Electric Road Trip

Covid has dealt a blow to many plans, ours included. But busy GPs like George need a break anyway, and with the Queensland-NSW border being closed, we decided to go for a road trip in the Tesla up the Queensland coast, dropping in on some of the haunts that we have enjoyed over the years cruising in Nimrod.

The big question is how the charging options will hold up for a trip up to Townsville and back.

Tesla superchargers

ChargeFox chargers

A critical variable with charging a Tesla is the speed of the charger.

A 10 amp 240v AC socket charges at about 15 km/h. This is fine for charging overnight from a plug in an AirBnB.

A Tesla home charger (supplied with the car) charges at 75 km/h. Mostly we detune that to charge at a lower rate, after the solar panels kick in. That way we don't trouble the grid.

ChargeFox 50 kW chargers charge at about 300 km/h.

Tesla superchargers (currently 120 kW) charge at up to 750 km/h.

The most northerly Tesla supercharger is at Gympie, so we called in there for a top-up before heading on to Hervey Bay ($18.90).

We have enjoyed time at Urangan nearby in the boat, and visited a favourite fish shop for some prawns.

A pelican finds one light without prickles to deter birds.

From Hervey Bay, we mosied on up the coast to Rosslyn Bay near Yeppoon, another favourite marina stop when cruising. A charge at Childers ($3.63) and Rockhampton ($6.31).

A pretty little classic schooner in Rosslyn Bay marina.

An osprey

Some nice walks around Rosslyn Bay

Sunrise from our unit, Great Keppel Island on the horizon.

On to the north, via Marlborough ($6.31) and Mackay ($4.10) to Airlie Beach, where we called in on our old friends Graeme and Enriqueta Nolan. There are some great walks around the shore. We once nearly bought a building block on the dome-shaped hill in the distance, before getting cold feet.

A sprite among the roots in the botanical garden

Red-tailed black cockatoo

From the Whitsundays we drove to Townsville, with charging at Bowen ($9.14). There we caught up with our friends Mal & Lucy and enjoyed a mini-cruise on their Schionning 46' catamaran 'Barbarella' out to Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island, which lies off the coast near Townsville.

Lucy

Mal

Barbarella

The golden hour in Whitelady Bay

Sunset off Barbarella's bow

Sailing back to Townsville we passed some friends of theirs on 'Pilgrim'.

We called in to Nelly Bay to meet 'Nimrod's new owners, Greg and Fatosh. It was great to see Nimrod again, and that she was in good hands. 

Greg & Fatosh

Leaving the marina at Nelly Bay, we came across a koala in a tree above the footpath.

Koala sleeping after lunch

We were staying on The Strand, at Townsville, where there are some pleasant promenades.

We have been helping remotely with the home-schooling of our grand-daughter Aelie (7) who is in Covid19 lockdown in Melbourne. Her lesson one day was on marine animals, so we went for a walk around the Great Barrier Reef HQ aquarium, and did a live-stream to Aelie on FaceTime to show her what we were seeing. It went really well.

Bumphead parrotfish

Butterfly Fish

Foxface rabbitfish

Orangeband surgeonfish

Regal blue tang

Shovelnose ray

Shovelnose ray's mouth

Shrimp

Long-necked turtle

Mako shark's teeth

We caught up with a couple of friends David and Lynda, who used to own a Seawind 1160, like Nimrod. It was great to see them after their return to Australia.

After a pleasant stay in Townsville, we set off in a homeward direction to Mackay, where we saw Jas Davis, a young GP who comes from near where we live, and her partner Cam. All good fun.

Cape Hillsborough is a nearby beauty spot.

Blue tiger butterfly

Next, further south to Gladstone, where we caught a ferry out to Heron Island, a resort actually on the Great Barrier Reef. We had a relaxed few days there, which included some Scuba diving for me.

Eastern Reef Egret

A paperbark boardwalk near 1770

Pretty-faced wallaby

Sunset from the town of 1770