Australia is a first world country and very much like America in a lot of ways. This includes its methods of transportation, though people drive on the opposite (left) side of the road, and the steering wheel is on the right side of each car.
For the most part, people get around in cars. For people that grew up here, having a car is very important. I've been told that I'm actually limiting myself because I don't have a car. Brisbane is a really big city. It's built out with urban sprawl, instead of up with a lot of skyscrapers. You can drive for well over an hour in one direction and still be in Brisbane. Fortunately, the public transport system is very good here, better than in L.A. and about the same as San Francisco. I can get where I need to go by bus, but then again, I don't really leave the city center.
I haven't tried driving here yet, mostly because no one wants to let me drive their car. I do feel anxiety when I think about driving here, though. I'm nervous about mistakenly getting into the right lane as I would back home, which here would lead me onto incoming traffic, not an ideal place to be. And since you're on the opposite side of the road, you can't make a right on a red light.
