Lyle and I are in Australia. Yes - the suitcase I mentioned in my last post was eventually purchased and has been put to good use. We arrived here last week and proceeded to our usual holiday spot about an hour north of Sydney. We like it here. The NSW Central Coast area is pleasant and it is easy for us to walk or drive around the streets that have become very familiar to us.
However, I digress. A few days ago we were invited to a family luncheon in Sydney. No problem! On the appointed day we hopped into our rental car and Lyle attempted to put the Sydney address into our GPS. Problem! Our GPS is old enough to be obsolete and the address wouldn’t take. New maps are no longer supported by our old device. In the end, I phoned my cousin who gave us verbal directions.
This was all well and good, but you need to know that Sydney is a city of over four million people with a crazy system of freeways and convoluted lanes, streets, crescents, etc., many of which have unfamiliar names. For example, we are staying on Kurrawyba Avenue.
There were some tense moments on our drive. I wondered how we ever managed to find our way in pre GPS days. Lyle reminded me that then I could see, and also we had paper maps.
Now that I am visually impaired, I am supremely grateful for audio assistive devices. Without the GPS, I relied on memory while Lyle scanned for unfamiliar streets signs. I know that many people now use a GPS system of some sort when they are travelling, but for the two of us, this device has become invaluable.
On our way home from lunch in the city, our first stop was at an electronics store where we purchased a new GPS system loaded with the newest maps.
Blind navigation is not my forte, and Lyle needs a more reliable source for locating our destination.
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