Ode to a Passat

Well back home now after the nice thirty-odd hour trip from Sidcup to Pukekohe. Unfortunately, I had to return the trusty Passat to Hertz before I left. Considering I was expecting to pick up a Mondeo three weeks ago, it was pleasing to see the Passat sitting in the lot waiting for me (although my only other experience of one was my Uncle's '70s estate version that he had for years). For a 1.9L sedan I was somewhat astounded to see that the boot positively swallowed Mum & Dad's two large suitcases, my grab, backpack, Dad's wheeled cabin bag, a full-suspension mountain bike & all sorts of other bike paraphernalia. What's more, this was the Bluemotion edition - apparently VW's most eco-friendly & economical diesels. With a claimed combined consumption of 46 mpg (5.1 L / 100 km) it was always going to be easy on the fuel (my Galant runs at about 29 mpg & I think that is pretty good for an aging two litre sedan); but after more than 2000 miles of British motorways, congested cities, high mountain passes, skinny one way roads it came back with a staggering combined consumption of 57 mpg (4.1 L / 100 km)! Which was just as well as it cost about $200 to fill up. I sure will miss the cruise control - now to go outside & see if the trusty Galant will start after six weeks of sitting on the lawn & get itself to 300000 km.
(Back to work tonight, but should find some time somewhere to update last two weeks travels).