I actually zoomed in on Google Earth and yes, where the bitumen changes colour is exactly where the border is. The sign “Welcome to the Northern Territory” is 47m inside NT. But I’m a geography nerd. Did you know that there’s a spot in WA where you can travel due north, and end up in NT? And a spot in VIC where you can travel due east and end up in SA?
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Driving round Australia on Route 1
- Thread starter Techno-phile
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- Road Trip
Too easy - the land border between VIC and TAS, which most people don’t know about! If I remember correctly it’s about 150 metres long.
Yep. 85 metres
I wondered if someone would chime in and talk about the border between NSW and the Jervis Bay Territory, which is the first result in a google search. That one is 32km.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_Islet
JBT is an interesting one. Strictly speaking it’s a territory of the Commonwealth, although when you drive into it the border plinth is identical to the ones on entry points into the ACT proper and simply says “Australian Capital Territory” because the laws of the ACT apply there.Yep. 85 metres
I wondered if someone would chime in and talk about the border between NSW and the Jervis Bay Territory, which is the first result in a google search. That one is 32km.
But to get this thread slightly back on topic - has any Tesla visited all four “corners” in Australia (McCabe, Cameron, Poeppel and Surveyor Generals Corner - some also toss in Haddon Corner but it’s not where three states meet)? That would be a very impressive feat, may be even impossible because there is no electricity grid within hundreds of kilometers of most of them. Has a Tesla even visited one of the corners?
Some people have visiting all four (or five) corners on their bucket list, and plenty have done it.
I haven’t visited any of them, and you need permission from the Irrunytju community to enter their land to visit Surveyor Generals Corner, which is also special because it is actually two corners. It does a “dog-leg” with two points 127 metres apart, and is the segment where in WA you can travel due north and enter NT.
I feel another trip coming on in better times, thanks Vostock.
We are now heading south again, but have planned a 3700kms route to Perth to stay at as many new charging points as possible ( instead of the easy ones on the coast road.
We planned 650 kms over two nights with an overnight at Bungles caravan park with no known charging points. We were able to add 130kms overnight from our tent. Then we had a kms and time deadline to meet an aboriginal guide for a tour of Mimby caves today , and made it with 10 mins and 24kms spare.
The 4WDs we joined were quite surprised and one asked if we had a long enough extension lead, to which I responded that it was longer than their petrol hose.
Finally at Fitzroy River lodge we were welcomed by a new Tesla charging sign, sent as a result of our stay on the way north on 30th July. Fast work by Tesla.
We are now heading south again, but have planned a 3700kms route to Perth to stay at as many new charging points as possible ( instead of the easy ones on the coast road.
We planned 650 kms over two nights with an overnight at Bungles caravan park with no known charging points. We were able to add 130kms overnight from our tent. Then we had a kms and time deadline to meet an aboriginal guide for a tour of Mimby caves today , and made it with 10 mins and 24kms spare.
The 4WDs we joined were quite surprised and one asked if we had a long enough extension lead, to which I responded that it was longer than their petrol hose.
Finally at Fitzroy River lodge we were welcomed by a new Tesla charging sign, sent as a result of our stay on the way north on 30th July. Fast work by Tesla.
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I love that one, is that a @Techno-phile original? Well done
Did they think it was funny or did they think you were being a smart-arse? I can’t quite compete with that, but in the early 90s I had a holiday with my girlfriend driving from Sydney to central Australia - in a yellow Holden Barina. As part of that trip we drove from Yulara to Kings Canyon, but in those days the road from the Lasseter Highway to Kings Canyon was not sealed. It was 250 km of the most disgusting road I have ever driven on.
We eventually made it to the campground (way before the resort opened there) and as we slowly went past the beat-up Range Rovers and the like in our yellow Barina, the looks we got were utterly priceless!
Shock-On-T
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My favourite is that if you head due south from Detroit you end up in Canada.
Shock-On-T
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Then it’s name (Boundary Islet) would be redundant since it’s no longer the boundary.
Interestingly there’s a river island between Spain and France where they just alternate its sovereignty twice a year. Which, since it’s uninhabited, really just means a different government gets to motor out there and slash the grass.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheasant_Island
We had a fun day today driving 466kms from Broome to Pardoo into a strong headwind with only 450 kms in the tank.
Our blog posts:
3:13am Only 466kms to drive today, which would normally be easy, but a 37kph headwind is forecast later in the morning. We only have 450kms in the tank since I didn't want to leave the car overnight at >90% and there is no nice little 10amp near the car to do a final fill. Do we go back to Cable Beach Club to add an extra 40kms, but then leave one hour later with increasing headwind, or just go for it? Wind is actually northerly at the moment ( tailwind), but Lindz is fast asleep and would be grumpy if I woke her now:grin:
7:06m Lindz has forgone a nice breakfast on Cable Beach and we are going before the wind comes up. We can do tank range by driving at 90kph but plus or minus the tailwind component. The crosswind component still has an effect but less, and of course rain is bad.
10:02am I have driven half way and clawed back the deficit on tank range from 16kms to 8kms. But the headwind is now blowing, Lindz has taken over driving and has put the aircon on. 230kms to go with 222kms in the tank.
10:57am Lindz is struggling - deficit has increased to 10kms and she is down to 80kph. She still has the air-conditioning on:grin:
11:32am Lindz has given up, even 75kph wasn't closing the deficit and she wasn't prepared to turn the AC off, so she has pulled into Sandfire Roadhouse and plugged into their 11kW.
Mileva will have a surplus of tank range over distance to go, once we have had a loo and an icecream and a coffee.
And RFDS will have another donation.
Our blog posts:
3:13am Only 466kms to drive today, which would normally be easy, but a 37kph headwind is forecast later in the morning. We only have 450kms in the tank since I didn't want to leave the car overnight at >90% and there is no nice little 10amp near the car to do a final fill. Do we go back to Cable Beach Club to add an extra 40kms, but then leave one hour later with increasing headwind, or just go for it? Wind is actually northerly at the moment ( tailwind), but Lindz is fast asleep and would be grumpy if I woke her now:grin:
7:06m Lindz has forgone a nice breakfast on Cable Beach and we are going before the wind comes up. We can do tank range by driving at 90kph but plus or minus the tailwind component. The crosswind component still has an effect but less, and of course rain is bad.
10:02am I have driven half way and clawed back the deficit on tank range from 16kms to 8kms. But the headwind is now blowing, Lindz has taken over driving and has put the aircon on. 230kms to go with 222kms in the tank.
10:57am Lindz is struggling - deficit has increased to 10kms and she is down to 80kph. She still has the air-conditioning on:grin:
11:32am Lindz has given up, even 75kph wasn't closing the deficit and she wasn't prepared to turn the AC off, so she has pulled into Sandfire Roadhouse and plugged into their 11kW.
Mileva will have a surplus of tank range over distance to go, once we have had a loo and an icecream and a coffee.
And RFDS will have another donation.
The border between what was then NSW and TAS was set at 39°12’ S in July 1825 when TAS (Van Diemens Land) was split off NSW. In 1801, Captain John Black surveyed “North East Islet” as it was called then and determined its latitude to be slightly further north than what it actually is, so when this border was created in 1825, that island fully belonged to NSW. And the border latitude line did not cut any island in Bass Strait (more by luck than intention).
But when “North East Islet” was later resurveyed (I don’t know when) with more accurate equipment, it was correctly placed further south and as a result the border actually went through the middle of it. VIC and TAS agreed in 1990 to rename it “Boundary Islet”.
Shock-On-T
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Yeah, I get how they made the mistake. But in the light of more accurate data, why the don't just move the border a bit? It was arbitrarily created once, they could arbitrarily change it again.
Would be easier than moving the island...
Shock-On-T
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You could still call it Boundary Islet, in honour of how very near it is to the new border.
Today
we are breaking new ground, since we have driven the coast road through Karratha 3 times before, and there is a great looking plugshare site at Auski which has never been used. PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You
Richard J D Chapman found it in his work fossil car, but has not plugged in so ABC3 Always Browse Comments (from previous plugshare users) does not help.
We have 842 kms to drive from Pardoo to Nanuntarra with one overnight at Auski and one in an Eco tent in Karijini (where they may only be enough power to charge our phones). Hence a good fill at Auski is very important.
We are satisfying ABC2 Always bring cables, since we have a 3phase extension cable which Richard says will be necessary. However if we cannot charge from this we will have to use the caravan sockets.
So our plan is to leave Pardoo at 6:30 and drive at 150whs/km for the 400kms to Auski using 60kWh and hoping to arrive by 12:00. ABC4 Adjust Battery Consumption. Then if the 3phase doesn't work, draw 3kW from a caravan socket for 20 hours to replace the 60kWh by 8:00 am for the drive into Karijini. ABC1 Always be Charging.
So far so good, misty sunrise departure and we are beating 150wh/kms once the battery warmed up and dew burnt off the road.
Richard J D Chapman found it in his work fossil car, but has not plugged in so ABC3 Always Browse Comments (from previous plugshare users) does not help.
We have 842 kms to drive from Pardoo to Nanuntarra with one overnight at Auski and one in an Eco tent in Karijini (where they may only be enough power to charge our phones). Hence a good fill at Auski is very important.
We are satisfying ABC2 Always bring cables, since we have a 3phase extension cable which Richard says will be necessary. However if we cannot charge from this we will have to use the caravan sockets.
So our plan is to leave Pardoo at 6:30 and drive at 150whs/km for the 400kms to Auski using 60kWh and hoping to arrive by 12:00. ABC4 Adjust Battery Consumption. Then if the 3phase doesn't work, draw 3kW from a caravan socket for 20 hours to replace the 60kWh by 8:00 am for the drive into Karijini. ABC1 Always be Charging.
So far so good, misty sunrise departure and we are beating 150wh/kms once the battery warmed up and dew burnt off the road.
Auski roadhouse gave us a great welcome, with truckies, tourists , station owners and the local perentie checking out the car and its electrical connections. We had to use our 3phase extension lead with the 3phase pigtails and UMC to reach the vital 3p socket, but Slate agreed to install a Tesla HPWC ( if Tesla approve).
PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You
PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You
Yeah but where’s the fun in that. One of the great Australian geography trivia questions would be no more!
Great posts Techno-phile, just goes to show that with a little bit of perseverance, inventiveness, patience, the right attitude and ABC2 you can go just about anywhere in Aust. with an EV.
One question, when your remaining range reaches the big ZERO does she just stop like a power tool or continue on for a while going gradually slower.
Obviously there will still be power left in the battery at zero range but it is detrimental to battery health to use it. Can it be unlocked in an emergency (probably voiding the warranty) or has Tesla declared that a no go zone.
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Blue heaven
Fair Dinkum Tesla
With a Tesla or almost all EVs the car will warn you well before you run out of charge, generally starting at about 100Km range left when the the range gauge turns amber and later red. If you have a destination in the navigation it will tell you how much range you will have or be short at your destination, it will also give advice to drive below a certain speed to make your destination.
If you don’t have a destination set you will start getting messages warning you “Should start searching for charging stops soon” etc. in other words you will never accidentally run out of electricity as the car will warn you multiple times before it actually happens.
I haven’t personally run my car to 0 Km range, my lowest was 25Km, but from what I have read you may get the “Car shutting down, pull over immediately” message anywhere from a few Km to zero for 10 to 20 Km, it’s my guess that it’s more a factor of how well balanced your battery is that improves the accuracy of your the range meter.
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