New wheels

We bought a new car while were in Tasmania, last month. We turned in a 2.5 year-old Camry for a new Nissan ¨Dualis¨ - and if that doesn´t mean much to you it was all new to us, too.
Why did we need a new car? you might well ask. Well, the Camry was a 3 litre job, with six cylinders and lots of power and an unfashionably large thirst for petrol (now wobbling around $1.55 per litre). It was also a bit big for convenient parking in our tiny garage.
Really,though,the process started when I had to walk around the smallish city of Launceston for four hours while awaiting the fitting of new lenses for my spectacles. After all, what are you supposed to do when you have that much time to spare, except look at new cars?
Having spent those few hours looking at a range of vehicles in one dealership, we then devoted the next two and a half days to inspecting and testing the whole range of cars that fitted our ambitions and it was very hard work. But the compactness of the city meant we needed to do very little travelling.
Anyway, having decided to buy a slightly sporty Honda Civic, we decided, on our way to do the deal, to have another look, and bought the uncomfortably named ¨Dualis¨ - largely on the grounds that it was the only one of its range that would take on board ourselves, the luggage we brought with us (including a music keyboard and stand), plus all the clothes, preserves, grand-kids presents and gadgets we purchased in spare minutes from socialising and travel.
Youĺl be pleased, no doubt that our new, smallish, cross between a 4WD and a sedan, carried us home comfortably and highly economically.
But it wasn´t the most economical holiday we´ve ever had and we plan to live quietly now, for a while at least.