License Plates

[dewline]

Nanaimo: Found in the Dinghy-Dock Pub
Originally uploaded by dwight_ew

When I was a kid, I used to get a kick out of seeing license plates from all manner of different places. (IE: different from wherever it was I happened to live at the time.)

So, a month or so ago, I was in Nanaimo for a relative's wedding, and someone else in the family had the idea of taking me to this place off across the strait from the Nanaimo shoreline called the Dinghy-Dock Pub. It got the name from the fact that its front doors open onto a dock for boats of various sizes that visit or are home-ported at Protection Island. They need their oven propane delivered by barge. Customers arrive either by passenger ferry or their own boats.

The Dinghy-Dock's not the only establishment that likes to decorate its walls with license plates, but this one in particular caught my attention. My partner on Local Hero, Ian Gould, calls this particular Australian state home.

Not his license plate, though.

Comments

That's fun :-)

[mary-mayhem.livejournal.com]

One of the roadtrip games we played when I was a kid was "Who can spot the most non-local license plates first?" Tennessee plates didn't count in Tennessee, but North Carolina plates did even though we lived in NC at the time. The "point" was to try to get the most states.

I still play that game when I travel. Happily, this husband plays the same game. Makes the interstates a little more entertaining.

Re: That's fun :-)

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is fun.

I think I saw plates from Europe as well at the Dinghy-Dock, particularly the ex-Yugoslav states. A story behind those as well...?

[si-fuller.livejournal.com]

They're not white and green any more, they're white and maroon. This happened after I moved out of Queensland so it's odd to return and see all these weird number plates.

It must be an interesting story as to how that one got all the way up there though.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

If I ever get back to that pub, I'll see if I can find out that story.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Before I forget: I take it the Australian states haven't yet fallen into the same habit as the USA states and Canadian provinces regarding the (over-?)exploitation of desktop publishing and graphic design software for creating the looks of license plates?

[si-fuller.livejournal.com]

What, you mean pictures and stuff? No, but you can get your choice of colour schemes, so a lot of the familiar state branding has gone out the window, unfortunately.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

That's indeed what I meant, Simon. Thanks much.