Grampians + Great Ocean Road 2023

First stop on The Great Ocean Road at the RACV Resort Chargefox chargers in Torquay.

Seemed quite popular, with a couple of EV Volvos pulling up next to us. Looks like even more bays under construction. Just enough charging time to eat a burger. Then we were off again, towards Aireys Inlet.

We stayed last night at Sunnymead Hotel in Aireys Inlet.

Beautiful decor. Dinner just across the road at Airey's Pub.

We stopped in Lorne to buy a few groceries, post a parcel and grab a coffee.

Since we had to be there a couple of hours anyway, we connected to the slowish 7kW RACV destination charger at Lorne Visitor Information Centre. They handle queuing in a way I haven’t seen before. We had to ask in the center to borrow a permit to display on the car while charging. They also asked us to write our details in their log, so they could call us if we stayed more than two hours and someone else was waiting. Very proactive approach. We also looked through the visitor center media displays to learn how the hard work was done in the 1920s to build The Great Ocean Road, mostly by returned soldiers with picks. Amazing.

Date night.

Netflix? ✅ Surround sound? ✅ Air con heating (with no engine running)? ✅ Popcorn and chocolate? ✅ Stars through the roof above? ✅ Reclining seats? ✅

We stopped for a late lunch (or was it an early dinner) at Port Campbell, along the Great…

…Ocean Road, before Warrnambool. Lifeguards still operating at the beach – brrr.

Charging story

We arrived in Warrnambool and started charging at the Tesla superchargers. So simple and fast. We just plug in, the car and charger talk, already know who we are and what credit card to use. 250kW but our Tesla Model 3 RWD accepts a max of 170kW. Even at an average of 100kW, it would charge our 50kWh battery in half an hour, more like 15 minutes in reality because we are unlikely to have zero charge to start, or need more that 90% to go. Speaking of zero charge, while we were there, a guy dropped by with zero charge showing on his Ionic 5 EV. He had driven from Tasmania (on the ferry, presumably). It was his first long trip (I think with family too) and he hadn’t factored in the charging correctly. He said he had “only a handful of km to go” to get to his B&B which included a power point for charging. He asked if these Tesla chargers are for Tesla only, or compatible with other EVs. I said that I had only come across a few open Tesla chargers, such as those in Bathurst, but they had…

Stopped by Harman’s Valley Lava Flow, near Hamilton.

We decided to head directly north to The Grampians, from Port Fairy, Victoria, and not…

…visit Mount Gambier is South Australia, this trip. We stopped on the south edge of The Grampians in Dunkeld. Note Francis’s stylish socks and thongs. Charging: We popped into the car park at The Royal Mail Hotel, since PlugShare and others mentioned that it has destination chargers. We found two Porsche and two Tesla chargers, all of which, I think, are set to work for any EV. One of the Tesla chargers had no power. All the bays were initially taken by ICE cars. After a few minutes, staff appeared near a parked van, looking at us. I hopped out of the car. They asked if I was wanting to use the chargers. I asked if it was available, (since I didn’t know if they are reserved for hotel guests). They said yes, and moved the van. Very kind. We were at 50% charge. The destination charger was giving 11kW, so the estimate to fill was about three hours. We we’re only staying less than an hour to have a toilet break and get our bearings, but it was enough to get us to 62% and for the Tesla to…

We arrived in Halls Gap, in The Grampians.

Quick stop at the local service station to confuse passers by and to wipe the bugs from the windscreen. Lots of kangaroos near the road, which is both good and bad. Dinner at Paper Scissors Rock Brew Co.

We hired some electric bikes to ride through Halls Gap.

After a fun and informative set of instructions from Stuart, we headed off along the extensive bike path. Many kangaroos and emus along the way. There was something slightly wrong with Fran’s bike controls, making stop and start a bit jerky. This, and her self confessed “unco” led to her coming off in dramatic and painful fashion while crossing an intersection. Fortunately, Tom had a supply of napkins (that he routinely stocks from each visited cafe). Adding some water, we managed to clean the wound fairly well. And later added some Savlon. Fran was a trooper, and kept riding, this time with a more predictable bike. These e-bikes don’t require any peddling, which we think is unusual, perhaps not legal in NSW? They are like little motorbikes, with very comfy seats. Stuart has been running this business for over a decade. He used to hire out horses. He said he wondered why the service station next door didn’t add a few EV car chargers when it removed a couple of bowsers recently.

At The Elephant Hide and Chatauqua Peak, in The Grampians.

Stopped in Moyston for lunch and a cuppa.

It claims to be the birthplace of AFL, which I believe is some kind of Victorian sport!

We searched the top of Mount Ararat (One Tree Hill, in Ararat, Victoria) for Noah’s ark…

…with no luck. But we did find hundreds of wind turbines along the horizon. More electron mining! The only emissions were from many crop burn offs (which is, of course, also renewable). Close up photos to follow. Charging story: We had to spend an hour or so catching up on emails and such, so we plugged into the free Tesla destination charger at the Ararat RSL. It looked like the cable has been damaged and replaced or similar. It was so short. I had to back up over the gutter to reach it. Just as we were about to leave, another Tesla Model 3 arrived. They were worried that their Tesla was predicting only 5% charge when reaching their destination in Ballarat. I suggested that they just trust the prediction and drive to the fast charger there. But we left anyway, so they could top up slowly.

Chatted to some of the local sheep about the giant wind turbines.

They said they much prefer them to sharing the land with coal mines. We came across some of the crop chaff burning. Quite spectacular, but I wouldn’t like to live downwind of it.

Arrived in Daylesford. We skipped Ballarat, mainly because I messed up on a roundabout at…

…the exit ramp. The Tesla has many km of bug carnage, mainly from millions of locusts and other bugs on the road through the farmlands to the east of Ararat (see previous posts). The wasps descended on the car as soon as we stopped in Daylesford, for a free meal of bug guts. Charging story: We plugged into the 22kW Chargefox driven DC charger in town while we had a pub dinner at The Royal Daylesford. Before we got out of the car, a couple started asking us “how long does it take to charge”, which is the common first question. “As long as it takes to eat dinner” for this charger, would have been the most accurate response. But I said I prefer to just plug it in each night where I’m staying, so I don’t even have to think about it.