Eggs on toast in Mount Larcom

Stopped for a simple eggs on toast lunch in Mount Larcom, which seems to just have a cafe, park and a charger. Now, on to Yeppoon for a few days.

Strolling Yeppoon's Main Beach

October 26-28: It’s probably the prettiest (and shadiest) part of Yeppoon. The difference in the tide here is stark, as you can see in the photo with the ocean lapping at the bottom of the stairs, but later over 100m away. The humans are similar: during the heat of the day, there’s hardly anyone around, but at night the street is buzzing with people in eateries. Lunch at Lure Living was a delight, with island vibes and a view of the ocean and the Keppel Islands. Keppel Kraken is a fun water park for the kids and young at heart, with tentacles and water jets to cool down from the heat. At the south end, there’s a popular lagoon pool with an infinity edge. We managed to grab an ice-cream seconds before the kiosk closed 🍦. More about the rest of Yeppoon and our accommodation later.

A scorching day at Eumundi markets

What shall we do on this stinking hot day? I know, let’s walk around in the sun, buy hot food and drink hot coffee! Well, we did! Highly recommend Eumundi markets. We visited on a Wednesday and it was absolutely packed, visitors hoping for a bargain, a “completely organic” ointment that cures all or some gadget they didn’t know they needed in their life. Delicious arancini balls and the obligatory Dutch poffitjes (kind of mini pancakes) were devoured, Fran bought us two candle holders made from Australian banksia seed pods. Many visitors meant many cars. We parked in the $9 grass car park right next door, with everyone else, in the baking 36° heat. We had perishable food in the car, so we put up the windscreen shade and turned on the air con for a few hours while we wandered the markets and had morning tea. No hot engine or fumes. The best part was pre-cooling the Tesla and revelling in it at the end of our wanderings.

Past a huge solar farm to Woolooga

We headed north west from Eumundi. Stopped briefly at the shopping center in Gympie, then on past one of the biggest solar farms we’ve seen, in Woolooga. Stopped to grab a toasted sandwich and pat a dog at Woolooga Trader Coffee Co, then on towards Biggenden. We picked this route, just because we hadn’t taken it before. The road wound through more very dry landscape, with sections of narrow roads (one sealed lane shared by both directions), dirt road, cattle grates, unfenced cattle next to the road.

A magpie-serenaded lunch in Biggenden

Kept driving north through the parched Queensland countryside. Stopped at Beiers Park in Biggenden in a rare patch of green and shade to eat our toasted sandwich, while serenaded by a couple of magpies. (See my comment for the serenade video). Then on to Miriam Vale for a fifteen minute stretch under the gaze of the huge bat population (zoom in on the trees in the photo). Tonight, will stay down the road at Koorawatha Homestead Motel.

Koorawatha Homestead Motel — return stay

Just north of Miriam Vale is Koorawatha Homestead Motel, our home for the night. Great value, setting and family run service. We stayed here before in January. The manager, Tim, son of the owner, has grown a substantial beard since we were last here. We ordered room service for dinner. Tim asked about our experience with the Tesla. We told him how we had been up and down the east coast of the country since we last saw him and how the car had been great. Tim said he was interested in maybe getting a Tesla, so Tom took him for a spin up the Bruce Highway. Large 4WD and utes stop don’t fit under the awning, but it’s great for our sedan in the shade.

From Wellington Point to Mudjimba

October 23-25: At the top end of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Lunch (veg nachos and corn fritters) at High Tide Bar Grill & Cafe. A walk on the beach, as we watched a few jumbos descending to Sunshine Coast Airport. We booked a room, last minute (as always), down the road at Ramada Marcoola Beach Resort. Nice place, with pool, bistro, bar, gym, beach. The staff are nice, but we did get a cold sales call asking if we are interested in time share. We took a swim (more of a float, really) in the pool. After the hot day, the pool was warmer than the air above, so we didn’t want to get out. Dinner at the bistro (veg curry and Thai salad). A morning walk up the road to get coffee from Cuba St. Coffee Roasters. They have two branded old cars. The rust has actually fallen in piles under the cars. Cool look, though. We briefly sat on the chair outside the cafe, until we realised that the BMW parked there was pumping fumes at us, in order to keep the air con going for the owner. How did we…

Reunion at Wellington Point

October 21-23: We ventured north to Wellington Point, east of Brisbane, to stay with two wonderful humans, Ross and Sharon. They were Tom’s youth leaders when he was well, a youth! This was of course many many many years ago now! Such fun reminiscing with them. Enjoyed some delicious home cooked roast beef, salmon mornay and quite yummy rocky road. They did however lock Fran in the toilet one night which apparently was by accident. We’ll never know! Fran was forced against her will into retail therapy too. It was a tough time. We explored both Wellington Point and Victoria Point, both adorned with stunning waterfront and picnic areas. We sought a caffeine fix and unbelievably sweet strawberries grown and sold at Wellington Point Farm and an epic vanilla latte at Flannery's Victoria Point. A must stop at Pet Barn was just what the doctor ordered. Fran fell in love with a cat there. Given we are trying to preserve our vegan leather seats in the Tesla, we decided against a cat purchase,…

Lunch at Pac Fair with Vincent and Rika

We popped into “Pac Fair”, as the locals call it, in the Gold Coast, Queensland. Huge place. Even had its own moat and bridge in the middle 😉. Vincent and Rika (a couple who have been following our Tesla travels) generously invited us to dinner at Hatsuhana Japanese Restaurant - SeaWorld Resort, and later to the local Tesla meetup, back at Pac Fair. The meet up consisted of several other Gold Coast Tesla lovers parking in the shopping centre carpark, like a bunch of newly licenced P platers, swapping Tesla knowledge and our experience on road trips. The most entertaining was Vincent who is a walking encyclopaedia of Tesla knowledge. Thank you to all who joined us. Fun time! Next morning, we checked out of our hotel, and drove north to Blue Bungalow, near Brisbane. Fran exchanged some clothes while Tom put the car in “husband mode” (which was just air con and YouTube 😉), to watch Chris Vanderstock explain the details of the Supreme Court decision throwing out the Victorian EV road tax.

Past Byron's fire smoke to Mermaid Waters

October 17, 18: We arrived in Mermaid Waters, on the Gold Coast. We passed the Byron Bay fire, marked by huge plumes of smoke, that also reached the Gold Coast. When we crossed the border, our phones eventually adjusted to the Queensland time zone (no daylight saving). But the Tesla, for some reason, didn’t update, even after a couple of days. After a brief googling, we tried pressing the time on the screen for five seconds and voila! It updated. Since the car has its own GPS and Internet connection, it keeps the time updated without any manual settings. The highway into the Gold Coast is chaos. I feel like this road work has been going on for years. The road work has necessitated lots of diversions in adjacent suburbs, which then force more traffic into the highway just to get around. It took us half an hour to get a few blocks, plus diversions, to West Burleigh post office where we had packages delivered, when predicting where we would be on a particular date. Nomadic life! We’re…

A second visit to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

Visiting a wildlife park without kids is such a relaxed and fun experience. We’ve been to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary before and loved it enough to come back. The miniature train is a great way to get an overview of the place. The train runs on diesel, the fumes of which are inhaled by the passengers for the entire trip. It has been running for decades and a claimed three million kilometres which is very impressive. But that’s also an awful lot of diesel. It begs for a switch to electric. First stop: the amazing bird show. Next to that is the animal hospital showing a steady stream of injured animals receiving help. We chilled alongside kangaroos, koalas, red pandas, lizards and many others. Ended the day with traditional dance from indigenous performers.

Veg curry at Kurrawa Surf Club

After a day of mostly doing work and life admin from our hotel room, we ventured out of our office weariness for dinner and a walk on the beach. Veg curry at the Kurrawa Surf Club restaurant was yum. We managed to sneak into a reserved table and just made sure we disappeared ten minutes before the reserved time. We walked on the beach at nightfall, which was beautiful. I am still astonished by the many skyscrapers that poke out from the beach, to the horizon in both directions.

Jacarandas in bloom in Grafton

On our way from Emerald Beach in NSW to the Gold Coast in Queensland. First stop, for coffee, in Grafton. The town billboard shows jacaranda trees in bloom, and the town lived up to the promotion. We parked in the shade of the library carpark, at the free NRMA charger, next to John in his BYD, with a curious looking orange bonnet. He was returning from Canberra, for bike events, to Brisbane. I think he said he’d done the whole trip for zero dollars, including using NRMA chargers, which are mostly still free. I listened with envy as he mentioned that at some events all the BBQs were taken, but he just plugged his induction hotplate into his car to cook. The BYD has “V2L” (vehicle to load), whereas Tesla does not (except the Cybertruck). A power point outlet from the car would be very handy. An hour or two later, we stopped in Casino to get lunch. Fran opted for a healthy salad sandwich. But Tom was seduced by the pie, mash and peas 🥧. We again parked next to the standout BYD with the…

A B&B at Emerald Beach (NSW), while buying in Emerald (Vic)

October 15 - 17: A year ago we were looking to buy our new home here, or nearby in Sapphire Beach. As it turns out, last week we paid our deposit on a new home in Emerald in Victoria. It must be something about the name “Emerald”. Emerald Beach, as you can see in the photos, has kangaroos throughout the beach reserves. We had to walk around them as we went for a walk through the headland reserve next to our accommodation. One watched me from the shade of a tree as we hung out the clothes. The B&B was right next to the reserve, which was a great spot to watch the kangaroos and black cockatoos, while I did some more coding on my current app project. Coffs Harbour is a little bit south. We popped into the Park Beach Plaza there for a quick supercharge on the way through, while we found accommodation, and the next day for delicious veg crepes. Francis shopped while I (Tom) did some more coding in the mobile office that is the Tesla.

Glamping in a giant tent in Bulahdelah

October 13 - 15: It’s essentially a giant bathroom (with walls) with a huge deck and heavy duty tent over it, containing a studio room with bed, kitchen, dining and lounge. The first night, we had dinner at this understated restaurant (it looks like a fish and chips shop) called Warung Peri, which serves some of the best food we’ve eaten. Indonesian. We did most of our eating on our outside deck, watching the birds, cows and greenery. I had a fair bit of work to do, so the deck became my office while I wrestled with Xcode and SwiftUI. Francis sent me out for coffee the first morning. It was only a couple of hundred meters to town, so I thought it best to walk. Loved the sign on the counter at Cafe on Main 🦸 ☕️. On the second morning she had the Red Parrot on-site coffee, after a lot of fun in the (also on-site) petting zoo. Great place. Friendly staff.

A burger and a boardwalk in Urunga

Time for a late lunch, in Urunga, just south of Coffs Harbour. We split a burger between us, just before the town shops finished closing. Then a beautiful walk along the 1km (each way) boardwalk. Hot in the sun today, and no shade for the car in the car park near the beach. I just used the Tesla app to turn on air con in the car, to keep our food fresh, and prepped for us to drive on. Tonight we’ll stay at a B&B in Emerald Beach.

Out of coffee charge, in Nabiac

We left Bulahdelah fully charged, but ran out 30 minutes later in Nabiac. Ran out of coffee charge, that is – the car was fine 😉.

A few days back on the Central Coast, with family

October 8 - 13: We stayed a few days in our old home of the NSW Central Coast, and exited through the Hunter Valley. We grabbed some meals with all of our local family: We checked out Patonga Beach Hotel for the first time (surprisingly). We thought it very busy, for a Wednesday, but the waitress said it was “dead” compared to normal. Stunning place. It used to be a corner shop when I lived there as a kid. In Terrigal, we ate at 4 hands pizza. Another day, we grabbed some pasta from a cute little express Italian place “Il Toscano” and ate on Terrigal Beach as the sun went down and the local life savers practiced their wedgies while rowing. Erina Fair for the Snap Car Wash and lunch at Sage Cafe. We popped in to visit Fletcher, who is one of the biggest fans of our Tesla. In a few minutes he had used the console to change the colour of the car, the air con fans, and composed a funky beat. I got a chance to show him the newly added summon feature (he “drove“ the car using my iPhone app)…

A Heatherbrae Supercharger pit stop

Stopped for a few minutes at the Tesla Superchargers in Heatherbrae, while we decided where to go next. After leaving the Hunter Valley, we had just finished crawling along with the traffic along the New England Highway through Tarro and Hexham. For most of it, I just enabled Autopilot to let the car do the driving, while I had a cup of tea. A couple of hours earlier, while parked for lunch at Cessnock Leagues Club, the car sent us a notification that I’d left the frunk open, when I’d retrieved my “emergency shoes” earlier. Francis volunteered to go back to the car to close it. I embraced my inner child by showing my mum and sister on the live camera on my phone, as Francis approached the car. Then I used the microphone in the Tesla app to broadcast “push it all the way” through the Robocop like voice of the car’s boombox. She texted back “You are a sick man” while the guy in the next car wondered what just happened. It was late in the day, so we decided to just head for Bulahdelah…

A roast at Campbelltown Catholic Club

Last stop before the Central Coast, in Campbeltown. We tried a couple of nearby cafes that were closed for the day or holding a private function. We came back to The Catholic Club and shared the roast of the day. That’s how we roll.

A bug-spotted windscreen, with no clean-up

Final leg to the NSW Central Coast today. First stop for bladders, so we pulled into the next service center along the Hume Highway. A fresh spotting of bugs adorned the windscreen. But there’s no cleaning facilities at the chargers 😞. We pulled into the adjacent service station. I opted for the least busy section, which was for trucks, planning to get out quickly. I grabbed the handle of the cleaner from the bucket, and wiped the windscreen a few times. When I went to dry the drips from my hands, I realised that the handle was covered in grease! And now also my right hand. It took some time and effort to get that off, so as not to wipe it on the white interior of our car.

Indian dinner in Yass, then a Murrumbateman motel

Delicious veg Indian for dinner last night at Spice Affair in Yass. The waitress warned us against the local tap water. We stayed overnight at Abode, Murrumbateman motel, just south east of Yass. Nice place. Weird layout, having to take your bags through reception at one end of the building, down a corridor back through the building to your room. They would do better to connect the path to the room’s patio. We just stepped over the garden to get in and out after checking in. We made breakfast of toast with bananas and peanut butter. Reception sells coffee and they were kind enough to use our lactose free milk in Fran’s cappuccino.

A bladder break at the Dog on the Tuckerbox

Reached the range of my bladder. Quick stop at The Dog on the Tuckerbox at Gundagai. Grabbed my first smoothie of the season at Oliver's Real Food Gundagai. Then, off we go again, towards Yass. Tomorrow: the NSW Central Coast.

From Mount Beauty to Cube Cafe Wodonga

We drove north from Mount Beauty, loving the long stretch of green valleys, but increasingly realising that there aren’t really any lunch options along the way. We pulled in to Wodonga and grabbed some lunch and coffee at the Cube Cafe Wodonga, aka Ploughmans Cafe. When we left the cafe, I noticed a sign near a pedestrian crossing warning of swooping magpies. While I was admiring the tree in the courtyard, one of the swooping magpies introduced itself, with a click next to my ear. I maintained eye contact and slowly stepped away backwards.

Bright to Mount Beauty, on a curvy road

We drove from Bright, east to Tawonga and Mount Beauty, along a windy road that reminded us of motorcycle riding. On the way, from Tawonga Gap and Sullivan's Lookout Mt Beauty, we could see the town below near the lake. The scenery was spectacular towards the town and then on the long valley stretch leaving northwards, towards Wodonga and Yass. But there wasn’t much happening in the town itself when we arrived – just a small market, coffee/toastie shop and a resident large bird metal sculpture. Sleeping Beauty.

Our morning routine, leaving Bright

1. Tom gets up, showers, starts to pack. 2. Francis, while still in bed, finds a coffee shop (Wild Thyme) on Maps and Trip Advisor with an acceptable rating, sends the location from her phone to the Tesla. 3. Francis asks Tom to go get her a coffee. “The directions are already loaded in the car”. She’s already done the hard part. 4. Tom drives the car into town, following the navigation directions. Laughs at the dentist next to the lolly shop. 5. Tom returns with coffee. 6. Francis has made Tom a cup of tea in his thermos, and set up breakfast, but realises that we don’t have enough milk. 7. We pack up everything into the car and check out of the hotel. 8. We swing by Woolies to get milk, and then down to the Ovens River. Beautiful setting, to sit and watch the ducks. 9. We use our camping bowls, cutting board, cutlery etc to have a yummo breakfast of cereal and banana. We realise we left one of our two breakfast spoons back in Knoxfield. 10. We head off east of Bright towards Mount…

A magpie-dodging bike ride along the Ovens River

“Let’s go for a ride”, she said. “It will be fun”, she said. It was wonderful, fresh air, blue skies, the mighty Ovens River and gorgeous perfumed flowers along the way. It may seem that we stopped regularly for photo ops, to avoid the magpies and to eat, but the truth is, our backsides were killing us! We swapped our electric car for a couple of electric bikes, thanks to Lee at Bright Electric Bikes. We pedalled, with assistance from the electric motor, from Bright to Porepunkah (about 15 km round trip), along the local rail trail. In the distance we could see a spectacular waterfall coming off Mount Buffalo. Fish and chips, salad and a side of veggies for lunch at Punka Pub, where the sign outside says “Eat, Drink, Ride”. We were amused by the fish tank separating the toilets. We came back to the motel to rest our sore bums and get some work done (via laptop and wifi). I only drove 2 km today to grab curly tagliatelle pasta and veges takeaway dinner from Don Mungo's. It looked like…

Spring in Bright, day two

Day 2 of our latest road trip. We stayed in Bright last night (and tonight) at Motel Sierra. We wandered around town, marveling at the spring foliage, including lilacs and azaleas. The Ovens River is flowing fast, presumably from melted snow and recent heavy rains. We suspect that the river was recently higher, judging by the blocked pedestrian bridge. We had dinner last night at Hometown Bright. Mushroom pizza and Italian meatballs. Today we ventured out on some electric bikes, detailed in our next post.

Day one: Olinda and Heartswood in Yarra Glen

Day 1 of our latest road trip up the east coast. Stopped for a quick visit at a friend’s in Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges, then at Heartswood in Yarra Glen for lunch (burger and chips). Stunningly beautiful green scenery all the way to Yea and Euroa. Lots of overflowing rivers, but no flooded roads. Stopped in Euroa for a stretch, then back on the road towards Bright.

Off on another east-coast road trip

We’re off on another road trip, through the east coast mainland states. Starting tomorrow morning from east Melbourne, through the Dandenong Ranges, up to Bright. Then onwards to the NSW Central Coast by Sunday night for a few days. Then meandering (route yet to be decided) up to north Queensland, aiming to reach Airlie Beach by about November 6. A few days on Hamilton Island, then a reverse trip back south to Victoria.

Maybe we found our new home in Emerald

We may have found our new home! In Emerald, Victoria. Beautiful street, town, nature walks. We had lunch at Sticks & Stones Cafe, parked the Tesla with the backdrop of some giant trees, walked along the path that would lead from caffeine back to our potential home. Then, on to Puffing Billy, through Emerald Lake Park, past the wishing well and Nobelius Heritage Park, back to town to grab the car.

A look at frunks at the Melbourne EV Show

We dropped in to the Melbourne Electric Vehicle Show. Lots of attendees and companies showcasing their vehicles. We were surprised at how small the frunk and sub-trunk storage is on most of the non Tesla cars. As usual, Tesla doesn’t exhibit, leaving it to volunteers from TOCA (Telsa Owners Club, Australia) to show off their cars. The Tesla Model X seemed to have endless people, mainly kids, climbing in and out through the gull wing doors. Francis was the first person to try lying down in the Model Y. We did manage to (kinda) spot a Cybertruck. We chatted to a few attendees considering an EV about their hesitations, which were very similar to ours, just over a year ago. We listened to a couple of exhibitors about V2H (vehicle to home) prospects, which unfortunately doesn’t yet seem to be economically viable. We would love to at least have V2L (vehicle to load) in our Tesla, so we could plug in appliances like a hot plate. A few other EVs on show did have V2L, in the form of a simple…

Larder & Thyme lunch, then Magic Car Wash FTG

Lunch at Larder & Thyme in Ferntree Gully. Lunch was so good that we also bought dinner there to take home. Lots of yummy home-style cooked meals available. We had the car cleaned at Magic Car Wash FTG, including removal of months of jeans stain from my white seat. Back to bright white.

Off to the Melbourne EV Show tomorrow

We’re off to the Melbourne Electric Vehicle Show tomorrow (Saturday September 23). Who else is going? If you see us walking around, come say hi 👋. $32 for the “two for one” tickets deal, plus booking fee.

Day trip — part 2 (Healesville to Emerald)

Day trip, part 2: Continued on our day trip, from Healesville through Wright Forest, to Emerald and Puffing Billy.

Day trip — part 1 (starting in Healesville)

Another portable Tesla office

Another day, another portable office location.

Office in a reclaimed quarry park

A stretch and some portable office time at a reserve, reclaimed from an old quarry.

House-hunting in Belgrave, Badger Creek and Marysville

Another road trip, looking at houses along the way, in Belgrave, Badger Creek and Marysville.

Lunch at Proserpina Bakehouse

Lunch with some dear friends at Proserpina Bakehouse in the Dandenong Ranges. The food is always beautiful and delicious.

House-hunting in Mount Evelyn, then Alexandra

Another day trip to look at potential new homes. First stop Mount Evelyn, then Alexandra, in Victoria. The house in Mount Evelyn has an impressive view over its curved driveway. In Alexandra, Francis befriended the four chickens: Henny, Penny, Jenny and Karen. Stopped at Beechworth Bakery, Healsville for pies and what I would label as a custard burger, but is apparently called a “bee sting”. One of the most beautiful drives we’ve done, incorporating the Black Spur Drive.

A Euroa charge stop, before Melbourne

A quick stop in Euroa to empty some urea, and give the car a final charge before Melbourne. We admired the shiny Model Y compared to our road dirtied Model 3. When the owner returned we had a good chat about EVs. She has only had it a few months. She had recently driven with her father to Shepparton when the Tesla navigation told her that Euroa was her only charging option and she’d have to drive at 30km/h to make it. Stressful. I pulled out the PlugShare app to show her the other non Tesla chargers in Shepparton and explained that they have built in CCS cables that plug straight into your Tesla etc. I couldn’t bare thinking of her limping along the road again. I also explained that the charging stall at the far end is reserved for EVs with a trailer.

A last-NSW charge, chatting with Keith

We arrived for lunch and our last charge in NSW before crossing the border. We had a chat to Keith and his wife (sorry, forgot your name 🤦) who were plugged in when we arrived. They’re retired and drive between Melbourne, Canberra and Mildura visiting family. Next stop Euroa, on our way to Melbourne today.

Licorice-and-chocolate breakfast in Junee

Woke up in Junee and drove one block to the Junee Licorice & Chocolate Factory, for breakfast and coffee served with, as you might guess, licorice wrapped in chocolate. Then a quick visit to the homewares/gift shop upstairs, including fur lined crocs. Then we drove on towards Wagga Wagga. We needed to get back to Knoxfield in the east Melbourne suburbs today.

Burgers at Jail Brake Inn, Junee

Arrived in Junee, after driving along the Olympic Highway from Bathurst. Burgers for dinner at the Jail Brake Inn, by the light of the full moon and road trains. Sleeping at Junee Tourist Park.

Charging in Bathurst, with an NRMA gold-rush stay

Stopped at the Bathurst chargers. We used the time to catch up on some laptop work, powered by the car’s USB-C ports. We stayed overnight at the local The NRMA holiday park. Cute gold rush town theme. 10% off with NRMA membership.

Pulled over by police, with expired rego

We drove from The Blue Mountains to Oberon, where we were pulled over by the police. It seems that our registration has expired! We were kicking ourselves 🤦. The reminder would have been posted to our business address, which we only check every few months, because we are road tripping. But we should have had a calendar reminder for it anyway, or at least just realised. We collected the car on August 31, 2022, but I guess Tesla registered it a few days beforehand. The officer was very kind. No fine, but he told us we couldn’t drive anywhere until we renewed the registration. Easy to do, on-line, right? It took us ages to find the CTP (green slip) policy number, since Tesla has organised it originally. NRMA Insurance website told us it was undergoing maintenance. We used the chat feature to get help, which suffered slow responses and the support staff also experienced the maintenance issue. Thanks to The Hub Pizza for sustenance while we sorted all this out. Eventually all done, just as…

Scones, canola and a wind farm: Bathurst to Junee

Driving from Bathurst to Junee along the Olympic Highway. First, a comparison of scone topping styles for morning tea. Beautiful scenery. Countless fields of green and yellow (canola). Stopped by the Blayney Wind Farm next to Carcoar Dam Camping Area. Lunch in Cowra while the car charged. Another diversion to the Bethungra Spiral Railway Lookout – I wish there had been a train due then through the tunnel and around to the top of it.

Wiseman's Ferry into the Blue Mountains

We started road tripping from The NSW Central Coast, back towards Victoria, initially heading west through Wiseman’s Ferry and the Blue Mountains. We stopped for afternoon tea along the Hawkesbury River, just before the ferry. Thanks to Bron for the delicious home baked cookies. An hour later at the Hawkesbury Lookout, a tried to sneak in another cookie, but it was whisked out of my hand by a swooping kookaburra. It soon realised that it wasn’t meat, but was hesitant to give it up to a magpie that didn’t care. It’s a bird eat cookie world out there!

Meandering the Blue Mountains Drive

We stayed the night in the NSW Blue Mountains. In the morning we meandered along the spectacular Blue Mountains Drive, creatively bypassing the first closed section using the Tesla’s huge map to drive around the valley cliffs.