Mary's driving odyssey
At 90 years of age, Mary is still addicted to driving.
WITH more than 250,000km behind her, Mary Taylor has decided to set off on her 17th trip and possibly last lap around Australia in her yellow Honda Jazz.
Her first trip was in a 1987 Honda Accord at the age of 75. At 90, there are no signs she's slowing down.
"I'm addicted to solo driving. I love being by myself. I like to make my own decisions. Passengers always want to stop," she said.
Mrs Taylor doesn't have a favourite place, she enjoys the journey.
"It's the road. I love the car; it does what you want it to," she said.
Mrs Taylor's journey will take her along the Australian coastline for six weeks covering between 16,000 to 18,000km.
With precision planning she travels anti-clockwise in order to save petrol and reduce her impact on the environment.
"The wind pushes you along. I've also done the trip twice in the Civic Hybrid."
So what was her motivation for the first trip?
"I've always wanted to do it. It was a deliberate decision," Mrs Taylor said.
"You can't lead the same life, this was something altogether different."
Peninsula Honda take care of servicing the Jazz and arrange for other Honda dealers around Australia to attend to any issues if required.
"I've been driving a Honda for 20 years,'' Mrs Taylor said.
"They're very safe, I don't even think of the car."
She documents the journey with a dash-mounted video camera and her laptop, complete with voice-recognition software.
She also takes photographs of her Jazz at various locations she visits. From her point of view she prefers to drive for
600km per day without seeing a sign of human habitation.
In anticipation of her 90th birthday and ongoing love of driving, Mary booked herself in for a professional driving assessment.
The assessor's report card read: "Mary Taylor's driving ability is of a very high standard".
Mrs Taylor prefers to stay in middle-of-the-range accommodation because of the people it allows her to meets.
"People are intrigued and they always come and talk to you," she said.
Mrs Taylor is due to complete her journey in early July.
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Off again: 90 year old Mary Taylor heads off on her 17th around Australia trip.
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