Indicative

I haven't been in SA for some years, and I'm not as familiar with its ins and outs as once I was. The trusty map book always sat in the passenger seat, usually open. Allowing time to pull over and consult further was a factor always to be added on. 

The most nerve-wracking moment was one fine evening, driving through Jo'burg. 

Now, in the interests of no longer doing rolling power cuts, Eskom has decided not to bother supplying power to most streetlights. This makes post-sunset navigation a new level of adventure for those of us no longer familiar with the city. 

I had been having a very social day - a drink with lunch, a little wine with friends in the evening - so I knew I would probably fail a breathalyser. As the cops like to do random checks, I was trying to be a very good driver, and not look anything less than completely sober and confident. 

This is hard when you're slowing and peering through the gloom at every cross street, and occasionally pulling over to consult the map book.
As it was, I overshot the turn and wound up on the motorway looking for the first junction that presented the potential for a U-turn (luckily, junction 1B on that motorway)

All of this meant I wasn't really concentrating on the actual mechanics of driving a car - which meant I forgot, at crucial moments like indicating direction, that This Was A Car.... 

Indicating Right was fine. In a Japanese car, so the indicator stick is on the right. Indicating Left, however, I repeatedly tried to do with the wipers, because I am used to having each direction's indicator switch conveniently placed for the corresponding thumb...

Hopefully, all the confusion is one way, and getting back on the bike will be as smooth as - well - new asphalt.