Today’s cartoon is an ode to the wonderful men and women who drive the taxis all around Australia. I am sure most of them are very competent. So why the heck did you send the others to us? It was if someone had installed Apple Maps (notorious for getting people lost) in their brains. We walked most of the time but in our trip we probably took 6 cab rides. Here were the facts:
- 4 out of 6 drivers had no idea where we were asking them to go (even with cross streets mentioned)
- 3 of those 4 even had GPS
- Only one tried to use it unsuccessfully
- 3 of the 4 lost drivers were in Sydney
And it wasn’t as if we were going to some obscure place. But in Sydney, where we had most of the issues, it wasn’t limited to cab drivers. Walking one day without my map, I got a little disoriented on Sydneys spoke and wheel system of streets. I asked a cop how to get back to my hotel. He pointed in a direction that I knew was wrong even when I told him what street it was on.
Actual Cab Conversation:
Us: We would like to go to Nick’s Seafood
Driver: (blank stare)
Us: In Cockle Bay Wharf?
Driver: (bigger blank stare)
Us: Darling Harbour??
Driver: (puzzled look)
Us: Here on the map!
Driver: OK
Us (after many minutes of driving): I think you are on the wrong side of the Bay. The restaurant is on the other side
Driver finally uses GPS. Puts in a restaurant none of us ever mentioned and started off.
Us: That isn’t the restaurant. And I think we are driving in a big circle.
Finally the driver stopped about 1/4 mile from where we were going and pretty much gave up. Thankfully we were only charged half the meter rate.
Now to be fare, all of our tour bus drivers and the drivers as part of our transfer shuttles never got lost for a minute. This actually was the opposite of our experience in London several years ago. The cab drivers knew every little pub and alley everywhere. The guy who brought us from the airport got lost.