Trans Tasman Irritation 2

Yesterday I finally got around to getting a NSW driver's licence.

My NZ licence was vaild till 2011 but I could not drive on it here. In fact Kiwis are supposed to get Australian licences within three months of arriving here. For everyone else it's six months.

When I get back to NZ with my NSW licence, I will be able to drive legally with it for a year. Then I will have to get another NZ licence cos the NSW people took my NZ one and put a big hole in it.

We've been here three years so I guess it was time I did the right thing - although we don't have a car and I've driven here about three times in three years.

More anomalies - the NSW licence only lasts for three years, and cost $100. An NZ licence lasts for 10 years and costs $45.

The place here in Sydney where you get your licence, the RTA, is absolutely packed all the time. The big office in the city has one of those machines where you take a number and wait. Like a Chinese takeaway. People get sick of it and leave. Yesterday morning I figured about 10 out of the 35 people ahead of me (at 9.30am) left before they were seen. A typically Australian wildly ineffective system.

On the upside, I did receive my new licence straight away, which is fantastic. They took the photo, took the signature, pumped out the little plastic square and away I went. But the thought of having to do that every three years!! No wonder people walk out.

Maybe I will get a car now. Get my money - and my time's worth.