Grampians + Great Ocean Road 2023
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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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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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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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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 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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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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Harman's Valley Lava Flow
Stopped by Harman’s Valley Lava Flow, near Hamilton.
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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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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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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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The Elephant Hide, in The Grampians
At The Elephant Hide and Chatauqua Peak, in The Grampians.
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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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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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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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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.