Dandenong Range

One reason we bought the new car is so we could get out of town...be more active in the great Australian outdoors. Oxymoronic? Perhaps. I swear though, we really do need to drive...to hike.

Today we went on a quick two hour hike through the Dandenong National Park. It only took about half an hour to drive to the trail head, which had this sign:

Tom kept wondering who is bringing their cat hiking and what kind of lawsuits ensued that brought cats to be pegged to dogs in the 'unwelcome' guest list?

My favorite part of the 7 kilometer loop was when the trail started to get more crowded with folks walking towards us, leading us to believe we were getting close back around to the car park. First, a woman running (how far can anyone run? surely not more than a kilometer or two). Then some people even more out of shape than us (they can't be the sort to get far from the gift shop / milkshake-serving-cafe). When we saw the three elderly men walking with canes, we could almost taste the spoils of a successfully completed trek.

Oh and forget about all the "new car rules". All the talk about keeping the car clean are so last week. We oinked down blueberry cider, iced coffees, crackers and dip the whole way home.

I did read the owners manual though. The transmission shift knob was driving me mad. Clearly, "N", "P", and "D" are "Neutral", "Park" and "Drive". So what the hell is "B"?! Is every other Prius driver scooting about in "B", reaping some kind of mammoth "benefit" that we've self-selected ourselves out of in ignorance? Was every minute of misuse shaving off pieces of some golden brick, deep inside the "bonnet"? (That's what we call the hood here. The trunk is the "boot".) Is the electric part of the hybrid triggered somewhere in the "back", turned on only by shifting into "B"?

It means "engine brake", to be used when going down steep hills. Who is using this?

Baffling.