More Road Tripping- Mount Zero Olives

"It is better to have love and have lost than never loved at all" or something like that. Isn't that what they say?  It has now been a few days since I reluctantly returned my little CR-Z hybrid back to Honda after a two week joy ride and I am feeling a bit down....I miss that little car!

I must say that I did make the most of my time with the car. In addition to our visit to Narrapumelap, Gabor and I also stopped in and visited Mount Zero Olive farm and cafe, which a good friend had recommended. Because we were feeling very environmentally responsible in our new hybrid, we thought it was fitting we visit an organic farm.

After quite a long drive down a bumpy, dirt road (sorry Honda!) we finally came across the farm, seemingly in the middle of nowhere where we had a delicious tasting plate of the most divine olives, oils, bread , tapenades and other goodies.  I was also very excited to see that they stocked a small range of olive skincare, ('The Girl and the Olive') including a range for babies. As a good friend of mine has just welcomed her precious daughter, 'Olive' into the world I was excited to find such a fitting gift!

 Pulling up amongst the olive trees

 Above and below - Some of the food and surrounds at Mt Zero Olive farm, images from the website

In addition to my weekend away with Gabor, I did also manage to squeeze in a mini-road trip with the girls during my two week love affair with the CR-Z. When I first picked it up, I was a little nervous that we wouldn't all fit inside. As you can see, we did, and we even managed to fit in a car seat. (Admittedly, it was quite squashy in the back but the point is it can be done) We headed out to the Yarra Valley for an afternoon and had a long lunch at the Yarra Valley Dairy. We made a quick stop at some wineries but I plan on re-visiting those when I am not driving!

I also did have some fun zipping around town in the Honda and enjoyed a quite a few admiring glances. I must admit that I quickly got used to it. This is why I am missing it:

• The quietness. Being a hybrid, when the car stopped at a light or an intersection, the engine switched to 'auto-stop' . While this was a little unnerving at first, it was a feature that I quickly got used to and loved.
• The three driving mode options- I loved the rush of power that surges through when you hit the 'sports' button.
• The style! It is a pretty sexy car (as my neighbor commented)
• The economical and environmental aspect - being a hybrid the car creates far less pollution than a regular petrol car. It also gives the option of driving in 'Econ' mode which adjusts everything from the engine to the air conditioning to create the most economical way of driving.

Road Trip Continued

After a tough year, it was fabulous for Gabor and I to get away over the weekend and even more fabulous to have a new car to test drive (courtesy of Honda) . With only one night away we spent most of our mini-break driving which suited us fine. The CR-Z Hybrid Sports Auto that we had to play with was an absolute pleasure and attracted lots of admiring looks and comments.
We headed up towards the Grampians to visit a fabulous old country homestead that we had read about.
During the drive up, we had a chance to try out the three driving modes and found that there really is quite a noticeable difference between the 'Sport', 'Normal' and 'Economy' mode. The sports mode was so much fun it made it hard to switch to the other modes! Driving in the city and in the traffic the other modes, especially the economy mode, really made sense. There is nothing more frustrating than burning through fuel while sitting in traffic, so the hybrid really makes a perfect city car.

The beautiful grounds of Narrapumelap (find out more about it here)

 Enjoying my weekend with the Honda CR-Z

Even though the CR-Z is a small car, Gabor who is well over 190cm found it very comfortable

Road Trip

     picking up the Honda CR-Z hybrid

So a few days ago I picked up a cute little hybrid Honda CR-Z to test drive. Gabor and I have just returned home from a fabulous mini road trip on which we really put the car through it's paces. We visited the most stunning country mansion that made me feel like we had walked onto the set of Edward Scissorhands. ( I am sorting through all my photos now and have a ton more to follow)
We have been having an absolute ball with the car and are not looking forward to having to give it back!