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Road Trip - Take 2 - Yaaaaaaah! Melbourne to Adelaide
- Thread starter alpal
- Start date
lennier I am not on plugshare still learning the ropes. If coming to Bendigo make private contact,you are welcome and it will accelerate my learning curve.Welcome Zapman! Is your charger on plugshare or are you doing it invitation only? Might possibly be in Bendigo in a few weeks time too. Unlikely to need charging but might be up for a coffee
lennier
Member
Thanks Zapman that's very kind of you. If we sort out the trip I'll PM you, still looking for somewhere suitable to stay at this point!
Start of Great Ocean Road / Ferry to Queenscliff / Vanilla Slice Heaven
Day 1 - Brighton - Sorrento - Ferry to Queenscliff - Torquay - Apollo Bay - Initially foggy then sunny, got to p14.
Battery: Start - 448 km typical - End 202 typical. Distance travelled - 236 kms @ 184 Wh/Km.
Inspired by my dinner with the Nullarbor Conqueror, Matt, on Tuesday night, we waved goodbye at 8.30 am to begin our Melbourne to Adelaide adventure. Coffee in Braeside - got the brain moving and then straight onto Sorrento via M11. Seriously? The M11. What a great shortcut now for all the Portsea types!
Had 5 minutes spare so got talked into going to the Vanilla Slice specialty shop. OMG! Gotta try one of those. Unbelievable.
Queued for the ferry and then a quick drive on board in time for the 11 o'clock departure. Easy calm trip to Queenscliff. Very professional operation.
Drove on to Torquay through to Lorne. Stopped for a brilliant Ramen noodle lunch which we ate adjacent the Lorne life saving club.
Continued to Apollo Bay where we stayed for the night at a brilliant place just out of town - Chocolate Gannets - only complaint, Internet not working, but literally a two bedroom house, fire place, spa and all with the best ocean view Apollo Bay could afford and a lovely welcome basketful to boot! Nice - 8/10.
One highlight of day - Definitely the Vanilla slice in Sorrento. Sensational
Wreck Beach X 2 / Port Ferry for lunch / Scooter Foray through Portland
Day 2 - Apollo Bay - Wreck Beach - Port Campbell - Port Ferry - Portland - Initially overcast with angry seas then nicely developed to sunny, got to 16.
Battery: Start - 390 km typical - End 64 typical. Distance travelled - 288 kms @ 197 Wh/Km.
Farewelled our luxury stay at the Gannets at 9.15 - next stop coffee at Lavers Hill - lovely! Crossed the hilly sections of the Otways (around 300 Wh/Km
) then on to the most beautiful sections of the Great Ocean Road. Breathtaking. Made me feel proud to be Australian.On way to Port Campbell got waylaid and tempted to visit Wreck Beach - long dirt and sandy track - 5 kms - to car park. Shanks pony from there to the start of 392 (yes that's right, 392!) steps down to the beach. Unfortunately, high tide so couldn't traverse to the wrecked anchors,
collected shells instead - not happy. Yes, remember those 392 steps down, well there were a lot more going up!Our intention today was to get to Port Ferry to do our swimming laps and have lunch. Having emptied our legs of any remaining energy, laps were abandoned however we considered lunch still a definite maybe. Bought some basic picnic supplies, sat on the edge of the wharf and contemplated the very pretty town of Port Ferry.
On to Portland with full bellies and just a tad tired now (okay for Sher, nap time). A friendly welcome and a Destination charger awaited us at the Comfort Inn Richmond Henty hotel. Motel standard accomodation, very helpful reception. Now plugged in and unpacked, Sher had an itch to bring out the scooters for an initial foray before settling down for the night. So out they came and a very interesting 1 hour tour around Portland ensued. Absolutely great fun and legal of course. As long as they're under 200 watts they say they're okay.
Highly recommend Edwards Waterfront restaurant in the hotel - ask Kervina for the Beef Wellington or Black Angus - hmmmm. (Just ask it politely!
)One highlight of the day - Bay of Martyrs, London Bridge, twelve Apostles etc - plus the bluest competition to the Mediterranean Sea you could ever imagine. The Great Ocean Road really is. Sensational
Now that would be cool. They could use wave power for generation.
That must be near Port Fairy!
Crossing the Border / Ghostly Fog / Fayrefield House (Wow)
Day 3 - Portland - Nelson - Beachport - Robe. Initially foggy and cold, progressed to foggy and colder (5°) and finally cleared and warmed to a sunny 18°.
Battery: Start - 390 km typical - End 64 typical. Distance travelled - 288 kms @ 220Wh/Km (scarey how the battery depletes when travelling up elevations).
Left early - breakfasted at a small cafe on the outskirts of Portland and headed directly to our next main destination - Robe. The cold and fog ghosted us for most of the morning - made the drive quite eerie and cold as we drove through the many plantations with the temp hovering around 5°.
Only highlight of drive today was a coffee stop in Millecent and yarning with the locals. The Tesla may have been mentioned.
We wanted to get to the place we were staying for the night early to ensure we get the most from the overnight charging option (only 10A pp tonight so will need quite a few hours ([18 I estimate]) to enable our next leg and springboard down to Kangaroo Island.
Explored Robe (Obelisk,old goal etc) and stocked up for tonight's anniversary dinner (crayfish tail and champagne) and drove to a property called Fayrefield House about five ks from town.
Wow!
Sums it up in one word. Spectacular property and building (3 br traditional stone farmhouse - recently built around an old stone work shed) surrounded by spectacular hilly farm views. Not the cheapest but for a special occasion (39th anni) well worth it.
The owner had started a fire for us and even set a candle dinner setting for us in the dining room.
Stage is set for a lovely romantic anni night - aaaaah ...
One highlight of the day - exploring the Fayrefield property by scooter (scooting through a cow paddy not so highly recommended though).
PS Sorry for delay in posting - NBN still hasn't reached most of Australia - ie a bit internet challenged!
First Electric Scooter Accross Murray Bridge??
Day 4 - Robe - Murray Bridge - Strathalbyn. Initially clear and cold, progressed to light rain on and off all day, top 16°.
Battery: Start - 327 km typical - End 242 typical. Distance travelled - 324 kms @ 205Wh/Km (charged for 4.5 hrs at Murray Bridge +289kms).
Reluctantly left our wonderful stay at Fayrefield House to begin a long fairly flat leg to Murray Bridge, one that we had very little leeway with battery charge.
We arrived with only 18kms to spare - phew. Sat on 90-95 all morning.
Pulled into the Showgrounds there and connected to a 32A 3 phase power point. Nice. 57 kms per hour charge.
Out next with the scooters and into town. Further away than I thought but fun all the same, despite the occasional light sprinkling of rain. A quick pasta at a shopping mall and then down the street to the Camio theatre for a movie. Good timing. Back to the Showgrounds to find we added an extra 289 ks to the battery. Yum.
The final leg of the day found us arriving after dark at the Gasworks Bed and Breakfast in Strathalbyn. Quaint. The host Bill pointed me to an outside 10A pp only to have me accidentally back into a tree while trying to get close to it resulting in a loud crunch and a hefty dent to my boot.
Bugger.
But wait - there's more! My iPhone6 has packed up. Double Bugger.
One highlight of the day (and it's hard to be positive with my bingled Tesla and my f&$@&ed iPhone) - probably being on the first electric scooters to cross the Murray Bridge (built 1886 approx)
Crash Scene
/ Off the ferry - First Tesla to KI / CEO of Kangaroo Island CouncilDay 5 - Strathalbyn - Cape Jervis - Ferry - Penneshaw - Kingscote. Initially clear and cold, progressed to pleasant day, top 16°.
Battery: Start - 383 km typical - End 154 typical. Distance travelled - 175 kms @ 217Wh/Km (very hilly at start).
Up early to make Cape Jervis and our ferry rendezvous. Not as organised as our Sorrento ferry but the operators were all extremely friendly. Overall very pleasant experience although there were some white caps on the ocean.
Stop the Presses! "First Tesla to make it to Kangaroo Island!" Woohoo!!!
Stocked up at the local Penneshaw IGA and headed towards the d'estrees beach but changed our minds upon seeing how wet the dirt road was from last nights rain and instead went to Western Cove in Napean Bay. Lovely spot.
Continued to check in at our hotel in Kingscote (the Ozone hotel - nice but not power friendly) and drove to the nearby council car park where they had a J1772 ChargePoint charger. Nice - 54 ks/hr.
While we worked out how to use the device, Gerard and Andrew Boardman (CEO of Kangaroo Island Council) joined us for a very interesting discussion of the island's history and eco philosophy and of course electric vehicles. They made us feel most welcome and their interest in the future of electric vehicles was very exciting. Very switched on CEO - knew heaps about EVs and solar etc.
Sher and I pretty well exhausted after the last few hectic days, so no scooters now, just an explore by foot around Kingscote township and dinner. Early start again tomorrow for the return ferry and run up to Adelaide.
One highlight of the day - definitely being the first Tesla on Kangaroo Island.
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Crash Scene
Day 5 - Strathalbyn - Cape Jervis - Ferry - Penneshaw - Kingscote. Initially clear and cold, progressed to pleasant day, top 16°.
Battery: Start - 383 km typical - End 154 typical. Distance travelled - 175 kms @ 217Wh/Km (very hilly at start).
Up early to make Cape Jervis and our ferry rendezvous. Not as organised as our Sorrento ferry but the operators were all extremely friendly. Overall very pleasant experience although there were some white caps on the ocean.
Stop the Presses! "First Tesla to make it to Kangaroo Island!" Woohoo!!!
Stocked up at the local Penneshaw IGA and headed towards the d'estrees beach but changed our minds upon seeing how wet the dirt road was from last nights rain and instead went to Western Cove in Napean Bay. Lovely spot.
Continued to check in at our hotel in Kingscote (the Ozone hotel - nice but not power friendly) and drove to the nearby council car park where they had a J1772 ChargePoint charger. Nice - 54 ks/hr.
While we worked out how to use the device, Gerard and Andrew Boardman (CEO of Kangaroo Island Council) joined us for a very interesting discussion of the island's history and eco philosophy and of course electric vehicles. They made us feel most welcome and their interest in the future of electric vehicles was very exciting. Very switched on CEO - knew heaps about EVs and solar etc.
Sher and I pretty well exhausted after the last few hectic days, so no scooters now, just an explore by foot around Kingscote township and dinner. Early start again tomorrow for the return ferry and run up to Adelaide.
One highlight of the day - definitely being the first Tesla on Kangaroo Island.
Not good Alpal, no amount of buffing is going to get that out!!!
Mistsubishi CHAdeMO charger Adelaide / Charge Rate CHAdeMO / Adelaide Hills
Day 6 - Kingscote - Penneshaw - ferry - Cape Jervis - Adelaide. Initially overcast and cold, progressed to drizzly then back to overcast - top 16°.
Battery: Start - 432 km typical - End 350 typical. Distance travelled - 232 kms @ 204Wh/Km (very hilly at start and includes top up charge at Mitsubishi).
Have gotten into the habit, where possible, of making a most complex road trip 'muesli' to start the day from components picked up while travelling - fruit, nuts etc. Today was no exception despite the fact that Alan made it. In fact ...
Packed and headed towards Penneshaw for our return ferry ride. Smooth seas today and an uneventful crossing other than a telephone interview from a Kangaroo Island reporter about our inaugural Tesla visit to their island.
Sharon took the reigns of our now slightly crumpled Tesla for the uphill leg towards Adelaide and possibly our first ever CHAdeMO charge at Mitsubishi Australia in Cloverly Park. Our virgin converter plug was at the ready although I was feeling less than confident after hearing that Mitsubishi may be changing the access code for the charger.
Plan B was being hastily hatched.
But all our fretting was for nought and soon about an extra 200 ks had been pumped into our little beastie for our next leg - a foray to visit friends in the Adelaide hills. A great feeling having a full battery again and I definitely enjoyed the CHAdeMO experience. Almost worth the cost of the converter lead.
A slow 600meter climb up the Adelaide Hills and it soon became obvious why these hills are so famous - just beyond beautiful bloody scenery. An all too brief a catch up with our friends ensued and then a quick drive to the centre of town for our overnight stay at Stamford Plaza Hotel and a 3ph 32A destination charger. Very ordinary hotel (5/10 IMO and a tad exy and reservations didn't even know they had a Tesla charger there?) but at least we'll have a full charge for tomorrow's start for the inland bound return trip to Melbourne.
One highlight of the day - surrounded and questioned by Flinders University academics (the Uni being next door) at the Mitsubishi charger - something very exciting is definitely in the air between them and Mistubishi! Can't say too much. Stay tuned.
Wolf Blass / Banrock Station / The Frame Resort Paringa / the Frames - walk in welcome / The Frames - view from BR
Day 7&8 - Adelaide - Renmark - Paringa. Initially rain and cold, progressed to overcast - top 14°.
Battery: Start - 451 km typical - End 122 typical. Distance travelled - 263 kms @ 215Wh/Km (didn't need to drive conservatively - sat on max speed limit most of day).
Checked out in the rain with a full battery and made our way through to the Barossa for a visit to the Wolf Blass vineyard. Very impressive contemporary tasting room. What a brilliant man and such amazing achievements.
To continue on with our wine theme, our next stop was the gigantic winery that's Banrock Station. Not so impressed with the wine but wonderful views from their more naturalistic environment.
Passing through Renmark we reached our destination for today, the Frames resort in Paringa.
This resort consisted of three adjacent houses, contemporary in design and luxurious in finish. It's not often we could say this, but we both gave the place six stars! Top facilities were everywhere, from the best in sound system to kitchen equipment to provisions, spa bath, sauna, and pool. Views straight onto the Murray River all complete with an open gas fire to welcome us. This place was overwhelming. And the perfect two day respite after our extraordinary adventure.
All this, plus there was a Tesla Destination Charger present. Perfect!
Rick, the owner, and John, the manager, bent over backwards to ensure our stay was luxurious, private and complete. Again, first time ever, six stars!!!
One highlight of the day: the three course gourmet dinner provided by the Frames resort for our first night's consumption.
Thrilled that you liked my design at The Frames! It has won several awards now. I've only had the opportunity to do one night there, and it felt like I'd relaxed for a week. Rick and Cathy are incredible hosts. Tesla were keen for the destination charger too, which makes it much easier for tesla owners.
I suspected from your recommendation, paulp, that you may have had some prior experience. Rick and I discussed the matter extensively. Congratulations. The Frames are amongst the most brilliant (and brilliantly executed) concept I have ever experienced; and accept my word on it, I have travelled extensively and stayed in everything from top class palaces to the down and dingey, so am appropriately qualified to comment.
Congratulations. The Frames are amongst the most brilliant (and brilliantly executed) concept I have ever experienced; and accept my word on it, I have travelled extensively and stayed in everything from top class palaces to the down and dingey, so am appropriately qualified to comment.
Squeezing the last charge before leaving the Frames / Welcome Home / Not for long / Murray Downs Golf Resort
Day 9 - Paringa - Mildura - Adelaide. Initially dry and cold, rained on and off all day - top 14°.
Battery: Start - 444 km typical - End 64 typical. Distance travelled - 368kms @ 184Wh/Km (drove conservatively - sat on 90-95 only most of day).
Left our new friends Rick and John of the Frames (who topped off our experience with a bag of locally grown mandarins as a farewell gift) with a full battery and even fuller bellies thanks to the extraordinary food we consumed there during our two day catch up. We'll definitely be back!
Well Homeward bound now, we can almost taste Melbourne - we criss cross borders as our road winds along the Murray - South Australia/Victoria/New South Wales and back.
The most wonderful river viewing strikes us from each random turn as we see first hand the magnificent plantations of almonds emanating from the Robinvale area. Almonds, grapes, olives and oranges - everywhere!
Time flies as we begin to reminisce over details from this incredibly interesting road trip and all too soon we arrive at today's destination - Murray Downes Golf resort just outside of Swan Hill and our 10A pp charger they were kind enough to let us use and with only 64ks in the battery. Hmmm... We are going to need to charge for at least nineteen hours tonight to get half a battery which will get us only half way home tomorrow. Obviously were going to need a day charge then - I've selected Bendigo where we have a couple of good options. We'll wait and see which to chose. Our final leg home will be a long one.
Murray Downs Resort rooms are like an average Australian motel room. Clearly been here a while, but have all the basics for an overnight stay (including having to do your own dishes if you use them or incur a $70 cleaning charge - I'm not sure if we're supposed to make our own beds too). Hard to compare with the night before. Hard to believe they're in the same industry. Maybe the sign of things to come (clearly I live in a type of Utopic hope - I drive a Tesla!).
What's started out a sleek, shiny and stunning example of a red 90D Tesla, now is slightly crumpled, covered in red dust and mud from our various off road distractions (mainly wineries hic) version. Already talking with Tesla Melbourne to organise repairs and Apple is confused but prepared to see me over my defunct iPhone. And to top it all off it seems that both Sharon and I are now sporting head colds. Our trip has had some minor costs in exchange for some amazing sights and experiences. All this and today is only day 9! Go figure.
One highlight of the day: Our picnic lunch enjoyed at one of the many billabongs of the mighty Murray River which we passed along today on our route home.
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