjusts (mostly). Every time I turned onto a different road I had to consciously remember which lane to go to. It helped when I had moving cars to follow (or stationary cars to honk at me ;-)). The hardest part was gauging where the heck I was in my lane -- I was very thankful that those California highway Bott's Dots have made their way to Australia! I have to say that Australia has a much more trusting society than America. At the petrol station I filled up my tank without so much as touching my credit card. Only afterwards did I go inside and pay. I asked Chantelle (the local) what stopped people from filling up and driving away. Her response: "Why would they do that?" Yeah, *that* would work in the U.S.