This blog post is part of a series about my road trip around South/East Australia in an electric vehicle. Read other posts using the same tag.
Day 11: Hamilton via Keith, Edenhope
It was a bit chilly on an early morning driving out of Adelaide, where upon going up and over the hills I had to double take as I passed this “Cybertruck”…
I popped into EV chargers in Murray Bridge and along the highway at Keith before stopping at Kaniva for lunch, where I found they really love their sheep – possibly even more so than people in New Zealand1. Plenty of sheep everywhere along the main strip, though some of art is a little… disturbing.
I needed to cover some distance, so after an hour I was back on the road – travelling through a surprisingly arty Edenhope and quiet Dunkeld before arriving at Hamilton just before the front desk for the motel was supposed to close… before finding that they had called me while I was out of mobile coverage to tell me that they had just left the key in the unlocked room for me!
Originally I had no plans to do anything that night – it was New Year’s Eve so surely nothing exciting would happen tonight in a remote city like Hamilton. How wrong I was! I unpacked everything and noticed a little folder with the usual tourist-y things and noticed the motel actually put in up-to-date events information – and that there was going to be a fireworks display that night to celebrate the new year!2
I just had to be there to see it. And I was positively surprised by the massive turnout and the fireworks display which lasted a good 10+ minutes! When fire trucks turn out you know you’re in for a good show, and this was a completely unexpected way to wrap up 2023!
Day 12-13: Melbourne via Twelve Apostles, Camperdown
The next segment involved heading east to Melbourne – with a few stops along the way as always. I skipped most of my breakfast and instead got a toastie in Port Fairy while waiting for my car to charge, and Warrnambool for another car top up in front of the information centre.
A co-worker from one of my earliest jobs noted many years ago that he visited the Twelve Apostles on one of his trips to Melbourne, and I’ve always wanted to see the rock formations before they inevitably disappear – they were originally formed by erosion after all! The pictures don’t really do the stacks justice here – the beautiful landscape coupled with an amazing breeze added to the experience.
I had wanted to also take the Great Ocean Road coastal route towards Melbourne, but sadly there weren’t compatible fast chargers that would fit in the range my car had so I had to drive up north first to Camperdown, and drive east again to an aquatic centre just outside Geelong for my next two charges.
At that aquatic centre, there were two charger stalls and they were surprisingly popular, as I saw two cars move through them in the one hour I spent charging. Each had two leads – one CHAdeMO and the other CCS – which meant that I could slip in and still charge while they were occupied (one of the few upsides of a CHAdeMO car – almost nobody uses the available charging infrastructure!)3 I even had the opportunity to chat with the guy charging his new BYD car next to mine, talk about his job as an insights analyst, and show him some of my travel gear.
I arrived in Melbourne at 6pm and checked in. The place had car parking which was convenient, but the car park itself – not so great. It was a multi-storey lot with a car lift, which doesn’t sound that bad, right? As I drove in I realised that the space to align your car with the lift was really tight – just the last thing I needed after a day on the road. It felt like I was doing a 20-point turn just to turn my car 90 degrees to face the lift, and even then I had to fold my mirrors to make sure the car would fit clear of the sides which made things even harder!4
The following day was primarily a walkabout around the CBD – I’ve been to Melbourne a few times before but never previously had enough time to explore places like NGV and ACMI which were really interesting and (mostly) free!
Day 14: Bairnsdale via Traralgon
This day was mostly a long drive, with a detour through Tarra-Bulga National Park. The road to the national park was basically single lane in parts – it was quiet enough so I luckily didn’t encounter any oncoming cars!
It was overcast with a few light showers here and there, and one of the tracks was closed due to fallen trees due to recent heavy weather. Probably not the ideal time to visit, but standing next to ancient trees that have weathered all that (and more!) puts all of that in perspective.
The national park itself is on elevated terrain too – so on return, I actually saw my car’s charge level go up (!) as it was basically recharging through regenerative braking all the way back down.
Day 15: Cooma via Cann River, Bega
Heading east first, I did a quick stop overs in Orbost and Cann River, where I picked up a light brunch at the local bakery, before going straight to Bega while battling some poor weather along the way. And what’s Bega famous for? Cheese of course!
I had a bit of a chat with owners of an electric Volvo while charging at Cann River, and just as I finished charging at Bega I saw them pulling into the car park there too – what a coincidence!
Didn’t end up doing much for the rest of the day – just went straight to the motel in Cooma and crashed.
Continues in Part VI.
| Charger | Cost |
|---|---|
| Murray Bridge | 10.10 |
| Chargefox discount | -2.02 |
| Keith | 16.10 |
| Chargefox discount | -3.22 |
| Kaniva | 8.00 |
| Edenhope | 7.18 |
| Dunkeld | 10.14 |
| Port Fairy | 9.59 |
| Warrnambool | 4.31 |
| Camperdown | 9.70 |
| Waurn Ponds | 7.98 |
| Melbourne (Wilson Parking Eureka Southbank) | Free |
| Moe | 7.49 |
| Chargefox discount | -1.50 |
| Traralgon | 7.32 |
| Bairnsdale | 6.53 |
| Orbost | 6.84 |
| Cann River | 5.06 |
| Bega | 14.34 |
| NRMA discount | -1.44 |
| Cooma | 10.17 |
| Chargefox discount | -2.03 |
| Subtotal (excluding discounts) | 140.85 / 1845km |
| Trip total (excluding discounts) | 309.75 / 4710km |
- It’s a worn-out joke as there are more sheep than people in New Zealand – I think it’s about 7 to 8 times the population at the moment? And yes, many sheep jokes have been made at my expense. ↩︎
- It was scheduled for a bit after sunset and not at midnight, but no matter – worked better for me because I needed to sleep! ↩︎
- Some chargers support simultaneous charging, usually by splitting the power output across the two leads. This was the case this time, so I got to use the charger while the other lead was in use. Also meant the other car’s charge slowed down. Sorry! ↩︎
- As much as I like the freedom a car brings – if I had to live in an apartment with a car lift like that, I’d certainly think twice about getting a car, let alone worry over the dimensions of said car… ↩︎