Paint the town Ford: road tripping to the Mornington Peninsula. Competition closed.

This post is sponsored by Ford and Kidspot. There's a chance for you to win a $500 Temple and Webster voucher too. This competition is now closed. The winner has been notified. Thanks for entering.

Earlier in the year, my little old reliable 23 year old car went to the wreckers - it died an accidental, premature death. I didn't have a car for quite a while because I went overseas. As serendipity would have it, I was offered a loan of a Ford Ecosport for six weeks.

I was SO EXCITED to be able to drive a brand new car! Living in inner Melbourne, a car has been a nice to have, not a must have. It's not so necessary for me to have anything more than a reliable, safe and economical car as I live so close to public transport and walk around my local area, and now Adam drives me everywhere else. I've had three cars of my own - and they have all been old (one was older than me!). None of them have been fancy. So It was such a novelty when the Ford Ecosport arrived and I didn't even need a key to turn it on!

My first adventure was immediately after I received it. My friend Kate was stranded with a suitcase and a bike! I couldn't let her get home on six wobbly wheels! The bike fit in the back and we had a lovely chat on the drive home.

Her verdict: "everything is intuitive except for unlocking the boot". (That works when you open the driver's door if you're still inside the car, or unlocking it when everyone is out of the car.)

The Ford Ecosport is like a skinny car in a fat car's body (probably like me!). It feels small and zippy to drive, but it sits high enough above the road to give the driver a vast view and a soft ride. Its size is perfect for the city. I admit that I don't drive much but this past month I've had performance rehearsals across town and I didn't even mind sitting in peak hour weekend traffic because the ride was so enjoyable. (What is with peak hour traffic on the weekends?! It's as bad as in the week!)

It's got some other amazing features that I haven't had the privilege of experiencing in a car of my own before:

- Keyless entry (to help when your hands are full) and ignition (this was like real life Beyond 2000! - I just needed to put my foot on the brake and press the Power button to start it!

- A little spot in the car's ceiling to hold sunglasses.

- A shelf in the glove box to hold a small box of tissues, plus the deep part to hold CDs, the manual and other stuff.

- A USB outlet to charge my phone (any phone or music device) and make the songs play through the stereo.

- Reversing sensors and a screen that showed me how close my car's rear end was to the object behind me.

- Auto headlights - great for me who forgets to turn on the headlights in the Burnley tunnel.

- Adjustable seats that could be raised and lowered. I tested out how sleepable the seats were (very!). They reclined nicely.

- A boot big enough to hold a bicycle.

Adam and I went on a road trip to the Mornington Peninsula last weekend so we could explore all features of the car. The weather was perfect for our day out.

I have only been to the Peninsula once before. This time I took the sea views and cute sights along the way. I snapped pics and uploaded them to Instagram, my instafriends giving me advice of where to stop next! We had lunch, looked at galleries and shops and went to a cheesery. We forgot an esky but the car's glove box is cooled so we were able to store the cheeses we bought from Red Hill.

Adam had the chance to test out the sports mode when we took the windy hills overlooking Port Phillip Bay. He liked this feature - he said "it helped me accelerate a bit quicker, helped with the hills, and I didn't have to push the pedal down as far on a steep slope".

I loved the stereo - It's all hands free, controlled by voice command - I just have to say "sync". The sound quality was great and I could play music through the radio or my phone either on BlueTooth or USB. I made my first ever phone all while driving (again, such a novelty!). "Hi Mum! I'm calling you from the Ford! Look, no hands! Gotta take the next exit now! Bye!" And I could adjust the volume of the stereo on the steering wheel. Adam and I did a lot of singing and seat dancing in the Ford - the climax was Shake Your Tail Feather - where bemused onlookers were totally jealous of our dance moves.

It was so nice to get away for the day. Life has been busy, and that outing on a sunny Saturday refreshed us. Having a loan of the Ford Ecosport made me realise that a car is not just for getting from A to B. It's for creating a great journey to get to my destination. Thanks so much Ford and Kidspot.

 

 

So now it's your turn. To celebrate me loving this car so much, I'm giving away a $500 Temple and Webster voucher. In 25 words or less, tell me where you'd go on a road trip.

Entry is open to Australian residents only. One entry per person. Entries close on Monday 27 October.