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Peaceful, with lots of birds, at The Palms Avoca
Peaceful. Lots of bird life. Friendly staff. Short drive to beaches, walls, shops, cafes.
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Great food, near the Superchargers
Great food and service. Close to the Tesla Superchargers.
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How we charged at The Palms Avoca
A charging story, for those who might be interested. It took a while to find a way to charge at The Palms at Avoca Beach. We had asked about charging when booking, and the friendly staff said that we could just plug the EV into the cabin. Attempt 1: Too cold When we arrived, since we were staying a couple of weeks, they had generously upgraded our cabin. But this one (number 20) is down a path from the parking. We managed to make our extension cord just reach along the path through the door to a power point. However, when switched it on, the Tesla UMC (universal mobile charger) showed a red light flashing twice. I checked on the screen in the Tesla and tapped on the warning. The table showed that this problem is due to insufficient grounding of the power point. Attempt 2: Too hot I asked the staff about other options. They were very helpful, suggesting one of the two larger cabins that have a power point on their balcony. Since they had no booking there, they said we could park there…
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Two weeks at The Palms Avoca
We’re staying a couple of weeks at The Palms at Avoca. In all the time that we lived in the Central Coast, we never knew this place existed. It’s kind of a cabin park, with pool, games room and so on. Very peaceful, with lots of birds. Short drive to beaches and shops. A couple of our kids visited to try out the games room.
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Lunch at Cafe5911, Goulburn
Stopped for lunch in Goulburn at Cafe5911. Great food and service. Only a 200m walk from the Tesla Superchargers, through Belmore Park. This is the first time we have taken our EV through Goulburn.
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Coffee Pedaler, then Dog on the Tuckerbox
Morning caffeination at The Coffee Pedaler in Gundagai. Then stopped down the road at Dog On The Tuckerbox. Years ago, we stopped here at Oliver's Real Food and for the first time saw the Tesla Superchargers at the back. That’s probably what started us mulling over the idea of buying an electric vehicle some day. Now we’ve come full circle.
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Goats and alpacas at Hillview Farmstay
We stayed overnight at Hillview Farmstay in Mount Adrah, just south of Gundagai. Great place to stop halfway between Melbourne and Sydney. Lots of goats, sheep and an alpaca to pat or join for their daily feeding.
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Holbrook submarine, with EV chats
We stopped in Holbrook to have the obligatory photo with the submarine and a couple of pies. We chatted with one guy who was driving his Tesla and daughters from Adelaide to Sydney. Also chatted with Kate and Karen in their Kona 😊 (pictured). They’ve only had it a few weeks and this was their first big trip. Lovely to chat with them. We talked about the Kona. I mentioned that we had chatted with Margaret McDonald about her pioneering trip in the Kona a few years back. Karen said she knew Margaret and Hugh Sykes through her work at the Central Coast ABC (if I recall correctly). Margaret and Hugh are EV celebrities that inspire many 🤩. Charging story: When entering the trip into the navigation in Melbourne, I had only set our destination as our first stop, in Thurgoona (to visit some old friends), so the Tesla didn’t have the chance to tell me I needed another charge after Yea to get to our next stop at Gundagai. As you can see from the screen, it starts to freak out if there are no…
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Why Tesla Superchargers are so easy
We are constantly impressed by how easy the Tesla Superchargers are to use. We enter our destination into the car’s navigation. The car adds the needed supercharger stops. We arrive, plug it in, walk away to the toilet or cafe. The app tells us that it’s nearly finished charging and we should get back to move the car. So easy, right? Well, except, as you might have noticed in these photos, it seems that I can’t manage to actually park on the correct side of the chargers 🤦. Where possible, we have aimed to instead use other types of chargers, just to familiarise ourselves with them (and to make some content for these posts). But, if you have a Tesla, the superchargers are the simplest and quickest way to go.
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Hot-air balloons over Yarra Glen
Headed off once again from Melbourne towards the NSW Central Coast. We left early enough to spot some hot air balloons over Yarra Glen. This will be the first time that we’ve done this trip fairly directly, mostly along the Hume Freeway, unlike our previous long routes along the coast or further inland.
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Mobile office at Jells Park, in a loaner
#digitalnomad The observant among you will notice that the car seats are black. This is actually a loan car from Tesla while they fired our car with a PWS (pedestrian warning system) aka “boom box”, and fixed a mysterious rattling noise.
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Mobile office at Tim Neville Arboretum
Mobile office this afternoon at the Tim Neville Arboretum. #digitalnomad
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Jolt second attempt — Ferntree Gully Station
My second attempt at using a JOLT Charge station was at Ferntree Gully Station. This location was much better (than Bayswater station, mentioned in my earlier post). It’s in a carpark, where you can come and go easily. Still no “EV charging only” sign, which is needed. When I used this charger a week later, there was a ute (of course) parked in the spot. I waved politely to the driver who obligingly moved to another car spot so I could use the charger. I already had the JOLT Charge app installed, with my credit card details entered. I tried using the app’s QR code scanner, but it repeatedly failed. So, I entered the charging station’s ID number and, after a few seconds wait, it started charging. It is a DC charger (with a built in cable). It charges at 22kW, which is slower than the typical 50 to 350kW DC charger, but still faster than the 7 to 11kW max we can get out of an AC charger. I expect that a typical top up of half a battery would take about 90 minutes, which is probably a…
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Jolt first attempt — ICEd at Bayswater Station
This was my first chance to try out a JOLT Charge charger, next to Bayswater Station. Unfortunately, this one was “ICEd” by a van. Not their fault, though, because there is no “EV charging only“ sign here. I expect that makes it really difficult to use. In addition, there’s no way to come back to park here, except by going around a very large block. So, if you park further down to wait, then see a car leave, you’re unlikely to be able to move your car to the charger before another car parks there after turning off the main road. So, this time, I gave up and moved on to another charger. See my next post about Jolt charging at Ferntree Gully Station.
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Our four photos for Tesla's Earth Day comp
Tesla is running an #EarthDay competition for customers to submit photos of Tesla products. The limit is four photos. We picked these ones from our Tesla Tripping adventures.
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A walk around Jells Park
Walk around Jell’s Park, east of Melbourne.
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Songbird Cafe, plus a free EV Up charge
Lunch at Songbird Cafe & Larder in King Lake, followed by a bit of a walk through the autumn leaves, and view of Melbourne city from Frank Thompson Reserve - Lookout. Topped up the battery, while we ate lunch, at the free EV Up charger behind the King Lake police station, but it took a bit of time to find the right app to make it start charging.
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Brunch at Somers General, beside old bowsers
Brunch at The Somers General cafe, overlooking old petrol bowsers that now only serve as decorative relics from a hopefully fading era. It would be great to see EV chargers replace them here.
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Kebab and laptop at Rye Front Beach
Stopped at Rye Front Beach for a veggie paneer tikka kebab from DD,S KEbab & Burgers, and to do some work on my laptop.
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Car camping at Point Leo Reserve
I checked with the ranger/reception about plugging in an EV at the powered site, and mentioned that I was car camping. I chose a powered site ($10 extra), which is only slightly more than it would have cost me to top up the charge at home. I set the Tesla to “camp mode” which keeps the accessories on. Air con (with no engine running) kept me comfy all night. I used a folded over yoga mat for a bit of extra padding under the hips under the Tessories Australia foam mattress. But I should have levelled out the car a bit more to alleviate the gradual sliding down into the boot during the night. Thermos of tea, fireplace on the Tesla screen, glass roof to watch the sunrise in the morning, and a USB powered mozzie zapper from KILOS GEAR, just in case.
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Setting up camp at Point Leo Foreshore
Set up camp at Point Leo Foreshore Reserve. So many rabbits! KILOS GEAR chairs and foot rest. Suction cup and line from Bunnings.
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A few nights at Mural House Olinda
We stayed a few nights in the Dandenong Ranges, at Mural House Olinda. It’s a B&B run by our friends Suzanne and Ron. Beautiful place, with birds visiting at the large lounge room window while I worked on my laptop. When I looked on PlugShare, there aren’t any EV chargers listed in Mount Dandenong area, other than at Proserpina Bakehouse, and King Henry Cafe, only for customers. I asked our hosts (MHO) about providing EV charging for guests. TT: Is it okay for guests to plug in our EV while we’re here? MHO: Yes. There’s a power point near the car port. TT: Thanks. It was an about 2m too far for our mobile charging cable, so we added our extension cord. MHO: We will make an extension cord available for others who might need one. TT: What do you pay for electricity? MHO: 20c/kWh of peak and 40c/kWh peak. We also have a 5kW solar system, for which we get 10c/kWh for any exported. TT: So, if someone charges their EV here at 2kW for 10 hours overnight, that would cost you about 2 x 10 x…
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Locust-splattered, on to Daylesford
Arrived in Daylesford. We skipped Ballarat, mainly because I messed up on a roundabout at the exit ramp. The Tesla has many km of bug carnage, mainly from millions of locusts and other bugs on the road through the farmlands to the east of Ararat (see previous posts). The wasps descended on the car as soon as we stopped in Daylesford, for a free meal of bug guts. Charging story: We plugged into the 22kW Chargefox driven DC charger in town while we had a pub dinner at The Royal Daylesford. Before we got out of the car, a couple started asking us “how long does it take to charge”, which is the common first question. “As long as it takes to eat dinner” for this charger, would have been the most accurate response. But I said I prefer to just plug it in each night where I’m staying, so I don’t even have to think about it.
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Sheep, wind turbines and a chaff fire
Chatted to some of the local sheep about the giant wind turbines. They said they much prefer them to sharing the land with coal mines. We came across some of the crop chaff burning. Quite spectacular, but I wouldn’t like to live downwind of it.
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Searching for Noah's ark on Mount Ararat
We searched the top of Mount Ararat (One Tree Hill, in Ararat, Victoria) for Noah’s ark, with no luck. But we did find hundreds of wind turbines along the horizon. More electron mining! The only emissions were from many crop burn offs (which is, of course, also renewable). Close up photos to follow. Charging story: We had to spend an hour or so catching up on emails and such, so we plugged into the free Tesla destination charger at the Ararat RSL. It looked like the cable has been damaged and replaced or similar. It was so short. I had to back up over the gutter to reach it. Just as we were about to leave, another Tesla Model 3 arrived. They were worried that their Tesla was predicting only 5% charge when reaching their destination in Ballarat. I suggested that they just trust the prediction and drive to the fast charger there. But we left anyway, so they could top up slowly.
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Lunch in Moyston, the 'birthplace of AFL'
Stopped in Moyston for lunch and a cuppa. It claims to be the birthplace of AFL, which I believe is some kind of Victorian sport!
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The Elephant Hide, in The Grampians
At The Elephant Hide and Chatauqua Peak, in The Grampians.
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E-bikes through Halls Gap
We hired some electric bikes to ride through Halls Gap. After a fun and informative set of instructions from Stuart, we headed off along the extensive bike path. Many kangaroos and emus along the way. There was something slightly wrong with Fran’s bike controls, making stop and start a bit jerky. This, and her self confessed “unco” led to her coming off in dramatic and painful fashion while crossing an intersection. Fortunately, Tom had a supply of napkins (that he routinely stocks from each visited cafe). Adding some water, we managed to clean the wound fairly well. And later added some Savlon. Fran was a trooper, and kept riding, this time with a more predictable bike. These e-bikes don’t require any peddling, which we think is unusual, perhaps not legal in NSW? They are like little motorbikes, with very comfy seats. Stuart has been running this business for over a decade. He used to hire out horses. He said he wondered why the service station next door didn’t add a few EV car…
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Kangaroos for breakfast at The Lodges, Halls Gap
Beautiful start to the day in The Grampians. Cereal in our accommodation The Lodges, Halls Gap, looking out at the kangaroos. Scones and thermos tea while watching more kangaroos and a family of emus stroll by, at Brambuk National Park And Cultural Centre.
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Arriving in Halls Gap, in The Grampians
We arrived in Halls Gap, in The Grampians. Quick stop at the local service station to confuse passers by and to wipe the bugs from the windscreen. Lots of kangaroos near the road, which is both good and bad. Dinner at Paper Scissors Rock Brew Co.
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A Dunkeld stop, on the way to The Grampians
We decided to head directly north to The Grampians, from Port Fairy, Victoria, and not visit Mount Gambier is South Australia, this trip. We stopped on the south edge of The Grampians in Dunkeld. Note Francis’s stylish socks and thongs.
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Harman's Valley Lava Flow
Stopped by Harman’s Valley Lava Flow, near Hamilton.
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250 kW Superchargers in Warrnambool
Charging story: We arrived in Warrnambool and started charging at the Tesla superchargers. So simple and fast. We just plug in, the car and charger talk, already know who we are and what credit card to use. 250kW but our Tesla Model 3 RWD accepts a max of 170kW. Even at an average of 100kW, it would charge our 50kWh battery in half an hour, more like 15 minutes in reality because we are unlikely to have zero charge to start, or need more that 90% to go. Speaking of zero charge, while we were there, a guy dropped by with zero charge showing on his Ionic 5 EV. He had driven from Tasmania (on the ferry, presumably). It was his first long trip (I think with family too) and he hadn’t factored in the charging correctly. He said he had “only a handful of km to go” to get to his B&B which included a power point for charging. He asked if these Tesla chargers are for Tesla only, or compatible with other EVs. I said that I had only come across a few open Tesla chargers, such as those in…
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A late lunch at Port Campbell
We stopped for a late lunch (or was it an early dinner) at Port Campbell, along the Great Ocean Road, before Warrnambool. Lifeguards still operating at the beach – brrr.
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A Tesla 'cinema mode' date night
Netflix? ✅ Surround sound? ✅ Air con heating (with no engine running)? ✅ Popcorn and chocolate? ✅ Stars through the roof above? ✅ Reclining seats? ✅
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A slow charge in Lorne, while shopping
We stopped in Lorne to buy a few groceries, post a parcel and grab a coffee. Since we had to be there a couple of hours anyway, we connected to the slowish 7kW RACV destination charger at Lorne Visitor Information Centre. They handle queuing in a way I haven’t seen before. We had to ask in the center to borrow a permit to display on the car while charging. They also asked us to write our details in their log, so they could call us if we stayed more than two hours and someone else was waiting. Very proactive approach. We also looked through the visitor center media displays to learn how the hard work was done in the 1920s to build The Great Ocean Road, mostly by returned soldiers with picks. Amazing.
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Sunnymead Hotel, Aireys Inlet
We stayed last night at Sunnymead Hotel in Aireys Inlet. Beautiful decor. Dinner just across the road at Airey's Pub.
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First Great Ocean Road stop: Torquay
First stop on The Great Ocean Road at the RACV Resort Chargefox chargers in Torquay. Seemed quite popular, with a couple of EV Volvos pulling up next to us. Looks like even more bays under construction. Just enough charging time to eat a burger. Then we were off again, towards Aireys Inlet.
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Planning a Great Ocean Road and Grampians loop
We’re thinking of this road trip over the next week or so, from Melbourne down along the Great Ocean Road and back through the Grampians. Any suggestions?
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Tesla 'Office' mode in a Melbourne park
We set the Tesla to “Office” mode. Technically, it’s just a profile like for any driver, but with the seat set right back and up. Peaceful in the park, and sheltered from the Melbourne drizzle. Cup of tea on hand, via the thermos. Air con without an engine. No interruptions, very productive. The #Tesla includes four powered USB-C ports (such as for laptops), two wireless charging pads (for phones), large screen, web browser, Zoom and camera, synced calendar and contacts and its own internet connection.
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Loan Model Y day out at St Kilda
After the morning downpour across Melbourne, the sun started to emerge for us as we walked along St Kilda beachfront. Yummo Greek lunch at Beachcomber Cafe St Kilda Beach. You might notice that our Tesla is a bit larger than normal. It’s a loan Model Y, while our Model 3 was at the service center in Mulgrave.
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Windscreen replaced at Tesla Mulgrave
We followed the instructions in the Tesla app to bring our Model 3 to the service centre at Mulgrave. Great system. We were getting the windscreen replaced, because the chip is larger than the 2.5cm limit of repairs and we had elected the extra windscreen cover with NRMA Insurance. Glad to see that a loan vehicle is standard issue, from Tesla. At the drop off desk, we requested a Model Y, so we could try it out for the day. We explored the bigger storage space and potential sleeping/camping space. When we first hopped in, it felt like a mini van compared to the Model 3. It felt very high. Easier to get in and out. More visibility out the front window, due to the height. Less visibility out of the rear window, partly due to the smaller area (which actually wasn’t so bad) but more due to the extra tinting on the rear window. The roof window visibility is great. We watched some kind of air show (perhaps the Roulettes?) flying over Melbourne while we waited in traffic. The Model Y is…
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3,800 reactions in 30 days — thank you!
We've received 3,800 reactions to our posts in the past 30 days. Thanks for your support. 🙏🤗🎉
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Prefab homes at Ecoliv, The Gurdies
Checking out prefab homes at Ecoliv in “The Gurdies”, near Philip Island, Victoria.
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A quick top-up in Yarra Glen
Quick stop for toilets, stretch and a cup of tea in Yarra Glen, with a short top up charge at the 50kW DC charger. The car has a new layer of bugs and dust from unsealed roads.
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Lunch in Mansfield
Lunch today in Mansfield
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Charging from a power point at Motel Views
We stayed overnight at “Motel Views #Yackandandah”. Scenic setting and town. Our host, Jackie, was happy for us to plug in overnight to charge. She said they have talked about adding wall chargers, but for now offered us a power point near reception, which was very kind. No extra cost ☺️. There’s also a 50kW fast charger in town, which we used for 15 minutes while waiting for our takeaway Thai order from Grace's Place Cafe Yackandandah. Next, heading through Beechworth towards the east of Melbourne.
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Past Murray 1 Power Station
Part of the Snowy Hydro electric scheme. “One of the seven engineering wonders of the world” which “provides 11% of the [national electric grid]”. Coming down the west side of The Great Dividing Range, the car added 7% charge from the regenerating (going down a hill puts power back into the battery). Then along the Murray Valley Highway beside Tallagatta Creek (which appears to have been dammed).
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A lunch break at Geehi
Lunch break, along The Alpine Way, at Geehi, beside Swampy Plain River.
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Thredbo and Dead Horse Gap, on the Alpine Way
Today we drove through Thredbo and Dead Horse Gap, as we started along The Alpine Way. Beautiful scenery and fluctuating temperatures. No petrol for two hours, but there is electricity here and there.
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.