After a great day at Australia Zoo and the The Glasshouse Mountains, we stopped up at…

…Coochin Creek. Food options here are McDonald's, Hungry Jack's, some other burger place and Subway. After a small dinner, we were all ready to go, back to our BnB stay in Caloundra Charging: Unfortunately our Airbnb host didn’t allow car access in the driveway (and therefore no EV charging) but they did provide access to a gorgeous golden retriever. This Evie Networks charger site has two DC fast chargers which makes a huge difference compared to just one at most sites north of here in Queensland. Take note Mark Bailey MP. And it’s powered by the huge solar panel array on the roof and has spaces obviously for expansion.

Crikey! Australia Zoo was great. Well laid out. Good space for the animals and humans.

Charging: It even has four destination chargers for EVs, although two of them are the older type 1 cable that almost no-one uses. Time to upgrade/replace those.

Second time at The Edge Restaurant to use the remainder of our gift card credits (thank…

…you, Helen). Great view, food and service.

Invited to dinner by an old friend at the local RSL, meant that I had to crack open the…

…shoe cupboard in the Tesla.

We finally managed to get to Kenilworth Bakery, on our second (southward) trip through…

…the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. They make the lovechild of a coffee and a donut – the coffee donut! Introduced to us on YouTube by @bethandpaultravel. The bakery also sells ridiculously large donuts. The courtyard out the back has very groovy murals of musicians.

Two fast charging sites in Noosaville.

According to the app, the other one was busy, so we opted for this one. The location seemed weird, but we found a coffee shop on site at Thomas Surfboards, with a barber and surfboard sales mixed in. They also directed us to Rick's Bakery up the road. And I had some cereal from the onboard Tesla pantry.

Dinner in Noosa, with lucky parking right outside!

Followed by a walk on the boardwalk. Beautiful.

In the middle of hanging washing, I spotted this wasp who had apparently won a fight…

…against a spider. Welcome to Australia!

We made it back to ocean that’s not trying to kill us, in Noosa Heads. I

mpromptu pasta and pizza at Zacharys while waiting for our Airbnb host to reply with the access code.

We stumbled across the Story Bank and several murals and sculptures celebrating stories…

…and Mary Poppins. Love the walk, don’t walk sign.

We unexpectedly ended up in Maryborough overnight and popped in to see Caricature Queen.

The queen was away in her home studio, drawing, but we had a great chat with Barry and looked at the amazing work. We’re thinking of ordering one, with us, the Tesla, a charging cable, maybe Fran’s coffee, Tom’s bare feet, an outline of Australia's east coast, and some icons from our trip. Any suggestions?

Facebook tells us that we’ve just reached 200 followers! T

hank you for continuing interest. If you’re viewing our posts, but haven’t yet “followed” and “liked” our page, come join the party 🥳.

Mixing up the meals today.

Breakfast and the final episode of season 1 of Goliath (on the car’s big screen) at 4pm while DC charging. The Tesla roof doubles as a drying rack for the dishes. It seems that almost all of Childers, Queensland closes at about 3pm. We couldn’t even get a coffee. So, it was DIY with the help of IGA Childers.

While waiting for another EV to finish using the only DC 50kW fast RACQ Chargefox charger…

…in town, we played with connecting to an AC 7kW 32A 5 pin plug, usually used by RVs, and using the Tesla's "summon" feature. Mark Bailey MP: We need more than one DC charger at each location.

Explored a little around Agnes Water and Seventeen Seventy, starting with breakfast at…

…Hidden Garden Cafe, Agnes Water.

We found this great place along the Bruce Highway.

Peaceful, view of the mountains and stormy clouds, restaurant, room service, pool, freshly renovated, great price. I noticed that, as you can see in the photos, the giant 4WDs are too big to fit under the carport roof (here and elsewhere). Charging: Most of the rooms have a power point in the parking spot. I asked the manager, Tim, if we could charge overnight and mention for other EVs. He was very happy to oblige. We only need 30% more charge for a full “tank”, so we’ll be all set to go in the morning.

Tried to follow the coast a bit more closely, through Gladstone and Tannum Sands.

Lots of coal, aluminium and shipping. We spotted some giant wind turbine blades on a ship. Nice lunch at Flavours Marina.

Another BYD. Chatted with the owner, Lachlan, returning to Blackwater from Dubbo.

Good to see a variety of EVs on the road. Did I mention that we need more fast chargers at these sites? 😉

Chatted with Kristie, who was driving her BYD back to Ayr.

Kristie checked in as “waiting” via PlugShare, which then alerted me that someone was waiting after me. Unfortunately, although I had entered my charging time into PlugShare, it doesn’t tell the next person how long they need to wait 🤔. Kristie said she has also previously been caught out at the faulted RACQ Chargefox 50kW charger at Marlborough Service Station, and had the use the slow (7kW?) AC charger. She said it had been broken (perhaps on and off?) since March last year! How is this okay Queensland Government and Mark Bailey MP? This also explains the congestion at the Rockhampton charger 🙄.

Jake was waiting after us to charge in Rockhampton, Queensland.

He’s on his way to get his windscreen repaired or replaced and will finally bid farewell to the “fridge” sticker. He told some stories of people damaging his car, such as jumping on the bonnet (while it was parked) and throwing sharp metal onto the road. Fortunately the Tesla’s sentry cam helped police track down the culprit and the car warned that tyre pressure was dropping. He said there is a lot of car theft in Rockhampton, so he’s thankful for the Tesla security features. There’s only one fast 50kW DC charger, so he resorted to the slow AC (7kW?) charger, since he carries the required type 2 cable. It was too slow, so he jumped in the DC charger when I was done. RACQ, Chargefox and Mark Bailey MP we need more than one DC charger at each location.

Charging up at the RACQ Chargefox charger in Rockhampton, Queensland.

We couldn’t charge in Marlborough, because that charger is still faulted, listed in the Chargefox app as waiting for parts until January 19, after being broken for a month! I chatted with Bronwyn and Phil who (with two more of their family, not pictured) had driven their 2020 Model 3 from Brisbane to Mossman Gorge, currently on their way back. They said they had been caught at Marlborough, found the charger not working, and did not have enough charge to get to the next one. It’s a really long stretch out there – even the petrol stations have signs warning “99km to next petrol”, but the gap for EVs is more than twice that. So, they asked at the Marlborough Service Station if they could just plug into the mains supply for a slow charge, to which they said “Sure. We have an open kitchen”. We joked that maybe they broke the charger to increase food patronage 😉. But seriously, thank you for allowing the slow charge 😇. They had to charge for SIX HOURS to have enough to get to the next…

Back at the Carmila charger on our way south.

Only reason we have to charge here is because the next charger at Marlborough is still Faulted 🤦. Come on RACQ, Chargefox and Mark Bailey MP, you need to do better. Chatted with Dave who had ordered his Model Y while waiting for his Model 3, and the Y came first. On their way to Mackay then Airlie Beach.

We took up the offer of one of our blog watchers, Kylie, to meet up for lunch in her home…

…town of Mackay, while our Tesla was charging. Kylie won a bet with her husband on the sale price of their previous ICE car, so she chose the Tesla Model 3 as their new car.

Nerd alert: Regenerating (making power while driving downhill) from Eungella National…

…Park.

One last rainforest walk before we left Eungella National Park.

Beautiful tall trees and elusive wildlife. When the sun is high, there’s very little shade for a parked car. So, cars get very hot. Fortunately the Tesla has automatic cabin climate control that turns on the air conditioning when needed, and we can cool it right down from the phone app when we’re on the way back to the car. Other cars, like a ute next to us, left their engine running while they went for a walk, so they could keep the air conditioning on.

Watching the cloud/mist retreat in the morning, followed by our typical cereal and fruit…

…brekky from our car fridge and grocery bag.

We detoured inland, thanks to a suggestion from Greg Hayden, to Eungella National Park.

We managed to spot a couple of platypuses and many turtles at Broken River. Amazing view, delicious pub dinner, quaint accommodation and friendly staff at The Eungella Chalet. Charging: I asked if we could charge the car overnight and was met with a quizzical look and our first “no, I don’t think so”. This was one of probably only two “no”s we had in all of easten Australia. It’s such a missed opportunity for places like this, but it probably needs some promotion and information. We have more than enough charge to get around, but I just prefer to charge while the car is parked anyway. Also, we are so high up that we will actually charge a bit when we leave in the morning, simply by going downhill, on our way to Mackay.

Platypuses in Broken River, Eungella National Park.

Top up charge in Proserpine.

We walked around looking for some lunch, but found nothing open within walking distance. So, we had cheese, crackers, quince paste, cherries, nuts from our car fridge and grocery bag, in the delightful cool escape from the blaring heat and humidity. Charging: We first chatted with Rohan for a few minutes while waiting for his new BYD to charge. It's a fairly standard crossover SUV format, but with some funky organic looking trims. If I recall correctly, he was returning from Brisbane to further north.

Sheltered from the heat and the covid cruisers in the cool Tesla, while singing some…

…Caraoke, probably to the amusement of the Airlie Beach visitors and locals.

Our final morning in Airlie Beach, at Airlie Beach Foreshore Markets, along with a cruise…

…boat load of tourists, some of whom ignored or missed the warning signs to take a swim in the ocean. We watched with a mix of envy and fear as they cooled off from the heat.

We stayed at the The Sebel Whitsundays, using more of my Luxury Escapes credits.

Our daughter, Erin, ferried over from her workplace/home in Hamilton Island for one more get together before we head back south. I am dumbfounded by the parking of a couple of drivers (Ford Everest and Mitsubishi something), right up against the line 🙄, leaving no/little room for the next car. Charging: Reception said they had no power points in the parking bays, but we managed to find one and use some creative power cord routing to make it a safe connection. It would take so little for these places to add some power points for overnight EV charging.

Belated Happy New Year with one of our kids, Erin, back in Airlie Beach, with the Auld…

…Lang Syne Tesla light show. This was the first day she had seen the Tesla. In 30 seconds, she went from "what is this?" to selling it to the passers by. They asked many questions, so we fired up the "Carol in the Bells" light show and even tried our first auto summon.

The trees and/or birds in the parking on the main street in Ayr had left crap all over…

…the car. Heading south from Ayr towards Bowen, we saw a steep drive up to Mount Inkerman lookout. Knowing that we’d recover the “fuel” on the way back down (thanks to the EV’s regenerative braking), we sidetracked up the mountain to check out the view, and the wallabies, and so I could eat my half of the pineapple cream pie 😋.

Manoeuvred my way around the bollards with a three point turn again, at the RACQ…

…Chargefox charger. Chatted briefly with Scott (before me in a blue Tesla Model 3 with bikes on a rack) and Patty afterwards. Patty is today moving with his dogs up from The Sunshine Coast to Port Douglas. His wife is driving another Tesla. They are planning to “hippy-fy” their new place with EV chargers for guests.

Drove to the other side of the island for a great Mexican lunch at The Noodies Restaurant…

…in Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island.

Catching the ferry back to the mainland from Magnetic Island.

Found power points on the ferry for 10A, 15A and five pin 32A. We asked the crew if we could charge if needed, to which they said “I don’t see why not”. Good to know for any future emergency. But we were already fully charged from the normal power point at the accommodation last night, and since the ferry is diesel powered, it would reduce the advantage of having an electric car 😉.

Found this great place, for $150 per night (last minute rates, I think) at Picnic Bay on…

…Magnetic Island. Walked to: - Lunch at Picnic bay hotel. Note my excellent burger halving! - Swimming at Picnic Bay Beach, protected by stinger nets. But the water is so warm, that it’s not really refreshing. - Delicious Italian dinner at Mamma Roma. - Walk along the esplanade with the frogs. Had a chat with our hosts about EVs and took Jeremy for a spin in the Tesla. I think they’re now planning to add an EV charge point in the car port and maybe buying an EV themselves. Charging: Oddly, there were no power points in the car port, despite countless lights and air conditioner connections. The hosts Jodi, Jeremy and Moira kindly allowed us to plug into a power point at the pool pump. I just had to run an extension cord out to the car. Now I get a taste of trying to power an EV if you live in a unit.

Curlew, rock wallabies and tropical fish.

We drove the Tesla onto the ferry for the 35 minute trip over to Magnetic Island.

Staying there for two nights. The AirTags in our gear sent some concerning notifications when we walked from the car to elsewhere in the ferry 😉. Charging: Magnetic Island has no EV chargers listed on PlugShare, but it is connected to the mainland electricity grid and is part of the Solar Suburbs Project, so using a standard power point shouldn’t be an issue. Even without a charge on the island, we have more than enough battery juice for a few days of Island exploration.

10 minute fast charge to 80% at Evie Networks charger next to a Puma Energy petrol…

…station. This was our first time using one of these. Costs twice as much (60c/kWh) as the RACQ Chargefox chargers (30c/kWh) but they are about twice as fast for us (100kW vs 50kW, and theoretical max speed of 350kW). Also the CCS2 charger is on the right instead of left. One of the charging stations was in maintenance, but at least they had two, unlike the competitor. It took four attempts at plugging in for the charger to work. Francis seems to be more successful at this than me. Edit: Note the Tesla message about battery temperature. We don't currently have a way to tell the Tesla car to precondition the battery for a third party fast charger - only for Tesla fast chargers, which don't currently exist up here. Now off to Magnetic Island.

Used some of my Luxury Escapes credits to book a “last minute escape” at the Hotel Grand…

…Chancellor in Townsville, which included $25 towards room service and a free buffet breakfast. We had some problems previously booking similar with LE, but it seems to be working now. Fran wanted to take the pancake machine with us. You can see Magnetic Island in the distance. We’re heading there next (today), for a couple of nights, taking the Tesla on the ferry. Charging: The parking building has power points on about one in five of the spots, so we grabbed a slow charge to go in the morning. I wish I’d thought to check last night. There’s also a fast charger down the road, but we prefer to just charge while parked anyway.

Bats flying over Townsville, viewed from the 17th floor.

Mango pancakes again. Yum!

Fran says mid photo “but they’ll think that all we do is eat at cafes”. Charging: The Frosty Mango has a couple of Tesla destination chargers available for EVs to charge. When we arrived, both bays were ICEd (internal combustion engine cars blocking the EV chargers). We waited until one moved, so we could plug in. The Tesla app reported no power on both destination chargers. I asked at the counter. Taylor was very helpful to find the issue. They had a “power surge” earlier, and had since been running on generator (diesel, I presume). They estimated it will be up and running again (not using the diesel generator) in about half an hour. We could continue our trip without it, since we had charged from a power point the night before.

Crabs at Cardwell Beach.

Stopped to stretch and charge at Cardwell again.

Chatted briefly with Brandon and family, returning from Cairns to Sydney in a Tesla Model 3 Long Range. He left their Model X at home, because he said the Model 3 is better suited to a road trip.

Looking at our route for the trip back south, it seems that the chargers at Tully and…

…Marlborough are still faulted, and will have been for weeks! This is at probably the busiest time of the year. How is this acceptable? If another charger at a town either side of these also faults, then that creates a stretch that will be too long for some vehicles. RACQ and Chargefox: It’s great that you’ve put these chargers in place, but you can’t call it the “Queensland Electric Super Highway” unless you guarantee a certain amount of up time and make it feasible for EVs to travel through quickly.

So many beautiful beaches hidden behind rainforest buffers, such as Narragon Beach, near…

…Mission Beach. The more beautiful the water, the more likely it is that it will kill you, according to the many warning signs for crocodiles and jelly fish.

Wedding anniversary breakfast at Cafe Johalia in Mission Beach, QLD, followed by some…

…beach exploring.

We spotted two cassowaries, on The Cassowary Coast.