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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.
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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…
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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…
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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…
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Day trip — part 1 (starting in Healesville)
Day trip, part 1, starting in Healesville, including a walk around the lake at the Healesville Sport Complex. Charging: We charged at the new Evie Networks charger in Healesville while we had a wander through town.
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Another portable Tesla office
Another day, another portable office location.
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Office in a reclaimed quarry park
A stretch and some portable office time at a reserve, reclaimed from an old quarry.
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House-hunting in Belgrave, Badger Creek and Marysville
Another road trip, looking at houses along the way, in Belgrave, Badger Creek and Marysville.
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Lunch at Proserpina Bakehouse
Lunch with some dear friends at Proserpina Bakehouse in the Dandenong Ranges. The food is always beautiful and delicious.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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…
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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.
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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!
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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.
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A test drive of the MG4 with Ben
I test drove the new MG4 with one of our kids, Ben. The MG4 was announced in Australia back in March at the Fully Charged Show in Sydney, but only became available in the past couple of weeks, widely applauded by reviewers. Review from our 19 year old: Yeah, it’s good, but not as good as the Tesla [Model 3]. The front looks good, but the back could be sportier. One pedal driving is easy. Lots of interesting options to try in the screen display. It has more impressive acceleration after about 30km/h than from a standing start. It’s currently the cheapest EV sold in Australia, starting at $38k plus on road costs. Plus you get whatever incentives are available in your state, such as free stamp duty and $3k cash-back in NSW. If your employer or business buys it, then they get the $3.8k GST refunded (as tax input credits) and you save about $5-10k on income tax (by paying no fringe benefits tax). At the end of the day, it could effectively cost you more like $25-29k. Note: Talk to a real…
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Erina days, and a Snap Car Wash
Staying for a few days in Erina, on the NSW Central Coast. Finally gave the car another thorough clean, thanks again to Snap Car Wash. We did a double take on the sign on the back of a Red Bus Services bus, which seems to be asking the public whether goats should be driving buses.
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An electric-scooter gift for Mum's 80th
The real reason we headed back to NSW was for Mum’s 80th birthday, in the Hunter Valley, but we had to keep it quiet. We all pitched in for an EV for Mum – well, an electric motor scooter. We couldn’t get the box to the Model 3, so I pulled the contents out, which all fit in the boot. Tom drove the scooter up the driveway, with Fran following in the Tesla, much to the amusement of all, and the surprise of Mum. It is amazing how simple the motor scooter is. Basically an electric motor on the back wheels and a battery in the middle. We wouldn’t dream of having a petrol burning version of this. As we were departing, we ran the Tesla light show, where it blares out music from the boom box, while dancing windows, mirrors and the hatch in sync. And of course the youngest got to try the fart seats, summon and go cart video game. And lastly, a sneaky stop to go “awww” at some alpacas.
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A 'big lap' meet-up at Campbelltown chargers
We met up with Keith, David and Lindsay at the Campbelltown Tesla superchargers. Lindsay and David are just past midway through their “big lap” of Australia clockwise from Perth in their Model S. They showed us their epic collection of charging adapters and cables that fill their trunk. We grabbed a drink and late lunch in the adjacent Catholic Club and warned each other about the too high speed humps when exiting the car park. Next stop: NSW Central Coast
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A budget cabin south of Ulladulla
We stayed last night in a cabin/caravan park, along the Princes Highway, just south of Ulladulla. We had a budget $104 cabin, but later discovered the small town shop themed cabins nearer the beach. Very cute. Just a short walk to the beach, “at your own risk” (not really that bad). Spagbol, veg pizza, salad and tiramisu for dinner from Tony’s Italian Restaurant in Ulladulla. The local cockatoos seemed to be all "on line" having a big meeting. We stopped for a coffee at Gerringong Cafe And Deli, on our way to meet up with some other Tesla trippers at the Tesla supercharger in Campbelltown.
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Lookouts around Batemans Bay
Driving around the south and north of Batemans Bay, checking out the views, towns and a few houses for sale. Stopping at Melville Point Lookout in Tomakin, Observation Head Lookout.
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Calf-feeding in Bodalla
After staying off grid at Potato Point, we drove to the nearest civilisation (ie coffee outlet) in Bodalla. We were lucky to catch the (slightly late) 10am feeding of the calves and the strutting rooster.
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Kangaroos and warm sunsets at Potato Point
August 21-23: We stayed in Potato Point, north of Narooma, just across the channel from Tuross Head which we had visited a couple of weeks earlier. There’s something about kangaroos: so uniquely Australian, gentle but strong. Literally warm and fuzzy, but don’t underestimate them. They are everywhere, here. The grass is full of land mines for bare feet 😉. The holiday park is off grid. Run on solar, but I don’t think any batteries, so I think they have to run diesel at night. The powered sites are limited to 6A. The cabins have no microwave or electric kettle. Such a beautiful, peaceful spot. We could almost move in. We drove around the area for a couple of days, looking at a couple of potential houses (and grabbing coffee) in Tuross Head, and getting dinner in Narooma. I caught up on some work, and we just chilled.
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Driving the south coast: Tathra and Wallaga Lake
Driving through more of the NSW south coast, through Tathra, and Wallaga Lake.
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Lunch at Squire's Cafe in Cann River
Stopped for lunch at Squire’s Cafe - Cann River, heading east. We were here, in Cann River, just a couple of weeks ago, heading west. Stopped in at the service station to remove a fresh layer of bugs.
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Bairnsdale via NRMA park, plus chocolate mousse
Arrived in Bairnsdale at the NRMA cabin/caravan park. Dessert was chocolate mousse from OzMex Restaurant 😋.
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Daylesford to Bairnsdale, 400 km in a day
Breakfast in Daylesford, dinner in Bairnsdale, Victoria, over 400km apart. We’re off to look at some houses on the far south coast of NSW, starting in Tuross Head. It was a last minute decision, when we stopped for lunch in Knoxfield, to just keep going. Autopilot took care of most of the highway driving. A quick charge and loo stop in Moe, and a drive past the carbon spewing coal fire power plants, which will hopefully be phased out soon.
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Borealis AU light show by Lake Daylesford
We drove down to Lake Daylesford with a cheese hamper from Winespeake for dinner, followed by the Borealis AU #borealisau light show. Lasers onto mists of rain fog and dry ice, with a mystical sound track background. Erie and beautiful.
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A house-inspection lunch at The Convent, Daylesford
In between house inspections, we grabbed lunch at The Convent Daylesford. They were booked out, but Stephen was kind enough to call us a few minutes later when a table freed up. After a walk along Lake Daylesford, I searched through the main street of town for a cafe that served scones. You would think that they would be everywhere in this place, but no! In the end, it turns out that the only person serving scones here, is me! With help from Bakers delight Daylesford and Coles Daylesford for the ingredients.
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House-hunting in Daylesford
Off to Daylesford for the weekend. You guessed it – looking at potential homes. We drove by a few houses, through Spring Hill, Trentham, then back to Daylesford. Beautiful region. Probably a bit too consistently wet and overcast for us, however. We stayed at Hotel Frangos, for sleeping, a dinner, and brekky. Lovely country hotel, friendly staff and friendly dogs (not part of the hotel, I think). The car park has an iconic metal gate, but it’s quite narrow, and we just managed to escape bottoming out on the dip. Francis took precautions against the Italian meatballs.
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New tyres for our Tesla Model 3
Booking through the app was seamless, as always. I asked previously, via the app, if I could have a loan car while they serviced ours, but they were all allocated. When I arrived, however, I asked again, and said I’d sit in the waiting room until they found one. A few minutes later, a Model Y became available. This was the first time I was able to pair my phone with the loan car, which makes using it much easier. The process created a new profile, linked to my Tesla account, which later also appeared in our Tesla Model 3, so I will use that profile from now on, to share my preferred settings between cars. The air con in the Model 3 has a “recycle air” button. But the the Model Y also has the “biohazard defence” button. I think it helps when sitting behind diesel spewing utes taking off at the lights 😉. While waiting, I set up office in the Model Y in nearby Jells Park. The tyres cost $427 each (Michelin Pilot Sport 4). The car has driven nearly 39,000km. At my request, they fitted the…
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Brunch in FTG, plus a 1 TB Tesla USB upgrade
Visiting Ferntree Gully: Brunch at lorna cafe. Hair courtesy of Ruby Red Salon. Walk around the Tim Neville Arboretum, including public herbs, it seems. Replacing the Tesla’s supplied 128GB USB drive with a 1TB drive. Eight times the capacity for Sentry Mode recordings and dash cam recordings from the eight built in cameras.
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Tyre rotation — and a recommended replacement
Slightly overdue for another tyre rotation (16,700km since previous check, but due at 10,000km intervals). So, I booked one in via the Tesla app, which quoted $71.28. Mobile service came to me. Amar, the Tesla technician, was very friendly, efficient and helpful. All his tools were in the trunk and frunk of his Tesla Model S service vehicle. He showed me that the tyres had unevenly worn, so the inside tread (on the right in the photo) was below spec on all tyres, requiring the replacement. He said he could cancel today’s call-out (so, no cost to me) and book in a tyre replacement at the Tesla service centre (big cost). I asked him to make it so. Follow up: See the post about the subsequent actual tyre replacement at the service center, here:
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A baked-potato day in Lillydale
A short trip out to Lillydale (Victoria) to look at some houses and to grab a baked potato for lunch by Lillydale Lake. We didn’t find a house, but Francis nearly adopted a couple of the house cats.
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Through Gembrook, back to Scoresby
We drove from Lakes Entrance, back to Scoresby, in eastern Melbourne. We popped in through Gembrook to look at a house. The air hand dryer in the park in Gembrook had a familiar brand name. It bucketed rain at one point along the Princes Highway, which seemed to wash off all of the bugs. It pushed the AutoPilot to the limit, but it managed to keep on steering us through the lane. I suspect the rain impacted our range a bit. Because of the rain, we looked for somewhere sheltered for lunch, and headed into Traralgon shopping centre. We tried, but failed, to find the chargers there, until we were leaving, so didn’t bother. Shopping centers should have better signs and arrows for visiting EVs to find them. As we were leaving, David and Sam flagged us down in the car park, showing a picture of us from our posts. Sam commented to Dave “He’s got bare feet!”. I’m not sure if that’s how they identified us 🤔. We chatted a bit about our travels, their off grid setup in Rawson, and small town…
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Big Bear Donuts, finally
Arrived in Lakes Entrance, Victoria. We had been thinking about the Big Bear Donuts from a week ago at the donut van in Sale. So, in transit today, Fran preordered donuts from their shop in Lakes Entrance, for pickup at the Tesla navigation’s predicted arrival time. High pressure driving! We may have a problem 🍩. We stayed in a great cabin at the Eastern Beach Holiday Park. I caught up on a little bit of work (and wine). We chatted to the couple in the cabin next door, who also had an EV. They were on their way from Tasmania to family on the NSW Central Coast, in Empire Bay, just across the water from where we used to live.
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Free Bega coffee on the way to Victoria
Starting our trip back from Tuross Head in NSW to Victoria. First stop at a service station to clean the windscreen, and _not_ buy petrol. A quick stop in Bega for a coffee and free top up electric charge. A rest stop in Timbillica to expel the digested coffee. Our first time stopping at Cann River, to use the new Tesla superchargers and try out the pies (recommended by Daniel Rond). Beautiful and convenient place to stop. The charging was finished before we were.
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Thai by the water in Narooma
Day trip from Tuross Head to Narooma, on the NSW south coast. Beautiful clear water under Narooma Bridge. Thai lunch special by the water’s edge. Watching the sea lion and stingray near the boat ramp.
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Stalking kangaroos at dusk in Tuross Head
More cruising around Tuross Head. Made our gourmet peanut butter and banana on toast for brekky. Bought coffee from the local Lure Cafe Tuross. Found different office views from which to work. Stalked the local kangaroos at dusk.
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.