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Day trip to Torquay and Queenscliff
We left our home in Emerald, crossing the mist-ical Puffing Billy Railway for a two hour drive to an appointment in Torquay. What to do after a long drive with a few hours to kill? Let’s take a drive, along the coast, from Torquay to Queenscliff, stopping at a few lookouts along the way. Oh, and a few stops for lunch (The Salty Dog Cafe Torquay), coffee, coffee and dinner (Pholklore).
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Between the sun and moon, on Gippsland Lakes
The shortest path between two points is usually mundane. So, we tapped a random lookout on the way home, and asked the navigation to add it to our trip. The self driving car took us all the way there, and back to our accommodation, except for a couple of abrupt interventions by me to avoid potholes.
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Everybody loves Raymond Island
With the promise of seeing koalas, we headed over to Raymond Island, in the Gippsland Lakes. We opted to leave our Tesla on the mainland, in Paynesville, and caught the ferry across as pedestrians. The ferry runs every twenty minutes, free for pedestrians, $15 for cars. On the other side, we hired a four person bike for $50, for one hour. It turned out that we created more emissions pedalling the bike around than we would have if we’d taken the car. I blame strained digestive systems fuelled by the coffee and cake from the cafe van. The koalas were sleepy and elusive, but we managed to find a few.
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Metung, Winter Festival
Soup, souvlaki, juggler, chainsaw (electric and fueled) wood carving and a fun collection of outlets for locals and visitors. Happy end to another lazy day.
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Up Swifts Creek, along the Great Alpine Road
Beautiful sunny winter’s day in East Gippsland. Perfect for a half day trip from Metung, along the Great Alpine Road. We only drove as far as Swifts Creek, this time, having previously traveled all the way to Bright and beyond. Swifts Creek is a charmingly quiet small town, where I attempted to blend in with a couple of the locals (see photo). The Great Alpine Gallery’s Winter Festival Exhibition was somewhat oversold, but interesting nonetheless. Bakery for lunch, coffee, a thermos of tea, and packed snacks. Then back south, taking any chance along the way for a detour and a photo.
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Right on the tip of Metung
Lazy morning, followed by a lazy drive around Metung, and down to the tip of the peninsula. Beautiful bayside town. Plenty of boats and accommodation along the foreshore. Lunch at Aroma Metung, where I demonstrated my precision road trip meal dissection skills, giving Krissy exactly one quarter of my burger.
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Packing our chef and barista, for the road trip
Off on another road trip. This time to Metung, Gippsland Lakes, about 300 km away from home. We picked up our passengers, Tim and Krissy, at Alkira, in Emerald, and made use of the large luggage space of our Model Y. Bringing along our own chef and barista is a little indulgent, I agree. But their professional standards apparently necessitated them packing their own cooking and caffeinating equipment. One onlooker came over to assist with our “engine trouble” because I had the frunk open to pack more in. Archie, our cat, supervised the morning packing. We grabbed what has become our ritual road trip brekky, at Over the Road cafe in Emerald.
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Adding a second battery — Tesla finally makes it possible
When Lightning Energy installed our Powerwall 2 back in December 2023 it was great. Paired with our 13 kW Enphase/Jinko solar system and 10 kW inverter, it's been handling our fully electrified home in Emerald pretty well — five reverse-cycle ACs, heat pump hot water, EV charging, and grid outages lasting up to nine days. But as we've added more loads, I've been thinking about expanding battery storage. There was a problem, though. The Powerwall 2 is no longer CEC-approved for new installations in Australia. Tesla stopped taking orders for it in late 2024/early 2025, and as of January 2026 it's no longer on the Clean Energy Council approved list. So you can't add a second one. And until very recently, the Powerwall 3 — Tesla's current model — was completely incompatible with the Powerwall 2. They couldn't talk to each other. That meant anyone with a Powerwall 2 who wanted more storage faced a painful choice: rip out the existing battery and start fresh with new hardware. For me, that…
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First Tesla service call: a new wheel
First service call for our Tesla Model Y. Replacing our loaner wheel with a new wheel. As you can see in our posts from a few weeks ago, we hit a pothole, damaging our left rear wheel. At the time, we only knew that we had a slow leak. We logged the problem in the Tesla app. They arranged for roadside assistance to come to us, in about an hour, to install a loaner wheel, and take ours away to diagnose. Today, Tesla replaced the loan wheel with a new wheel, costing a whopping $1319. I asked them to clean the damaged wheel and put it in the back of the car. In the photos, you can see the buckle and crack. I am wondering if it is fixable. When I booked this service in the app, I also asked them to fix the water in the light bar, and some issues with the steering wheel buttons. They replaced both. I’ll discuss the steering wheel buttons in a separate post. All covered under warranty. I had a bit of trouble figuring out where to leave the car. Several after me also mistakenly parked in…
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A surprise picnic by the Yarra River
Surprise picnic. Making use of all the hidey-holes in the Tesla. Let’s pull over here next to the Yarra River. Would you like a cold drink? I just happen have a powered fridge in the sub trunk of the car. We can sit on the camp chairs from the frunk (front trunk, since there’s no engine). How about a cheese platter and some cherries to go with it? Ok “platter” is a bit of an overstatement, but work with me here. The car also has kitchen utensils and a dining table. We might as well just stay here for lunch now.
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Fast charging at the Bairnsdale Superchargers
It's conveniently located close to shops, near the centre of town, but it's right next to the entry of a very busy car park. There are only three charging spots. I watched another Tesla try a few times to reverse into a charger from a park opposite. Fortunately, other waiting drivers kept their holiday cheer. I tapped on the window and asked if they'd like me to park the car for them. She explained that it was her husband's car, who had apparently gone to the shops. She seemed very relieved to hand over control to someone familiar with the car. I parked it and plugged it in. After that and a cuppa, the car was charged up enough to take me all the way home. I had to do a slight three point turn to exit the car park when I was done. Did I mentioned it's a slightly awkward spot?
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A Vegemite sandwich stop in Orbost
Brief stop in Orbost to make a Vegemite sandwich, a cup of tea and to use the amenities. Pop the tailgate, pull out the dining table, open the fridge. Easy.
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Breakfast and a free shower in Tubbut
Breakfast, from the kitchen drawer and fridge in my Tesla. I drove a few kilometers from my overnight riverside camping spot, back to the community hall in Tubbut. A free shower in the provided facilities was a welcome way to wake up. The rain eased shortly after I arrived. I boiled water using my induction stove, for a hot thermos of tea. Beautiful, relaxed start to the day.
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Creekside car camping in the Snowy Mountains
Car camping in my Tesla, beside a creek, off the beaten track in the Snowy Mountains. It took me a while to find the site. Earlier, in my search, I pulled off onto two tracks that ended up in someone’s property. At least it gave some local kids an excuse to run outside to see what the UFO sound was I did a three point just outside their gate. I waved and grinned. A cup of tea and a snack from my Teraglide drawer, sitting in my camp chair, watching the bush life. Until the bush life started eating me (just a few bugs), signaling time for bed. I again wished I had remembered to pack a collapsible stool, to help climb into the back of the car. Followed by the commando crawl to get on top of the Snuuzu mattress and Teraglide platform. This is the highest sleeping option, which gives lots of storage space and a very comfortable bed. The only down side is requiring more effort getting in and out. Once I’m in, it’s great with plenty of room to move. Please forgive the “Tesla Tripping – after…
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I wish my Model Y had V2L
I wish my Tesla Model Y had a power point, where I could plug in my induction stove to make breakfast 😞. What I need is “V2L”, which stands for “vehicle to load”. Unfortunately, my Tesla Model Y RWD does not have it. This omission almost made us switch to BYD, Kia, Xpeng or one of the many other EV car brands that provide V2L. Tesla’s CyberTruck, new Model YL, and Model Y Performance all reportedly now provide V2L. The Cybertruck has built in power points. The other two require an adapter plugged into the charge port. I can only hope that in the near future Tesla offers some retrofit option for my car. In the mean time, I just have to find a power point, in order to cook. If I had booked a powered site at this location, that would work fine. This morning, I just used the camp kitchen. My car’s massive (by camping standards) 60kWh battery provided air conditioning all night, and has run my camp fridge non stop, via the 16V outlet. It powers other mod cons, such as the lights, wireless…
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Breakfast routine, Tesla-style
Good morning! Time for breakfast, after a great night’s sleep in the Tesla. “Siri, open Tesla boot”. The tailgate opens to reveal a beautiful day, beyond my bare feet. Breakfast mode: 1. Pull out the Teraglide drawer and table. 2. Flip open the Teraglide rear lid. It’s assisted by gas struts, so it’s easy to lift and stays up, even with bedding on top of it. 3. Open the fridge in the subtrunk to get brekky supplies. This morning, that’s eggs, butter and milk. 4. Use the kitchen drawer bits to crack and whisk the eggs, add milk, soak some bread, ready to make French toast. 5. Stroll over to the camp kitchen. Fry the toast and boil some water for my thermos. Return to the Tesla. Enjoy my French toast, with a cuppa tea, overlooking the Snowy River. Nice.
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A tea break on the Great North Road
Along the Great North Road to Wollombi, driving Mum home to Cessnock. Stopping for a cup of tea and a snack. Instant kitchen and dining, using the Teraglide.
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Great chargers, sad site, at Coolac
Time for a break and a cup of tea. The navigation says that the next EV charger is at Coolac, just north of Gundagai, so we stopped there. Wow. It’s a pretty bad. The chargers are great, simple and fast. But the site is woeful. The hotel is closed or being renovated. The toilets are port-a-loos, but are disgusting . I don’t know how much of that is due to infrequent maintenance versus just being the busiest time of year. There is a service station nearby with some food and hopefully better toilets, but it’s a ten minute walk away in the heat, and not an option for Mum’s walker. Some people were sheltering from the sun under the three tall trees begging the toilets. Not a great spot. Tesla/government really needs to ensure better location for EV chargers. We enjoyed a cup of tea from our thermoses, and some Christmas snacks (thank you Krissy). Some way further up the highway, we pulled over into Bookham, for a conveniently located toilet and a bit of a stretch in some broken shade. In…
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Sharing a lamington at the Narooma chargers
There are two ways to tell a story: 1. Embellished: The mayor of Eurobodalla Council came out to welcome us as we rolled into Narooma. 2. Reality: We pulled into the Tesla superchargers in Narooma, to grab a brief charge, and so I could finish my half of the lamington with a cup of tea. Another Tesla Model Y Juniper pulled up next to us. The driver jumped out, said he recognised our profile as “Tesla Tripping”. He introduced himself as “Matt, the Mayor”. Mathew Hatcher - Mayor Eurobodalla Shire We had a good chat about how the council has been introducing EVs into their fleet. They’re trying to figure out if the previous ICE metrics such as 100,000km before replacement, are still relevant with EVs that are lasting much longer. Nice guy. Great welcome to the area.
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Oli burger and FSD on the Hume Highway
Lunch stop at Oliver's, just outside Gundagai. I recommend the Oli burger 🍔. Tesla Model 3 with stripes parked near us. FSD along most of the Hume Highway. It does a great job, and avoids human fatigue. A few complaints, though, including it repeatedly thinking that the speed limit is 100, even when it’s actually 110 (pictured). Occasionally it dropped to 80 or 40, presumably after seeing some random sign off the highway. Pretty good driving efficiency with FSD, too, about 14kWh per 100km. See screenshots.
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Savic test rides through the Dandenongs
While driving in our town of Emerald to get some Emerald Thai for dinner, I did a double take when I saw a Savic Motorcycles sign, randomly on the footpath. It turns out that they were running test rides today “winding through the beautiful Dandenong Ranges”. What a great idea! Test drives at dealerships and even EV shows tend to be within urban sprawls, which doesn’t offer much of a driving or riding experience. We’ve seen Savic at a few EV shows, including the recent Everything Electric in Melbourne (pictured). I wish I had known it was on, and that we weren’t recovering from a cold right now. Hopefully next time. Savic is an Australian company building electric motorcycles.
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Final day at Everything Electric Melbourne
Starting and ending with Jack Scarlett. Test drives, a panel talk about road tripping, EV conversions, and a flux capacitor, some of the highlights.
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Snapshots from Everything Electric Melbourne
Some random shots from Everything Electric Melbourne today. After a few years in Sydney, this is their first showing in Melbourne. It’s noticeably smaller, but understandable for the first appearance. Interesting panel talks. Informative staff at product booths. Huge variety of test drives available, including self driving Tesla cars. A few food truck offerings. They need more undercover seating (from sun or rain). We recommend the falafel wraps.
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A $25k BYD Atto 1 is closing in on ICE prices
About $25k for a new BYD Atto 1. Wow. EVs are now approaching the price of comparative ICE vehicles. Unfortunately, BYD couldn’t get their Atto 1 prepped in time for the show, but they did have the Atto 2 on the floor (pictured). At Everything Electric Melbourne.
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Camper vans and EV utes at Everything Electric
Checking out the Farizon electric van, decked out as a camper. Also the popular BYD Shark electric ute (plus hybrid range extender), and some towing options. At Everything Electric Melbourne.
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A peek inside the Geely EV
Nice interior of the Geely EV, at Everything Electric Melbourne. So many EV options available now.
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A flipping, rolling cat robot at Everything Electric
Dancing, flipping, rolling cat robot at Everything Electric Melbourne was a crowd pleaser. No litter box!
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Goodbye Gas, helping homes electrify
Nice to see some services (like Goodbye Gas) available to help homes get off has, upgrading to electric. Better for health, monthly bills, and clean air. At Everything Electric, Melbourne.
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Two-wheel EVs at Everything Electric Melbourne
Some of the many scooters, motorbikes and e-bikes at Everything Electric Melbourne.
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Electric police cars at Everything Electric
A Tesla Model X and Kia EV6, I think.
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Behind the wheel of an electric big rig
Big wheels keep on turnin’, electrically! Trying out a big rig at Everything Electric show Melbourne
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Silo art on the Mallee Highway home
August 10-11: We initially stumbled upon some silo art, then looked for more, on our way home from South Australia, starting along the Mallee Highway. Amazing.
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Last overnight stop, in Sea Lake
Part way through one of the Silo Art trails, yesterday, the sun was setting, so we booked a room at the next town, at the Sea Lake Motel. This is our final overnight stop before driving the remaining 450km to home, today. Last night, almost everything in this small town was closed. The motel stocks refrigerated meals in a vending machine, for people like us stopping in at the last minute. Great idea. We chose a curry, microwaved it in our room, but then realised that the used by date on the two packets was months ago, even though the used by date on the outer packet was fine. We decided not to risk it, and happily made a picnic tea out of our car travel food. We informed the host, just so they knew. It’s the fault of the food company, not the host.
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Bakery breakfast, and a coal-fed NRMA charger, in Wycheproof
Breakfast and coffee stop at this enticing bakery in Wycheproof. Nice place. The NRMA charger up the road conveys “welcome”. The banners on the fence next to it imply “as long as your electricity comes from coal or gas”, perhaps. Let’s Google it: https://www.google.com/search?q=wind+turbines+generate+intense+electromagnetic+radiation+true+or+false
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The world's smallest mountain?
I think I saw a sign on the way in: “The world’s smallest mountain”. It’s 42m above the surrounding terrain, and only 147m above see level. But, it still gives a good view of the surrounding countryside.
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The last Anzac slice, near Bendigo
Our last piece of Anzac slice lasted until the last day of our road trip. Range anxiety – averted. Just passed Bendigo, this view over the “valley of a thousand hills” seemed appropriate.
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Tesla to Uluru: an 8000 km recap
July 23 - August 11: We drove to the centre of Australia in an EV. Using the shortest range EV that Tesla currently builds. If you like a long drive, the scenery is spectacular and sprawling. Wandering the sand dunes and spiniphex plains is very peaceful. Sunsets and Uluru are otherworldly. The charging infrastructure in Australia is getting better, but the drive up the Stuart Highway isn’t quite there yet. Thanks to RAA / Chargefox and The NRMA for your work so far on chargers along the Stuart Highway. We need improved reliability. We luckily dodged a few outages. Pimba lost power for a couple of days that made the EV charger unusable, but it fortunately worked during our time there. Glendambo (between Pimba and Coober Pedy) has only a 7kW charger that runs off the town’s diesel generator, and would not initially start, both times we passed through. The NRMA charger at Eldunda Roadhouse, in Ghan, died a couple of days after we visited. But, there’s almost always a plan B for an EV.…
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From the Barossa to a Singapore chat in Tailem Bend
We plotted a rough course from the Barossa Valley towards home. First stop at Palmer Lookout, then Tailem Bend, home of a raceway and drag strip, I believe, for “the best coffee in Tailem Bend” from Revival Cafe. At the Tesla super chargers, a couple from Singapore chatted to us about travelling. They hired their Tesla Model Y in Melbourne, drove through South Australia, and are next headed to Sydney in NSW. They have previously hired an EV from Perth and driven down to around Esperance. I told them I’d post their photo to encourage Australians to road trip in EVs in their own country.
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Lunch at Demi's Kitchen in Pinnaroo
We took the Mallee Highway to exit South Australia, stopping in Pinnaroo for lunch. Country town, after 2pm, on a Sunday, not much was open. Typing “lunch” into the iPhone’s Maps app, and filtering for “Open Now”, showed Demi’s Kitchen, a few blocks from the center of town. Time for a wander, through the town green. Cute food truck style caravan in her front garden. We took our “super veggie fried rice” and “curry vegetable dumplings” down the road to the Pinnaroo Wetlands park, around the corner from the tractor dealership. All in all, a pretty nice town. Glad we had the chance to explore.
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A sixties throwback at the Lyndoch Motel
Our home for a couple of nights at The Lyndoch Motel, in the Barossa Valley. Super cute sixties retro theme. The plumbing might need an update, however. We hear the neighbour’s drain through our own. White sneakers from the frunk still have a shade of red earth from the outback.
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Lunch at Maggie Beer's Farm Shop
Lunch and a stroll at Maggie Beer’s Farm shop in The Barossa Valley.
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Numb Skulls at the Barossa Sculpture Park
We were exploring the Barossa Sculpture Park, when randomly the Variety Bash cars turned up, including the “Numb Skulls” with the skulls on the boot, whom we met a week ago in Glendambo, on our way to Uluru. Big country, small world.
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Topped up in Glendambo — return trip
Having topped up in Glendambo (see our previous post), we finally made it to Pimba. “Let’s check out Woomera first” – so we turned left and kept driving. The “Pimba” showcase sign featured a train crossing. Living up to the promise, we were immediately stopped at the rail crossing by a long freight train headed south along the Ghan line. At about this point we thought we maybe should have charged up before going exploring, but 10% seemed fine. We followed the GT to overtake the road train, and then turned off into Woomera. We did a lap of the town, with a stop by the rockets and relics of years gone by. This used to be an active RAAF base, with a mixed history of rocket testing and sadly affected lives from radiation exposure. We only saw about three people in the town. We headed back to Spud's Roadhouse in Pimba, plugged into the RAA/Chargefox fast charger, used the facilities, bought a chocolate bar, drank some tea, then decided to keep driving, to stay in Port Augusta tonight.
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Green lawns and EV chargers at Port Augusta
Leaving the outback behind, we stayed last night at the Standpipe Golf Motor Inn, in Port Augusta. This is the first green lawn we’ve seen in many days. Part of the reason we picked this place is because their online profile says it has EV chargers on site. In our booking comment, we mentioned that we’d want to use the EV charging, since that often helps a host allocate a nearby room. Shortly after, they rang us to say that the chargers were out of action. According to PlugShare, they’ve been offline for a long time. Please get them fixed or remove the listing from your booking profile. In the morning, we crossed the river to the esplanade to grab some breakfast supplies. While parked, we plugged into the RAA/Chargefox EV charger. Very convenient, next to the shops and foreshore, Moreso than the Tesla chargers up the road, which we used last time. We also gave a brief interview to Nick from Yahoo News Australia, about our recent EV charging experience in the outback. I hope the…
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Hatch-breakfast on the way to the Barossa
Port Augusta to Barossa Valley, stopping for a late breakfast from the hatch of the car. The fridge is conveniently located with butter for our croissants and milk for our cereal. The mountains to the west looked interesting, so we diverted off the main road through endless green fields. Such a contrast to the endless red earth from a few days ago.
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A late lunch at Monkey Nut Cafe
Late lunch at the Monkey Nut Cafe (Kies Winery) in the Barossa Valley. Kitchen had closed so we had to make do 😉 with a grazing board, coffee and scones, all to share. Very friendly staff. Beautiful place. The age old battle of cream first vs jam first, continues.
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Dinner at The Lord Lyndoch, in The Barossa Valley
Dinner at The Lord Lyndoch, in The Barossa Valley. Charging: Oh, look, they have EV chargers in the car park. Let’s plug in while we’re having dinner. What a great idea. Thank you RAA/Chargefox.
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Vineyards from the Monkey Nut Cafe
At Monkey Nut Cafe, in the Barossa Valley, with endless vineyards in the background.
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A wary dusk drive into Port Augusta
In today’s drive, from Coober Pedy, this was the final leg from Spud's Roadhouse, Pimba, south to Port Augusta. We normally avoid driving at dusk, due to animal activity on the roads. We spotted many sheep along the road from unfenced properties, and a couple of cows. Just as we were leaving Pimba, a kangaroo jumped out on the other side and stared at us. It was the only alive kangaroo we’ve seen out here this trip, probably because we don’t usually drive in the twilight hours. The sunset put on its usual glorious display, tempting me to stop to take photos, but we drove on. A police car pulled over a speeder heading north. Might have saved their life, or at least a wrecked car. We drove on slowly, far behind a road train. I wasn’t game to overtake into possible oncoming wildlife. We had the Tesla on Autopilot, so it drove while we watched for movement on the sides. The maximum follow distance setting is 7 (as in the photo), but that’s too close at speed, or behind a truck that can…
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Stuck in Glendambo with the local hero (Chris)
As you can probably tell by the first photo of the local hero (Chris) resetting the EV charger, we stayed a lot longer in Glendambo than we had planned. Similar problem, now on our way south from Coober Pedy, as we had a week ago during our trip north.
Formerly: Tesla Tripping
Come along on our EV road trips around Australia and Europe, and follow as we progressively electrify our home in Emerald, Victoria.
Join us on the road. We set off in late 2022 and drove eastern Australia in our Tesla Model 3 — Sydney, Dubbo, Armidale, Brisbane, Cape Tribulation, then down through Queensland and back. We've since upgraded to a Model Y.
We've kept exploring — Uluru, the Snowy Mountains and Gippsland, and a longer run through Europe in 2024. There's plenty more on the map, so come along for the next leg.
At home in Emerald, in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges, we're progressively electrifying everything: rooftop solar, a home battery, a hot water heat pump, air conditioned heating and cooling, and EV charging straight from the sun. We're going fully electric, off the gas.
Got questions, or insights of your own? We'd love to hear them — please drop a comment on any post.