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OK the results of the Drive COTY are online and generally they accord with my grand plan.  Generally.  I abstained from voting on the Large Car segment because I didnt find either contestant particularly inspiring and because I was holding a candle for the Holden SS-V which I wanted to compare as a "Big Car" rather than "performance Under $60k) - the SS-V is actually slightly longer than the Omega wagon in the "Big Car" class.  But it was not to be.
The other surprise for me was the overall winner.  Whilst I had voted the VW Polo for sheer chutzpah-for-cash I thought the Kia Sportage was sneaking through as the ultimate value proposition.
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But the other winner was the location.  Flowerdale, about 80 minutes north of Melbourne, is wildlife central.  A koala bear walked across the road in front of me - the first Koala I have seen on all fours.  No camera at hand I have had to poach a pic from online....but for some strange reason my koala with particularly chunky hind legs and particularly long gangly front ones, reminded me of a transformer from Star Wars.  It had been a long day.....

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OK so now comparing the two I dont see the similarity.....but the abundance of wildlife in this region of Victoria - wombats on the porch of Flowerdale Estate, echidnas and turtles by the roadside, wallabies in the paddocks - has made me determined to bring my kids back for some Aussie marsupial imersion.  Did I mentioned the platypus?