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Autumn backdrops with the new 'Ultra Red' Model Y
We captured a few Autumn backdrops during the three weeks and 3684km so far of owning our “Ultra Red” Tesla Model Y Juniper.
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Hedging weather: car gets a rinse and a sun-charge
Lazy couple of days at home (except for home office working). The mountain weather can’t decide if it will rain or shine, so I hedged my bets by putting the car outside for a rain rinse, and plugged in so it can refuel from the sun.
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Destination chargers at every room: Woomargama Hotel Motel
Past the halfway point of our trip home, we stayed last night at the Woomargama Hotel Motel, 15 minutes south of Holbrook. Great find. Good value room ($120 per night), hotel next door serves dinner. Added bonus: destination EV chargers out the front of each room. The room’s (de)odorisers were quite potent, so we tracked them down ina cupboard and moved them outside and opened up the windows while we had dinner.
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Hume Highway quirks of our Model Y Juniper
The things you discover while cruising along the endless Hume Highway: 1. Our new Model Y Juniper seems to have a bug, where turning off AutoPilot also turns off Auto Wipers, so they immediately start going. Might need to lodge a fault. 2. The navigation shows the weather at our “Final Destination”. Nice! 3. Logging trucks make me nervous, having seen the “Final Destination” movies.
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Home in Emerald, autumn in full swing
We arrived back home, in Emerald Victoria. Autumn is still in full swing. 🍂
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$6 avocados and lunch at Mint and Jam, Yea
Lunch stop at Mint and Jam in Yea, on the way home. Marmalades is closed until June 5, so we had to venture out 😉. A bag of avocados selling for $6 – good value.
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A fluid swap at Oliver's Real Food, Gundagai
Quick stop for a fluid change (hot chocolate in, wee out) at Oliver's Real Food Gundagai.
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Find-along-route coffee on a cold morning
We left our motel this cold morning in our preheated EV. No need to run an engine and fill the veranda with fumes. We hit “Home” as the destination in the navigation, then “Find along route”, coffee. It showed various options along our path. We tapped the “Brew Cart” pin, read the details, then added it as a stop. Neat! It turns out to be just a brew cart. Just coffee. As advertised, I guess. No food.
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Pies and EV chargers in the same car park
When the EV chargers are in the car park of the pie shop, then pies are definitely for lunch. Disappointing to see one of the other EVs occupying a charging park, but not plugged in.
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KFC in the frunk, on the Central Coast
A few random jaunts around the Central Coast to catch up with family. Ettalong Beach, Terrigal, Woy Woy waterfront. Bringing KFC to lunch in the frunk, to keep the smell out of the cabin.
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Thai Thyme and haircuts at Erina Fair
A couple of visits to Erina Fair, while we’ve been on the Central Coast the past few days. Back to our favourite Thai Thyme restaurant for some pineapple fried rice, and Harris Farm for groceries. Even time for a couple of haircuts.
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Pies at Heatherbrae's, and flooded Thornton
Quick lunch at Heatherbrae's Pies, on our way to drop Mum back at Cessnock. We swung out through Thornton. One of the many towns with full flood plains. The farmers must have been busy moving livestock and equipment to higher ground.
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Packing the subtrunk for the Central Coast
Time to pack some bodies into the subtrunk! There’s so much room in this thing. We prepared for our trip today to the NSW Central Coast, via Cessnock.
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Lunch at Kembali Cafe at Blueys Beach
We made the most of the slight break in the weather with a drive out to Blueys/Boomerang Beach, for lunch at Kembali Cafe. We phoned ahead to secure some food before the kitchen closed. Then some pics back at Seal Rocks.
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A Turkish find for lunch in Forster
We often fail to get around to lunch in a town before everything starts to close. We trekked out to Forster and after a few failed eateries, we happened across this Turkish restaurant which proved to be the find of the week. Lovely people and great food. We hung around the attached dessert shop afterwards and discovered all types of Turkish Delight that we didn’t know existed.
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A rainy 'sunny holiday' at Seal Rocks
May 19-22: We arrived at Reflections Seal Rocks. Francis joked at reception “We’re here for our sunny holiday” as the rain continued to belt down. It rained most of the time we were there. The room key mocked us with the label “Life is better outside”. But we made the most of it. We played a few rounds of “brain fart” which was frustrating and fun. I drove 3km down the road to Treachery Camp to pick up Amber. It takes a long time to drive along a road that bad. On the first night, we drove to the closest open dinner venue: The Palms Bistro, Smiths Lake. The satay veg curry was yum and great value. Another night, Fran cooked up a delicious mushroom meal for her mother in law! And sent her home with the leftovers 😉. We did a few days trips out, including a snippet of sun. Stay tuned for those.
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Direct-to-boot groceries in Raymond Terrace
Stocking up on some groceries in Raymond Terrace, before the final leg of our trip to Seal Rocks. We used the Woolworths app to order ahead for “direct to boot”.
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The scenic route through Wollombi to Cessnock
Taking the scenic route through Wollombi and Laguna, on our way to pick up Mum from Cessnock. Raining. Beautiful countryside. A few years ago, this whole valley suffered major flooding.
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Coffee Guru, opposite Mittagong's Evie chargers
On our way out of Bowral this morning, we grabbed a coffee at Coffee Guru Mittagong. Conveniently located across the road from Evie fast chargers, so we could all be charged up for our long drive to Cessnock and Seal Rocks.
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First wash at Briars Country Lodge near Bowral
After our journey from Wagga and Yass, last night we stayed near Bowral at Briars Country Lodge. Nice motel, set on beautiful grounds, complete with buffet breakfast. Our car got its first wash, from a hose next to the parking. Dinner at The Scottish Arms Hotel, Bowral. Driving on today to Cessnock and Seal Rocks.
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A cafe opposite the Yass Superchargers
Stop for a late lunch, in Yass, at Kaffeine 2582. We picked this place, because it’s opposite the Tesla Superchargers. I wonder if the cafe realises how many EV drivers now eat at their cafe 🤔.
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Average-speed monitoring on the Hume Highway
Cruising along the Hume Highway, between Gundagai and Yass. The highway average speed monitoring system is now enforced for all vehicles. Fortunately, our Tesla monitors our average speed setting these sections, showing it on screen, so we can ensure that we comply. And, of course, in Autopilot, the car just drives itself for most of the drive. Driver fatigue is greatly reduced.
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Barefoot at Rules Club, leaving Wagga
On the way out of Wagga Wagga this morning, we stopped at Rules Club. Looks like a nice place – we’ll try out a meal there next time. Tom waited outside, in his bare feet, like a vagrant, while Fran went in to get a coffee. Our Model Y seating is much more comfortably higher than in our old Model 3. This has greatly reduced pain in arthritic hips, on this journey. The road grime is starting to collect on the previously shiny paint. After polishing off a travel cookie, we unplugged and headed off again. Earlier this morning we were on babysitting duty, with grandson Enzo. Lots of fun. He overpowered Tom into taking him for a walk towards the park. At the end, we drew straws as to who would carry whom back up the hill. Tom lost. We passed an intriguing street sign with added distances to Victoria and Queensland.
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A 20-minute detour through Brayton dirt
The navigation showed red traffic ahead on the highway towards Goulburn. We saved ten minutes of slow traffic, by taking an off ramp. Pretty proud of myself until the detour turned into a long dirt road through Brayton, which probably added twenty minutes to the trip. The photo shows an easy part of the road, but a few sections were pretty rugged. Glad to have the higher clearance of the Model Y (compared to our previous Model 3), but the 20 inch low profile tyres on this “Launch” model aren’t ideal for off road. I wish the navigation showed which roads are unsealed, and the length before reaching tar. This was our first major christening of the new car on dirt roads. Great scenery. The flat bum of the Model Y Juniper accumulates the dust. But the rain and a quick hosing at our motel sorted it out.
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A solar-powered coffee stop at Glenrowan BP
Coffee stop, just north of Glenrowan, at the BP service centre. The Tesla/Google navigation only knew the south bound service center here, so the directions tried to send us over the highway 🤪. Thanks to the nearby solar farm that provides the power to the grid that found its way to our car. We overheard someone paying $1100 for fuel, presumably a semi trailer. Wow. 😮 Home baked Anzac slice (thank you Krissy) was the perfect accompaniment for the coffee and thermos of tea. The small birds begged us for crumbs. On towards Wagga.
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Toasties at Lake Nillahcootie, again
First stop today, at Lake Nillahcootie, near Bonnie Doon, on our way north. We happened to stop here just a few weeks ago, in our Model 3, travelling south. We grabbed a couple of toasties from the weekend food van, stretched our legs, and headed off again. Ultra red seems to be following us 🤔. Earlier, we passed through "The Black Spur" on the way towards Alexandria, where the last of the fern trees and tall trees farewelled us from our mountain ranges near home.
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First road trip in our new Model Y
This morning we set off on our first road trip in our new Tesla Model Y. Compared to our previous Model 3, we have so much room now. Even the sub trunk has another sub trunk. We’re also taking a couple of suitcases to deliver to a family friend along the way. We still managed to find room for the coffee machine. The autumn trees in our yard turned an ultra red, to send us off. First stop tonight will be near Wagga Wagga, then on towards Cessnock, Seal Rocks, then back to the Central Coast for a few days, before heading home again.
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First scratch: the hatch and the roller door
First scratch on the new car 😩. The hatch on the Model Y is much higher than our old Model 3. The open hatch fits in our garage, but not with the roller door open, it turns out. Fortunately, the car allows us to set a maximum height for the hatch to open, and even assign a different height to each location. Just to be safe, I used a cardboard buffer during experimentation.
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TRIPNG plates, finally on the new car
Personalised TRIPNG plates authorised and attached, after a bit of faffing around. Yesterday, after buying the car, we tried a VicRoads office, but they said they didn’t do plate transfers there. So, today we arrived at VicRoads in Ringwood, which ironically and inconveniently has no car park. We parked in Eastland shopping center, over the road, removed our one day old plates, and crossed the road. We had some playful banter with the staff, who kindly sorted out the transfer of a personally owned plate (oops) to a business vehicle. When we ordered the plate in line, i didn’t see any option to buy it asa business. They told us that we had actually paid $140 (as part of our car order) for the “old” plates, since they are the slimline design, not the kind of ugly larger blue on white. They suggested we keep them, since we paid for them. I wish now that I had elected the cheaper option when ordering the car. Oh well. The law requires displaying a blue “EV” triangle on each licence plate.…
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Farewell to our 2022 Model 3
Farewell old friend. We traded in our “old” 2022 Tesla Model 3 today. It was unexpectedly emotional to say goodbye. So many great road tripping memories. 2022 Tesla Model 3 RWD White paint + White seats + Enhanced Autopilot + Boom box and Pedestrian Warning System 91,000km We ended up just going with the Tesla trade in quote of $27k. We could possibly have got $35k if sold privately, but it would have taken time away from work. And since it’s a business purchase, trade-in was just simpler. Our car was in great condition. It runs as well as the day we bought it. It has a few stone chips, paint chips around a side mirror (from reversing against a leaning wire fence), and a bent front license plate. I used my high tech equipment to straighten the plate. But I left the rest for Tesla to spruce up, since they have all the expertise for that. They can also replace the air filter and the rear tyres, which are due for replacement. Trade-in was all managed through the Tesla app, including…
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Picking up our new Model Y 'Juniper'
Today we picked up our shiny new Tesla Model Y “Juniper” from Tesla Mulgrave. Most of the process was done through the Tesla app over the past week, so the actual pickup was super sleek. We traded in our 2022 Tesla Model 3 RWD, also streamlined through the app. After we arrived, the staff just spent five minutes checking the condition of the car. No issues found. Thanks to Nathan for leading us to our new car, and sharing our excitement, since he has also ordered one. He left us to inspect the car and said to just turn on the hazard lights if we had any concerns or questions. We spent 15 minutes looking over the car and taking photos. Then we just drove out of the building, to take it home. We have new custom plates “TRIPNG”, but we didn’t get to VicRoads in time to allocate them today. So, we just used a lump of Blutac to stick one on for the photo today. In Victoria, we only pay once for custom plates, not every year. The Tesla app automatically removed our “old” car and added the…
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Why we ordered a Model Y 'Juniper' launch edition
Back in January, we took the plunge and ordered a new Tesla Model Y “Juniper” launch edition. “Ultra Red”, white interior, 20” wheels (which was the only option for the launch edition). We chose the same battery and drive as our Model 3: RWD (rear wheel drive), LFP battery (no nickel or cobalt), 0 to 100km/h in 5.9s. The main reason for the upgrade is for the greater ease of getting in and out of the car, which has been increasingly painful on Fran’s arthritic hips. As those of you who follow our Tesla Tripping blog will know, we have looked at and test driven quite a lot of other options. The best contender was the XPeng G6. In the end we stuck with the Tesla Model Y because of the huge storage space, driving performance and the tech. The Tesla app has guided us through the whole process up to now, with registration, trade-in, insurance. Today is delivery day. The final `Start` button is still disabled in the app. I’m guessing it will enable at exactly 3pm, when we’re at Tesla…
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Mother's Day at Healesville Sanctuary
Happy Mother’s Day, from us, visiting Healesville Sanctuary.
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Navigation → Hungry: Earthly Pleasures in Belgrave
We hopped in the car, hit Navigation -> Hungry. Yes, it’s an option! It showed a bunch of places offering food. We headed for Earthly Pleasures Cafe, in Belgrave, up the Puffing Billy Railway line from us in Emerald. Nice country town, also catering for tourists. We passed a random piano labeled “play me” on the pathway, with a musician taking the opportunity. A fitting accompaniment to the Autumn leaves. I used the car’s reversing camera guide lines to park right up to the curb without scraping it. The vision cameras showed the parking lines, except the one in front, since the windscreen camera couldn’t see it over the bonnet. When we got out of the car, I noticed that the car had heaps of space in front. I used the “Summon” function of the Tesla iPhone app to drive the car forward half a meter, like a remote control car. It will be interesting to see how the newer Teslas do better at parking, since they now have an added camera under the front bumper. We worked off the eggs…
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Autumn colours at Emerald Lake
A really short drive from home, down the road to Emerald Lake. This is our most frequent place to go for a walk. The autumn colours are beautiful, at the lake, and back at home.
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Selling our beloved Model 3 for $35,000
We’re selling our EV. It’s been a fantastic car, never skipped a beat. It drives as well today as the day we bought it. We’re only selling because we need a car that has seating higher off the ground (arthritic hips). Selling for $35,000. No offers. We have a week to sell it, otherwise we’ll just trade in on a new car (another EV). Tesla Model 3 RWD, 2022 (August) 0 to 100km/h in 6 seconds White paint Includes extra purchases from Tesla: - $1500 white seats/interior - $5100 Enhanced Autopilot - $250 Boom box and Pedestrian Warning System Third party included purchases: - Rubber mats for floor. - Rubber mats for boot, sub-trunk, frunk. - Original unused floor mats. - Mud flaps. Unused, not installed. Included if required. - Roof shades. - Rear spoiler. 91000 km No accidents Rego: CGU321 Rego until March 2026 Runs on sunshine ☀️ Pick up from Emerald, Victoria. Or, we can deliver it within 100km.
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Kia EV6 vs Tesla Model Y, test drive
Feb 1: Test drive of a Kia EV6. Forgive the dust in the photos. Highlights, comparing to Tesla Model Y: - Good acceleration. Handles okay. - More physical buttons (good or bad, depending on preference). - Manual, not auto, adjusting steering column. - Much less storage. - Smaller main screen. Blind spot camera is on an additional smaller screen, behind the steering wheel … in a blind spot! At least, I couldn’t get a good view of it, which defeats the purpose. - HUD (heads up display) was a new discovery for me. It’s terrific to see your speed within the field of view of the windscreen. - 240V V2L outlet in the car, which is great. Apple Car Play. Missing in a Tesla.
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Our 25-minute Model Y 'Juniper' test drive
Our first (and only) test drive of the new Tesla Model Y “Juniper”, at Tesla Mulgrave. We only had 25 minutes in the car, which isn’t much to fully test it. Not enough time to drive to some winding country roads, but we did manage to find a tightly curved on-ramp to a highway. Driving at speed around it, we definitely noticed more body roll compared to our sportier Model 3. This did freak out my passengers. They also found the acceleration more noticeable in the back seat, which seems to tilt down. Tim described the acceleration as prolapsing his sphincter. The Model Y absorbs bumps much better, finding a good median between sport and comfort. This new model has the same acceleration as our Model 3, 0 to 100km/h in 6s., one second faster than the previous Model Y. This is the RWD (rear wheel drive) model, standard range, not the AWD long range. We prefer the RWD because it has an LFP battery, which has no nickel or cobalt, and a longer life span. It’s also cheaper. But slower…
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Cork at Cooks Corner Cafe, finally
Having passed it dozens of times, we finally tried out the Cork at Cooks Corner Cafe, not far from home, in The Dandenong Ranges. We were pushing close to closing time, so we just ordered arancini balls and cauliflower steak. Delicious! Cosy, charming, endearing cafe. We’ll be back. Just across the road, we wandered down the Lyrebird Walk, which lived up to the name.
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Giant donuts and metal echidnas at Warragul market
Day trip out to the farmers market in Warragul. Farms grow giant donuts, right? Also metal echidnas – who knew? Most of the market stalls ran off on site power. Just one stall had a droning generator.
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Easter Thursday traffic into Melbourne
On the Thursday evening, just before Easter, let’s drive into Melbourne city! Crazy. We were picking up one of our adult kids, who hitched a ride from Wagga Wagga. Heading out through the heavy traffic, it took me three of four attempts to navigate the junctions near the leaning arches. I have been through there many times now, buti still have only a 50% success rate at getting the correct exit 😞. Very glad that in bumper traffic, we don’t use any fuel, or generate engine heat or fumes.
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A toasty stop at Lake Nillahcootie, heading home
Rest stop at Lake Nillahcootie, near Bonnie Doon. On our way back home from the Off-Grid Living Festival and Corowa, crossing back over the border into Victoria. To our pleasant surprise, coffee and toasties were on offer from the Kalari Kafe van in the car park by the lake. Unfortunately, the generators powering the van filled the area with noise and some fumes. Hopefully V2L EVs will soon become so common place and accessible that more food vans will be able to use them.
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Strolling the Off-Grid Living Festival, Chiltern
Strolling around the Off-Grid Living Festival today, in Chiltern, Victoria. Such a wide range of exhibitors. Excellent food options, but very little shade. Lots of dust, which destroyed the car wash we did a couple of days ago. Very thankful for a smoothie from the Barefoot Blender. Most of the site seems to be powered from solar, or from V2L EVs. Great to see. Less smelly and noisy generators. Even the security motorbikes are electric. Nice!
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Any power point becomes a charging station, in Corowa
Any power point is a charging station. We drove from eastern Melbourne, Victoria, north to just over the border in Corowa, NSW. We can walk down the road and see Victoria on the other side of the Murray River. We were in Queensland earlier this week 🤪. We’re staying at an Airbnb house for a couple of days, while we attend the Off-Grid Living Festival in Chiltern, tomorrow.
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Driving an ICE car again, after years of EVs
Imagine driving an ICE (internal combustion engine) car for the first time, coming from EVs. April 5: We drove in a couple of ICE cars around town (Airlie Beach and Cannonvale) for a few days. It reminded me of a couple of years ago, hopping back in our Mazda CX-5, after owning an EV. Here are my observations: 1. You can’t charge it up while parked at home, or at a shopping center. You have to go to a special “fuel station” to recharge the car. You can’t just leave the car to recharge – you have to stay with it, holding the recharge nozzle. 2. It smells. And the fumes are carcinogenic. The fumes come from the nozzle, but also out of the back of the car while driving. 3. When the car has enough charge (fuel), you put the nozzle back in the pump. But then you have to walk into the service station to pay at the counter. It’s not automatic at the pump, or it’s too complicated for most people to bother that way. 4. There’s a possibility of fire. The fuel is highly flammable. And the car…
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Talking road trips at the Off-Grid Festival
Road tripping through Europe gave us a glimpse into the future of EVs and road trips in Australia. Border Regional Electrification Events invited us to talk about it in the Electrification Tent at the Off-Grid Living Festival, in Chiltern, Victoria (30 minutes from the NSW border). The audience asked some excellent questions. Thanks to all those who attended. Some of the slides from our talk, included here.
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Back to our EV after a week of ICE
Back at Melbourne Airport. Glad to drive our EV again, after our dabble on the dark side driving in some ICE cars. Such a smooth, quiet, drive, with no smoke or heat. Ahh ☺️. Our visit to Airlie Beach was mainly to assist with moving house for one of our kids. But we also loved spending time together at the pool, and local eateries.
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Why NRMA Airlie Beach is a shining EV light
The NRMA Airlie Beach Holiday Park is a shining light. EV destination chargers at each of the new cabins. Fast chargers out front for the public. Efficient electric hot water heat pumps. On site cafe and coffee. E-bikes. Walk to nearby Coles and shopping center. This is the future. Well done, The NRMA! Missing our own EV right now, still parked back in Melbourne airport.
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A 4 am start, off to Airlie Beach
4am is way too early to be up. We’re off to Airlie Beach to visit one of our kids. The only direct flight leaves at 7:25am. Archie is being looked after by Alex and Robin at Wandin Valley Cattery. 😸
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Four hours of Autopilot to Avalon Airshow
The “Long delays” prophecy was fulfilled today, when it took us four hours (from home) to get into the Avalon Airshow. Very happy to have the car’s Autopilot take care of most of the driving, along the highway and then through the walking pace bumper to bumper final few kilometres. The car park was quite a dustbowl. By the end of the day, our hair, skin and clothes had a mixture of car park dust, aviation fuel fumes, and a touch of sunscreen. Mmmm. The show was amazing. Even understanding the physics, it’s still unbelievable how we can get tonnes of metal to zoom around the sky. We spotted a few electric buggies transporting VIPs, one electric bus, and even an electric powered tank and fighter jet (see the photos to figure out the twist 😉). But, still dozens of diesel buses and a few petrol buggies, pouring too many fumes into the packed crowd. But, hey, I think the aircraft exhausts may have overshadowed it all. And of course the “wall of fire” opening act that created an apocalyptic…
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.