Random Aussieness

[deird1]

1) Yesterday, I was driving home (on a major, three-lane road) and the entire road suddenly slowed to a halt. We all sat there and watched while an echidna slowly waddled its way across the road... and drove off only once we'd all made sure it was safely on the grassy bit

Comments

[gillo]

Americans visiting Britain are always surprised by roundabouts and, if they have hire cars, nervous of them.

I believe US street numbers go by block. Presumably because some of the streets and avenues are so long.

[eowyn_315]

They definitely have roundabouts in the UK, much to the consternation of my mother, lol. Of course, it didn't help that she was driving on the wrong side of the road.

We call them circles in the US (or at least in my part of it), and they're pretty rare, except in Washington, DC, much to the consternation of me.

(Out of curiosity, what is a hook-turn? I suspect it might be what we in New Jersey call a jug handle. People not from New Jersey hate them.)

As for the house numbers, it really depends. Sometimes they start at 1, but other times they start with 10 or 100. Sometimes they use every number, but other times they skip in multiples of 10 or larger.

ETA: And gillo is right, they do go by block. So you'd have the 100 block, and then the 200 block, and so on - and it doesn't matter how many houses are on the street, each block starts with the next round number.

[deird1]

Out of curiosity, what is a hook-turn? I suspect it might be what we in New Jersey call a jug handle. People not from New Jersey hate them.

Wikipedia to the rescue!

Basically, it's a way to make a right-hand turn from the left lane. (Or, if you're in America, a left-hand turn from the right lane.) Very common in the centre of Melbourne, but most of the world doesn't do it.

Roundabouts are rare? Really? *has them everywhere, over here*

We even have two-lane roundabouts in the middle of highways.

[brutti_ma_buoni]

As others have said, we have plenty of roundabouts in the UK. Some are quite large. Few contain nature reserves and tube stations, but this one does. I think it has four lanes, but my memory may be fogged by the terror.

[gillo]

I am terrified of the Hanger Lane Giratory, but there are others as scary. There's the Crooked Billet outside Staines and the infamous Hemel Hempstead Magic roundabout.

[penny_lane_42]

We have exactly one roundabout in my city. It happens to have a gigantic statue of naked people dancing in the middle of it. So, obviously, it's referred to as the Round-a-Butt. We're mature like that.

I rarely see street numbers that are sense-making. Sure, sometimes they might start at 100 or 1000 or something, but more often than not, it's totally random. On my street, for instance, my number is 4423. And then it skips to 4311. No rhyme or reason. Not all are that bad, but sometimes they are.

Of course, also in my city, most roads have at least two names, sometimes three or four, depending upon where you are. So...getting around is sometimes difficult for out-of-towners.

[slaymesoftly]

*makes note - do not attempt to visit* :)

[penny_lane_42]

Ha! It's not that bad, really, and everybody's super friendly, so they'll be glad to give you directions! And probably food! If you ever do visit, I'll navigate for you!

[me_llamo_nic]

Okay, I give up. How on earth do housenumbers work in America?

I live in America and I don't even know. I think we do another 100 for every block or some such. Shrug.

[aerintine]

1) i've never seen one of those before! i had to google. so cute

[eowyn_315]

american neighborhoods are divided according to where they fall on a North/South, East/West grid.

I think that only works in large cities where the streets are actually in a grid pattern. In my town, for instance, the residential neighborhoods have winding streets that intersect all over the place, so there's no way to divide it in a grid.

[aerintine]

well, damn.

thank goodness for mapqwest, yes?

[eowyn_315]

I don't know how people survived without GPS and the internet, lol. I'd spend half my life completely lost.