Dad's Car

While we were in Australia my dad decided that it is time to stop driving. I understand what a difficult decision it is to make, and dread the day I have to do it myself, but at 92 sharing the road with enormous trucks and people driving very fast cars without any sense of courtesy (or the road rules) is not a lot of fun.

This meant he was able to lend us his car, a 2007 model Toyota Yaris. It's a small town car, very polite to drive - if a little underpowered and with an automatic gearbox that has very little sense of logic. If you want random gear changes and over-revving then a Toyota CVT automatic gearbox is your friend. 

But it performed well, getting us where we needed to be with only a little fuss, in relative comfort, and with all our luggage. Add in navigation via our phones and you're away!

Our first, and longest, trip was from my dad to Susan's dad and returning to JB and Rosy. We did it over the course of two days each way, pausing along the way for many breaks, meals and taking in the view. What's the point of rushing through scenery?

I was interested to see how I fared driving distances after so long away, but apart from one or two times where I ran out of steam and needed a 20 minute nap I am quite pleased. Driving in Australia is different to driving on Europe.