No traffic lights, no tar seal and an 80 km/h speed limit. Driving in the Chatham Islands is as laidback as the way of life, but it still requires a licence - which means a trip to the mainland for a rigorous and condensed testing process.
For the past few days 29 Chatham Islanders have been doing just that in Palmerston North, sitting their full and restricted licences thanks to a scheme that began last year.
Colin Maxwell is one of the 29, and he passed his restricted test this week.
"It was for work and especially for dropping my son off at kōhanga. Now I can do that legally without having to look over my shoulder," he said.
Colin Maxwell, right, gets ready to take the wheel. Photo: RNZ
After a few days behind the wheel with VTNZ tutors, Maxwell sat his test during busy morning commuter traffic.
"It was pretty difficult. Whatever could go wrong went wrong. I had a van pull out in front of me and it was parked sideways across the lane of the road, but I had a good instructor with me and she just shook her head at them."
Maxwell said his time in New Zealand ironed out bad habits, such as not checking blind spots and cutting corners.
He had to keep his wits about him driving in Palmerston North, a city of 90,000 people - 89,400 more than at home.
"It's not too bad," he said about Chatham Islands' roads.
"Even though we've got gravel roads and stuff like that, they are fairly up to scratch. It can get a bit loose, and you're sliding around when it's wet and stuff, but other than that you can handle it."
There are police officers on the islands though, so those driving without a licence could get caught.
The roads on the Chathams are a lot quieter than those of Palmerston North. Photo: RNZ/ Matthew Theunissen
Getting one is difficult because there is nowhere on the Chathams to sit practical tests.
The scheme to get Chatham Islands residents to New Zealand to sit their licences is funded by the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs and the Ministry of Social development, and organised by the Chatham Islands District Council.
About 100 people have come over since it began last year, including 20 truck drivers, who recently sat their endorsed licences.
Iain Morrison, general manager of Kiwi Can Do, an organisation that helps people develop skills and get into jobs, said those were vital to the Chathams' economy.
"A lot of these guys are fishermen and so get class two trucks. They're pulling their catch out of their boats. They're running their fish to the fish market.
"You've also got stock being moved around the island as well."
Morrison says they had even had a driver sit a dangerous goods licence, so he could carry fuel from the port.
"There's a major project at the moment, the airport extension.
"They have to bring labour in from the mainland to work on it if they haven't got enough drivers, for example, with class four licences or endorsements appropriate to the work that they're doing."
Devon Ogilvie sat his full licence this week.
He found driving in Palmerston North a bit iffy at first compared with what he was used to on the Chathams.
"You'd be lucky to see two to three vehicles going to town and back to go shopping. It's gravel roads. There's no marked lines. It's a lot different than here."
Ogilvie said Palmerston North roads were busy in comparison.
The 27-year-old commercial pāua diver from Te One jumped at the chance for a few days in Manawatū.
"I just took the opportunity to do the full licence. With travel and accommodation, it's quite expensive for us to come over here and do that stuff on our own so it's a great opportunity for us to be able to do this."
VTNZ operation support manager Rachael Jobson said it was hoped the scheme would expand to include isolated residents of the North and South Islands unable to easily sit driver licence tests.
