(Part Two) 21st October 2006 - Arthur's Pass to The West Coast!

This day was really one of those that when i look back, i know God was taking really good care of me. I think i was gan -chiong, but at the same time, I learned something about myself. I can have a focussed and calm attitude in times of long and unknowing circumstances.

It was my first day driving in the mountains of Arthur's Pass. Honestly i was more peeved about the fact that the rain meant it would destroy the renowed views this place promised. It was also my first time being more exposed to the road signs and learning to react based on them. ( this was critical, because later in the trip, it gets important in making my trip alot smoother.)

So many first times! haha...scared? yeah, i guess i was...it didnt help that the rain was so bad that you can barely see too far ahead. Thank god the roads were designed with shoulders for you to pull over and let other cars over take.

In this weather i did not dare go too fast, and soon there was a Q of cars behind me. Rememebr i mentioned those road shoulders? Yup, they are there and appear suddenly (because of the poor visibility) problem is because you're on a highway and travelling at 60-80km/h, to come to a sudden stop on one of those road shoulders i tough! And thank god for wisdom my brain automatically went into commanding my foot to brake intermitently!!! I can't believe i remembered that, after all these years of not driving. beacause i knew, and E-brake could mean my car could spin out of control!

One of the times i pulled over, the shoulder was so short and the road pretty slippery, i was pretty close to hitting the buffer!! I stared at the buffer and breathed a sigh of relief that the brakes worked in time.

Now my window started to frost up. Man...this part gets complicated. When my friend's and I were driving in Aussie last time, we couldn't figure this out! haha...but i had to this time. I was alone and no way i was going to drive in this! So the engineer in me took over and ---- i started reading the car manual! It worked!! hahaha...I was so happy! I learned something impt! =)

Hmm...actaully another dangeroud thing did happen. I got a wee bit distracted. Can't recall why, maybe coz i was trying out changing to the 'S1' and 'S2' gears in my car ( reason being that i'm so slow going up hill, i wonder if it's coz i can't go on 'D' due to the steepness -- but for a fact. you don't need those unless you are driving in deep snow. Lesson 2 learned.

Anyway, becasue of the distraction, i found myself suddenly in the other lane of opposing traffic! Thankfully, no other car was there and also, the car behind me gave me a loud horn to warn me! But that was the last of the horrible experiences i had.

Still i refused to let the weather get to me, so i got out and took some pictures at the places they use in travel guides! =P

Oh another fact. When i pull over, I don't turn off my engine, esp when i'm in an ulu place/ alone, hahaha....for fear that my car could not restart and i would be stranded! I rather pay more for petrol and let the engine run than go through that!

So here are some pictures...gloomy and wet weather. ( the camera is sitting on the car roof!) The travel books show this place that has beautiful green mountains!