MARTIN GETS HIS MOTORCYCLE LEARNERS PERMIT

(Grahamstown) The Motor Vehicle Department was pleased to announce that I passed my motorcycle learners permit test this morning and am now permitted to drive a motorcycle around the area legally for the next 18 months. This will enable me to get around town more easily than using the bicycle generously lent to me by Paddy over the last couple of months. For those who think that passing a driver/motor cycle license in South Africa is easy, it is not. There are lots of signs that we Americans are unfamiliar with and similar signs with different backgrounds mean different things. For example a 60 surrounded by a red circle means that the maximum speed limit is 60 km/hour, whereas a 60 surrounded by a blue circle means that the minimum speed limit is 60 km/hour. And some questions have two or three correct answers and your answer is which of the different contortions of answers are correct. At any rate, I'm proud!