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Dog Mode, for Clare the visitor
Dog Mode engaged. We’re minding our sister Helen’s dog, Clare, for a few days. Our cat, Archie initially hissed a few times at the interloper, but seems to have now accepted (or at least tolerated) her. We took this fine old doggie out for a drive to Loch. We limited the G forces of acceleration and cornering so as not to plaster her on the back seat. We had a delicious lunch with friends at the Loch & Key cafe, while Clare slept in the car, in air conditioned Dog Mode comfort. We checked on her a few times using the in-cabin Sentry Mode camera. Then out for a long walk around the town of Loch.
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A soft-plastics drop-off in Noble Park
A trip from our home in the Dandenong Ranges down to Jan Wilson Community Centre in Noble Park. Why this random destination? Because they accept soft plastics for recycling, and we have a huge pile of it. We’ve been storing our soft plastics for over six months. On road trips, we would try to bring any soft plastics back in our car’s frunk. It’s not going to change the world, but I couldn’t bear adding to the problem. Supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths used to accept soft plastics for recycling through Red Cycle. But a couple of years ago, that system collapsed, with a backlog of plastic with nowhere for it to go. We’ve seen some follow-up on The Chasers War on Waste, but no resolution yet that we’ve seen. Fortunately there are several locations around that do take soft plastics for recycling. A quick Google search found a few around us in the eastern edge of Melbourne: https://www.greaterdandenong.vic.gov.au/soft-plastics We were heading to Noble Park anyway for an appointment,…
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Hillside Walk at Gembrook Park
Tall gums, many wombat holes, dense bush opening up along the hillside and picnic areas.
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A 10 km loop to Cockatoo and back
Time for some exercise. We walked along the East Dandenong Ranges Trail, which passes through Emerald Lake Park, just down the road from our home. We walked to Cockatoo, about a 10km round trip. Lots to see along the way, including Puffing Billy Railway, tall fern trees and eucalypts, bridges, numerous fairy doors and even a couple of dinosaurs. The staff at Brunch on McBride in Cockatoo kindly made us a cuppa and sandwich, ten minutes before closing. We debated whether to catch a bus back home, but it seems you need a Myki card, and can’t just tap on with a phone credit card (like we could in NSW). The walk back was beautiful, but the few hills were testing.
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Packing up to leave Yackandandah
May 12: Packing the car to leave Yackandandah. See: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/en99XKz9CfHHf3ZW/
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A chilly walk through Alfred Nicholas Gardens
We decided on the chilly nine degree Melbourne day to venture out into the fresh air and get some exercise. On the Tesla’s navigation, we found the Alfred Nicholas Gardens, in the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria. Leaving our nearby home in Emerald, we followed a windy road through Sherbrooke, missed a turn, then continued along as the Tesla’s navigation re-routed us without judgement through another few kilometres of windy roads. The scenery of fern trees and giant eucalyptus is spectacular, so we didn’t mind the diversion. The car park across the road was a bit of an adventure with new arrivals guessing if any places were left. The gardens are magical! Government owned, free to explore, complete with a lake, waterfalls and absolutely stunning greenery. Added bonus that people can bring their dogs along to explore and receive pats!! Highly recommend.
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Free upgrade: vision-assisted parking
We got an upgraded car today, for free! Our Tesla Model 3 RWD 2022 now has vision assisted parking. It uses the eight cameras to plot a 3D model of the world around the car, while parking. It shows close objects in orange and red, to alert to proximity. It makes us better aware of obstacles that vision can see, but sonic sensors can’t, such as high gutters that would scrape the car. Since we also have EAP (Enhanced Autopilot), the auto parking is also updated with the 3D vision. When I stop the car, I can tap on the Tesla screen on an available space in the car park, and the car will park itself. I tried it once today, and it seemed much faster than the previous ultrasonic sensor based parking. All of this upgrading just happened overnight, when the OTA (over the air) update downloaded via the Internet. This is one of the things that Tesla does particularly well – ongoing updates to the car’s features at no extra cost.
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Bombala lookout, heading to Cann River
Lookout from Bombala NSW, on our way south over the border to Cann River Victoria.
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Topping up tyres on a cold morning
Our Tesla warned us on the way from Bombala to Cann River, the other day, that low tyre pressure was impacting our range. The low tyre pressure is due to the persistent cold temperatures. So, I figured I best do something about it. I opened the electric tyre pump that we bought nearly two years ago at some car accessory shop. It’s been sitting in the boot since then, along with a can of tyre sealant, in case of a flat. I plugged it into the 12V socket in the car, set the target pressure to 41psi, and pressed the start button. It rumbled along, pumping up each of the tyres and automatically stopped at the set pressure. Simple. After a thirty minute drive, I checked the tyre pressures on the Tesla screen. All good. Slightly higher, as expected, due to warming up a bit while driving. I can now count three things in two years I’ve had to do to “service” the car: pump up tyres, replenish wiper fluid, replace the wiper blades.
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Sad news at Cann River: Squire's Cafe is gone
Stopped for cuppa, cake and a break at Cann River. Sad to see that Squire’s Cafe burnt down in the past few weeks. Cann River Bakery was very busy. When we returned to the car, a retired couple were looking at the Chargefox charger (next to the Tesla Supercharger we were using). They were wondering how the whole EV thing worked. I explained that we just plug into the Tesla Supercharger and walk away. Or with the other brands, we plug in, then tap a card or a button in an app, and walk away. They asked a lot of questions. They’re thinking about getting an EV for running around town. I explained that they can just plug the car into any power point at home, and charge from their home solar panels. Onward west through Gippsland. Stopped in Bairnsdale for a quick lunch and rest stop. Then finally to home in Emerald, Victoria.
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A 3.5 °C breakfast in Bombala
The bare feet were feeling the 3.5°C this morning as we packed the car in Bombala. First stop 100m away for coffee and an egg and spinach roll at Kitchen Eightyate. Tom spotted Bombala Lookout on the navigation a few minutes away, and couldn’t help himself for the photo opportunity. Then onward south towards Cann River, past the “no fuel” sign.
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A scenic detour through Bombala
Heading from Batemans Bay (lunch break) towards Gippsland, Tom thought it would be a great idea to try a new route through Bombala, instead of our typical drive near the south east coast through Bega and Eden. Francis scrambled to find some accommodation along this diversion, as the sun set. Only one option appeared: The Imperial Hotel in Bombala. King bed, fridge/freezer. Shared bathroom, which turned out to be okay, since there was only one other guest, whom we didn’t even see. We ordered the special to share for dinner: grilled chicken, satay sauce and veggies. So yum. Had a chat with the cook. Love country pubs.
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Deli on Perry, and a friendly local EV invite
Lunch break in Batemans Bay at Deli on Perry. Delicious “deli bowl” to share. When I hopped back in the car, a friendly local EV driver (Peter?) handed me an invitation to their local SHASA (Southcoast Health & Sustainability Alliance) EV meet up. We briefly compared stories of driving to Cairns.
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Hyper Hyper Coffee in Nowra, recommended at 82
Having failed to secure coffee at Silos Estate, we dropped into the next town south, at Hyper Hyper Coffee in Nowra. It seemed like a popular place. While waiting, we asked an older man about it. He said “I’m 82 years old, and this stuff is what’s keeping me alive!” High praise indeed. What goes in, must come out. So, we stopped again in Ulladulla, at the sea pool for the toilets. Onward to Batemans Bay for lunch.
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A creek-side cabin in Gerroa
Beginning our Sydney to Melbourne return leg late yesterday, we only made it to Gerroa NSW for the night. We stayed in a nice cabin by the creek in the Discovery Park Gerroa. Toast and cereal for brekky. We poured a thermos of tea for Tom and then set out in search of coffee for Francis. We headed for Silos Estate, just south of Berry, since it has Tesla Superchargers and serves coffee. We are heading south, but Silos Estate is on the north heading side of the highway. The Tesla/Google navigation had us doing a loop on the overpass, but it turns out we could have just turned right into the estate. Silos is on a beautiful outlook. We parked, plugged in and walked over to get coffee. But they don’t open until lunch time! 😫. Customers have been down since Covid, but they hope to expand hours again. So, we hopped back in the car and drove off, using a U turn bay in the highway to head south again.
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Another free upgrade: adaptive high beams
Another free car upgrade: adaptive high beams. The sun had set on our way west from near Bega towards Bombala. We generally prefer to find a place to stay before dark, but this time of year the daylight is shortening, and we discovered there aren’t many accommodation options out here. High beam headlights help us travel along the unfamiliar road in the dark, lighting up not only the path ahead, but on the sides, such as helping us keep a lookout for wildlife that might dart onto the road. When we pass the occasional other vehicle, we of course don’t want to blind them with our high beams. Until now, the Tesla would automatically detect the oncoming car and dip the high beams, just like we would do manually. The latest software update 2024.14, was sent to our Tesla a few days ago. It included several new features, one of which is adaptive high beams. Now, instead of dipping the whole high beam lamps when there is an oncoming vehicle, it only dims the pixels of light that are aiming at…
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A view (and toilet) at Bulli Lookout
Stopped for the view (and toilet) at Bulli Lookout, on our way from Sydney to Melbourne.
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Final goodbyes, and a long-overdue reunion in Sydney
Final goodbyes last night and this morning to a few of our kids. Breakfast at Terrigal Beach. Lunch in Canterbury Sydney to finally visit my longest bestest friend Rachael. The Tesla’s frunk is overflowing with laundry, shoes and soft plastic recycling to take home. After all the visiting, we’ll only make it as far south as Gerroa tonight. This will be our fourth trip in two weeks between Melbourne and Sydney.
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A rare chilled day at Avoca Beach
A rare chilled day, taking a walk and coffee on the rocks at Avoca Beach NSW. Yesterday we caught up with some family at the recruitment ceremony at ADF in Newcastle for one of our kids. We drove down to the Central Coast and had dinner in Terrigal with some more of our kids. Tomorrow, we’ll have one last breakfast catch up before heading back south towards our home in Emerald Victoria. Route: we’ll see where the road takes us.
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A Seven Hills stretch on the way to Newcastle
On our way today from Goulburn to Newcastle. Time for a toilet stop and stretch in Seven Hills. I tapped the charger icon on the Tesla screen and one of the options it showed was 10km ahead along our route, in Seven Hills, which seemed likely to also have toilets. I tapped that location, added it to our route. The Tesla realised it was a charger and started preconditioning the battery (for faster charging on arrival). Lots of road works out here on the highway. I found it difficult to determine which of the lines on the road were removed and which were the new ones, in the glare of the sun on the road. At one point, a ute in front of us was straddling two lanes until some other cars behind alerted them to the misalignment. Somehow our Tesla’s Autopilot managed to make sense of it all and kept us in the correct lane. Super impressive. Mum’s Apple Watch didn’t charge last night in the motel, so we plugged it into the USB-C port in the car. Onward to the NSW Central Coast, then Cessnock,…
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Best Western Plus Goulburn, with Mum
Nice place to stay, during our interstate road trip, last night at Best Western Plus Goulburn. Easy bottom level floor access for Mum. On site morning coffee for Francis.
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A half-hour smoothie wait at Oliver's, Gundagai
On our way today from Yackandandah to Goulburn. A quick stop for toilet and a drink at Oliver’s in Gundagai turned into a half hour wait for a smoothie. When the order first came out, it wasn’t what we ordered so we asked to check that it was ours. The staff got a bit loud and rude and suggested we reorder, which we did, but it all just took too long so we eventually canceled. I nearly lost my thermos lid again, in the roof of our car. I spotted a new Porsche Taycan at The NRMA chargers. Not bad. Later, driving up the hill towards Breadbaline, a four wheel drive was pouring diesel smoke all over us, In order to get up the hill. We overtook and emerged to see the rainbow leading towards the wind turbines. 🌈 There is hope we can eliminate pollution from our roads.
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Mother's Day at Two Sisters on High, Yackandandah
Happy Mother’s Day! We woke up at Motel Views Yackandandah to a gorgeous morning overlooking the valley. Being Mother’s Day, toast in the motel room wasn’t going to suffice, so we took Mum down the road to Two Sisters on High for a huge delicious feed of scrambled eggs and all the trimmings. We pottered around the knick knack and antique shops, as Mum gave us an education on all the old worldy gadgets.
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Returning Mum to Cessnock
After brief meetups with some family on the NSW Central Coast, we returned Mum home to Cessnock. After a cuppa and a couple of odd jobs we said goodbye. The three of us had a blast on our EV road trip from Cessnock NSW to Emerald Victoria and back again. Finally, we drove east to Newcastle, to stay at 291 on King. It’s a bit fancy but welcoming. I walked down the road to grab takeaway dinner from Bella Italia.
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A Yackandandah dinner at the Star Hotel
We started our return trip north from Emerald Victoria to Cessnock NSW, staying tonight in Yackandandah at the Views Motel. Dinner at the Star Hotel Yackandandah. We’ve had a great few days showing Mum around our home in Emerald, riding on Puffing Billy Railway, spotting plants and wildlife in our yard and the local area. First stop earlier today was at Lake Nillacoothie, near Bonnie Doon. Quiet spot with a row of bright red autumn trees. Toilets were surprisingly okay, except not great disabled access.
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Out the back of the Holbrook Submarine
On our way from Cessnock NSW to Emerald Victoria.
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Mum, the biggest kid on Puffing Billy
The biggest kid on the Puffing Billy Railway may have been my Mum. And it was our first chance to have a ride since we moved into Emerald five months ago. What a beautiful trip through the fern trees and tall trees, along winding paths and over bridges, from Belgrave back through the town of Emerald to Lakeside Station, just a stone’s throw from our house. Great day.
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The Coffee Pedaler in Gundagai, and Mitsy
We stopped in at The Coffee Pedaler - Gundagai for morning coffee. While she waited, Fran made a new four legged friend “Mitsy” who had traveled from Western Australia. Last night we shared a delicious Moroccan veggie bowl at Oliver's Real Food Gundagai. On the way in, Fran formed a conga line with Mum and her walker. When we returned to the car, I had a chat with Mark who was charging his BYD electric van. It was a grey import. Only a 45kWh battery but great for running around town. He was on his way to Canberra (from Adelaide?) with motorbike in the back of the van. We stayed overnight at the “Gundagai Tourist Suites” – motel style units away from the main road. As Mum walked slowly back to the car in the morning, I couldn’t help but show off our remote control car by “Summoning” it through the iPhone to reverse all the way to pick us up. Breakfast was toast and spreads in our room. Just so you (and Mum) know it’s not all cafes 😉.
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A hello to Ned Kelly in Glenrowan
Stopped for lunch in Glenrowan and said hello to Ned Kelly. Great town for a visit on the way through. Followed by a brief stop in Yea before arriving home in Emerald.
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Mum at the Holbrook Submarine
It’s amazing to see the little kid emerge from my elderly mother when we stopped at the HMAS Ottway Holbrook Submarine. A bit of a wander and refresh for a few minutes on our way from Cessnock NSW to Emerald Victoria.
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A first birthday and a Snap CarWash
May 1 - 5: On the NSW Central Coast, catching up with family. We filled the frunk with drinks and ice for our first grand child’s first birthday party. Snap CarWash in Erina Fair did another great job cleaning our car, inside and out. At first they couldn’t match our booking, until I realised we had changed to Victorian license plates since our previous visit.
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A Tesla 'confession' at Campbelltown Catholic Club
We drove from Erina to Cessnock NSW to pick up Mum, to take her back to our home in Emerald Victoria for a few days. First stop at Campbelltown Catholic Club for lunch. We’re not Catholics, but our Tesla spent time at the Tesla confessional booth while we ate lunch. Easy to park out the front of the club for Mum to get in the front door with her walker. She marvelled at the robotic assistants that take the dirty dishes back to the kitchen. Onwards south, past the wind turbines in Breadalbane, to Yass. Stopped for a few minutes for a toilet break and stretch in Yass in Banjo Patterson Park. The autumn leaves are still stunning. Mum plugged in the car to charge and swiped on The NRMA app to start it charging. There’s also a faster multi bay Tesla Supercharger site up the road in Yass, but it’s not near amenities like this park. Onwards south to stay tonight in Gundagai.
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Rocky Horror at the Theatre Royal, by Tesla
Tom chauffeured Francis and our friend Nicole from Erina and Umina Beach to The Theatre Royal in Sydney, to watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show on stage. There doesn’t seem to be any drop off zone at the theatre, so we ended up in the Wilsons Parking underneath for drop off and pick up. Hoping we don’t get charged two lots of parking when we never actually parked there. While they watched the show, I (Tom) drove off to find a place for lunch and to catch up on some work. I ended up in the Sydney suburb of Zetland at the P'Nut Asian Kitchen, eating satay veg and rice. The underground parking is extensive and has a pervasive smell of car fumes. Even with the aid of roof mounted fan cylinders, the fumes aren’t healthy. We need more EVs. Then the drive back to the Central Coast, starting with viewing the Sydney Harbour Bridge through our Tesla’s glass roof. Nicole asked all about the Autopilot as we drove along, and gradually came to accept that the two blue lines on the screen meant that…
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Googong Dam, ACT
Googong Dam ACT, 30 April 2024. Details: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/YEPCK5Lj4hE7dz8e/
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Through Kosciuszko at dusk
Driving through Kosciusko National Park, just before dusk, from Corryong on the west to Jindabyne on the east.
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A balcony stay at Park Ridge Retreat, Gerringong
Last night we checked into Park Ridge Retreat in Gerringong, NSW. Nice staff and place with a balcony view over the front garden. Bonus destination chargers on site. The fridge had a freezer for our ice packs! But, like many places, the fridge is encased in a cabinet with no ventilation. So, it gets very hot and makes the fridge work extra hard.
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A coastal detour over the Sea Cliff Bridge
We took another scenic detour, this time along the coast from Thirroul, stopping for a cuppa, crossing the Sea Cliff Bridge, up to Stanwell Top, and out through the Royal National Park, emerging at Kirrawee for lunch.
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Avoiding the Hume from Mansfield to Ovens
We again avoided the Hume Highway, from Mansfield through Barwite and Bobinawarrah, including a few more unmarked dirt roads, towards Ovens. We planned on stopping for lunch in Ovens at the Happy Valley Hotel. We’ve passed it a few times before on the way to Bright, and have noticed the Tesla Superchargers beside the hotel. We arrived, plugged in, but soon realised that the hotel wasn’t open on a Monday. There were no toilets open either. Faced with bladder range anxiety, we hopped in the car and drove back up the road to Myrtleford. Lunch at the Tu Vietnamese Street Food restaurant was yum.
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Lake views at The Jindy Inn
After crossing Kosciusko National Park, we checked into The Jindy Inn last night. Great place with a balcony overlooking Lake Jindabyne. The room’s fridge had no freezer which meant we couldn’t refreeze our cold packs for our cooler bag. We didn’t bring the giant Kings Fridge on this trip. No microwave oven in the room, so we drove down the road to The Brumby Bar & Bistro to share a Brumby Burger (presumably not made from brumbies). Delicious! The inn included continental breakfast in the dining room. After slightly burning my finger on the reluctant conveyor belt toaster, I enjoyed autumn colour themed fruit salad and Greek yogurt on my cereal. After checkout, we grabbed a coffee from ESS BOARDSTORES, where they were happy to use our lactose free milk, from our cooler bag, since they didn’t stock that option. The cold temperature lowered the tyre pressures, as you can see on the Tesla’s screen. But they soon warmed up as we hit the road. Next, on to Cooma and then Gerringong.
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Birdsnest, Nanny Goat Hill and The Lott Cafe
Francis explored Birdsnest while Tom explored the back streets of Cooma, including Nanny Goat Hill Lookout. Lunch at The Lott Cafe, then onwards towards Gerringong.
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A quiet stretch at Googong Dam
Brief stop for toilet and a thermos cup of tea at Googong Dam, in the ACT, just outside of Canberra. Nice quiet spot for a stretch. Lots of new housing up the road, sadly with dark roofs and few trees.
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Modelling the latest from Evie
Francis is modeling the latest in fast chargers from Evie. This ensemble comes with 75kW and sleek lines to suit any occasion. This used to only exist in exclusive fashion houses, but is now popping up everywhere across Australia. After crossing back into NSW, we stopped in Bungendore, for a chemist and coffee. Glad we had the chance for a brief wander through the town – it’s got quite a lot to offer.
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An okay night at Mansfield Motel
Last night, we stayed in Mansfield, Victoria. The Mansfield Motel is conveniently a short walk to everything. Friendly reception. Our only complaint was that the hot water pressure was woeful. Oh, and the power points next to the bed touch the floor (why do electricians do that?), so you can’t plug in a power pack for laptop, phone etc. But that’s just being picky 😉. Like most of the areas we’ve been through this week, Mansfield is decorated by beautiful autumn trees, in shades of green, yellow, orange and red. The main street is split, with a park in the middle and a roundabout adorned with flowers. For dinner, we grabbed Indian takeaway from Curry Garden. For breakfast, we had toast and spreads. I mention this so you know that most of our road trip meals aren’t from fancy cafes 😉. After we checked out this morning, we grabbed a coffee at The Mansfield Coffee Merchant, 100m away. We drove off towards Kosciusko National Park, crossing the border into NSW, aiming to get to Jindabyne…
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On a mission to find a left thermos lid
Down to the core of our mission 😉: to see if my thermos lid is still on the garden stake where I accidentally left it half a year ago, in the middle of Kosciusko National Park. We left our lunch stop in Myrtleford and drove through to Corryong, on the western side of the Great Dividing Range. One last stop there for a quick toilet break and a stretch before takling the mountains. Oh, and a symbolic thermos lid of tea (in our second thermos). It would be dark soon, so we needed to get to Tom Groggin while there was still a glimmer of daylight by which we could search for the missing thermos lid. As you might have guessed and as probability and time would dictate, the first thermos lid was nowhere to be found. We took a photo of the replacement on the stake as a reenactment. It’s now time to move on. We continued east, past Thredbo and Mount Kosciusko, towards Jindabyne where we would stay the night. The mountains are beautiful. No snow on this trek through. Dusk brought out the…
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A dirt-road detour to Fawcett Lookout
Leaving Alexandra, I noticed “Fawcett Lookout” nearby on the Tesla’s navigation. So, off we went down a side road. The tar soon gave way to gravel. The Google maps driven Tesla navigation gives no indication of road surfaces, disappointingly. The “lookout” turned out to just be the intersection of the gravel road with some farm’s driveway. But it did give us a great view over both valleys. We pressed on, towards Mansfield. The Old Fawcett Road led into Coles Road, and the conditions deteriorated in places. I was acutely aware of the low clearance of our car, and we bottomed out just a couple of times. The pile of gravel in the middle of the road provided the main challenge. But there were also a few sections that started to have an off road rocky feel. Beautiful scenery made it all worth while. The bemused returned waves from a couple of passing ute drivers also gave me a smile. We should probably get a slightly higher clearance car, for roads like this. Maybe a Tesla Model Y.
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A slow start, dropping off the cat
We’ve had a pretty slow start today so far on our road trip north. It took less than an hour to pack the car – we’re pretty experienced at that now. But it took another two hours to tidy our house, then another hour to drop off the cat. Then a “drop in for a quick coffee” turned into staying for lunch, at the best barista and chef in town – our friends Kristy and Tim. By the time we actually started on our road trip, the afternoon had also started. First stop for a toilet, stretch, and some carrot cake, in Alexandra, Victoria. Fortunately, a couple of cafes were still open at 2:30pm on a Sunday. Friendly staff and a good vibe at Grant St Grocer and Cafe.
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Off on another road trip — five-minute prep
We’re off on another road trip this morning. Heading north ish towards the NSW Central Coast to visit family. Car prep: Five minutes to top up windscreen washer fluid. Nothing else to do. No radiator to top up. No oil to top up or change. No need to visit to a petrol station to fill up the tank. First stop to drop off our cat Archie at Catshack. They are so good to him there. We hope to divert near Tom Groggin Campground in Kosciusko National Park to check whether my thermos lid is still there, which I left on a pole a year ago. Pretty unlikely. But mainly taking that route because the Hume Highway is a bit boring.
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Lunch at Tatiana's, then Sassafras Creek
You know it’s a lazy day when your planned Saturday brunch turns out to be lunch by the time you get there. Delicious food and welcoming staff at Tatiana’s cafe in Monbulk. A short trip down the road to walk along Sassafras Creek – what a picturesque find! An easy flat windy walk which ended up at Lyrebird Falls reception centre.
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Flowers and poffertjes at Tesselaar KaBloom
Afternoon visit to Tesselaar KaBloom in Silvan, Victoria. Rows and rows of flower blooms, a tractor train ride, lunch trucks, Dutch poffertjes, some zombie looking sun flowers. A few people dressed as magical characters, including fairies and Shrek. The food trucks were electric, so were quiet and had no fumes ☺️. The tractor train kept us in the diesel afterglow, but was fun.
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The Lost Woods Market on our doorstep
A brief trip up the road in Emerald yesterday to The Lost Woods Market. What a great find, right on our doorstep. A long line of markets stalls, art, craft, food, knickknacks, performers, between the tall trees and right next to the Puffing Billy Railway.
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.