Record-Breaking Roads
Well, the 2013 Guinness Book of Records has recently turned up in the local library and it’s got a page dedicated to record-breaking roads, so here goes with a few of the quirky ones.
This blog has already touched on and provided a bit of footage of the most dangerous road in the world – the (dis)honour is still held by the North Yungas Road, which runs from La Paz, capital of Bolivia, to Coroico, claiming 300 deaths a year on a 69 km stretch. The road would have been fine back in the Inca empire, as a single-lane dirt road with two-way traffic and a vertical drop of over 4 km straight down and no barricade would have been fine if the only traffic on it was llamas and chasquis (Incan foot couriers – could get fish from the coast to the capital in the Andes within days so it was still fresh at the other end). I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that Google Maps doesn’t have this on street view – the survey vehicle isn’t mad enough to drive on it.
And The Winners Have Been…
It’s a funny thing about Car of the Year (COTY) awards. Everyone’s agog to hear what this year’s winner is going to be, and car manufacturers are usually very proud to scoop the title. However, who actually remembers the winners of four or five years ago? You probably only remember if a particular vehicle was a winner if (a) you bought it or owned a new one about the time that the car got the award, or (b) you’re a car enthusiast with a taste for lists, facts and figures.
SUV Woes
What do you reckon about SUVs and their bullishness on our roads? The deliberation about SUVs, let alone trucks, being too big and potentially dangerous on the roads has been around for some time now. Summing up the argument against the SUVs, Keith Bradshaw, in his book ‘High and Mighty’, fires a number of assertive shots that, to be fair, are right on the money. We’ll never get rid of the SUVs and 4x4s from our roads; they’re just too practical. But big vehicles like the Nissan Patrol, Toyota Land Cruiser and Holden Colorado do leave some serious carnage out on the road when they just-so happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A lot of people love the ride height, the space, the practicality, the off-roading ability and the comfort of many SUV models. A flash new Rangie or X5 is always going to be a great status symbol, looking great up anyone’s driveway. But behind the rosy appeal of an SUV creeps one or two nasty stats that are hard to hide. To see this nastiness we look into some of the grim findings that crash statistics reveal, something which Keith has been harping on about for so long.
Good Times Across the Tasman
What about a trip across the Tasman to see New Zealand in summer? Kiwis can boast about temperatures being somewhere within the average Aussie’s comfort zone during the summer months. If you can bear to wrap up warm during the winter months New Zealand is truly a winter wonderland, and is one of the most amazing places you’ll ever see – particularly in the South Island with the snow-capped Southern Alps.
There are always special places to go, and there are always plenty of activities – from white water rafting to multiple night treks that will have you tramping and camping through some of the most untouched, pristine mountainous areas in the world. And the best thing about the wildlife over in New Zealand is that the sand-fly is about the only creepy-crawly that is likely to cause you any grief, but then there are plenty of tricks that the locals know which manage to keep these beasties at a distance.
Level 2, 9 Help Street