The Loser Cruiser

G'day Mates! Last weekend I became the proud owner of a 1996 Holden Commodore Acclaim Legacy VS V6 with only 259,000 kilometres! Gas guzzler, fallen headliner, and a sticker on the back advertising some 'hoon' (Aussie for a lout, usually referring to obnixious driving habits) auto accessory with the slogan "Drive it like you Stole it!" Obviously, I disregarded some of the tips in buying a used car like listening to the radio to see if the presets were tuned to codger stations or finding a maintenance book. Throwing caution to the wind, I plunked down $1,700 to buy it then it took another $1,000 for manidory insurance, public liability, NRMA (think AAA) and registration. So now, I'm styling and actually out on the freeway when I push it up to 110 (that's almost 70 in the US) it feels rock solid! I can see myself heading out on the highway soon. Right now, I'm practising driving on the wrong side of the road.

In reality, New South Wales has the strictest vehicle registration requirements in the country. If the car is over 5 years old, it must be inspected and everything is checked over by a certified garage. From lights and windshield wipers down to citing a tie rod end needing replaced on my car. Fortunately, the guy I bought it from owns a body shop called 'Smash Repairs' in case you have a bingle, and did all the required work. This "Rego' is so important that the remaining months are included in advertisements of used cars. This guy Scott, even painted a part he replaced, touched up some of the nicks and gave me the rest of the paint. He washed and vacuumed it prior to delivery (on his wrecker). So as you can see by the pictures, it looks ok and it really feels pretty good. The last picture Holly took of an old, one lane bridge we went over during her Spring Break visit. No traffic lights, you're just left to figure it out on your own.

My first trip in the car was to teach it the 'usual' route. First, we went to the auto parts store as I'm sure I'll be making that trip often, then to the petrol station (I reset the trip odometer to see what kind of mileage I was getting. Do you call it kilometrige here?) and then onto the Charles for an innocent little pint. The car performed admirably!

It must be getting great mileage (or whatever) as when I bought it, the odometer read 259,000 and the trip odometer hasn't moved a lick! What a great car! I wonder how long I can go on one tank of petrol!

Tomorrow's adventure is to go to the harbour (as they spell it here) and look over art in the park. I saw this when I first arrived and had it in the back of my mind to buy some original are to put up on these bare walls. I have no idea on prices and certainly don't know anything about art, but if it has ocean scenes or nudity, I'm there! I mean you know, tasteful art. There was a big sale last weekend, but I didn't get the car in time to go shopping. Maybe I'll be able to buy some culture.

Read, comment and write. You know I love hearing from all of you!