Wednesday 2 (21/07/10)

I’m now a third of the way through my trip, which is hard to believe. Just when I thought I’d run out of things to take photos of around campus, a great blimp loomed into view. I’m probably too old to get as excited as I do at seeing a balloon in the sky, but it was such a novelty that I followed it down the street taking pictures as I went. I got one shot of it over the trees on campus that was possibly a better shot than this, but I haven’t posted any street views yet, and this is just as typical a sight as the leafy ivy-covered buildings.

Crossing at traffic lights here is an entertaining experience. When the pedestrian light goes green (or white, rather) you are ushered across by a “cuckoo” noise or a sort of “Pew, pew”. It’s not the only place I’ve been to that has bird noises for its traffic lights, Adelaide crossings have the sound of a whip bird (has to be heard to be appreciated). You are allowed to cross diagonally, and there are separate lights for each direction. Once the cuckoo has sounded, the light switches to an orange hand (as you can see in the photo) and has a counting-down clock next to it to tell you how many seconds you have to finish crossing. You have to be quick, too, at some of them. Then, of course, there’s the fun rule that cars turning right (hugging the pavement, as it were) are allowed to go when the light’s red. Pedestrians have right of way, but you have two chances on each crossing of being hit if someone doesn’t pay attention. Add to that the cyclists, who all seem to travel along pavements and use the crossings as pedestrians, and an English person’s suicidal instinct to step to the left of someone approaching, and things can get interesting.

In any European country I’ve been to, these rules would be a total disaster. But whether it’s because everyone is used to traffic jams here, or because everyone’s terrified of being sued, or maybe because USC is not in the city centre, the drivers all come across as laid back. They may honk the horn a bit, but they seem to accelerate slowly and brake often, and even at rush hour you don’t get the feeling that they’re competing with each other to get to the front.

[If anyone's interested in finding this place on Google Streetview, search "denny's west jefferson boulevard" on google maps, and zoom in. Denny's is on the corner just out of shot on the left.]