This is a strange time in history. The Covid-19 virus has made travel around Australia impossible. However, purely by chance I managed to complete my trip around Australia via Highway One by taking my trusty Tesla Model 3 to Tasmania (for non-Australians, a substantial island to the south of mainland Australia and a state on its own, with unique wildlife and scenery) on the Spirit of Tasmania car ferry, just before Tasmania went into lockdown.
Compared to the around-Australia trip, this was a leisurely trip. My mother had never been to Tasmania, so I invited her to go with me on this two week (accommodation booked late January for a late March post-school-summer-holiday-crowds) trip in which we took in some of Tasmania’s major attractions – as well as driving the length of Tasmania’s portion of Highway One (Hobart to Launceston to Devonport).
The trip was scenic, the weather was good, but the charging stations were scarce. Nearly the only Tesla chargers were destination chargers, although I read that this is changing as there is a state government initiative to install more publicly available higher-powered chargers. However, as Tasmania is a compact state, most of the driving was on overnight charges from the destinations. A little pre-planning was done to ensure every night’s stop was at an operational Destination Charger. But this was far simpler than the technically challenging drive from three-phase to three-phase outlet across the Outback in the earlier trip.
Towards the end of the trip, it became clear that we were tempting fate. Everything was progressively locking down, with new government announcements on a daily basis, but we just squeaked through: by our last night we would have been unable to book any further accommodation as all motels had been ordered closed.
15 March 2020: Daytime travel from Melbourne to Devonport. We were in good company: a bevvy of original Mini’s were onboard with us.
16 March 2020: Stay in Devonport overnight (Port Masters Lodgings – delightful) then on to Sheffield. Top up charge at the Visitors Centre while enjoying the cafes and wandering the towns murals, then make our way through many other small towns to Launceston.
17 March 2020: A cruise of the Tamar, a visit to Cataract Gorge (where I learned the difference between a Pademelon and a Wallaby!).
18 March 2020: Drive Highway One stopping at Ross and Richmond before diverting to the RACT Lodge at Eaglehawk Neck. Famously guarded by the spirits of the ferocious Guard Dogs there…
19 March 2020: A day trip to Hobart: Mt Wellington, Salamanca Market (its closure announced that day – we were just in time) and Constitution Dock. Then back to Eaglehawk Neck and some sightseeing around the Port Arthur area.
20 March 2020: An early start with a full charge to get to the Maria Island cruise. Far more dirt road than I had foreseen, but in the end I had to admit that the Navigation System had chosen the best route possible, balancing distance vs road surface. A brilliant tour of Maria Island (pronounced “Mariah” one of the high points) with its delightful Blonde-tipped Wombats. Then back to the trusty Tesla for the last leg of the days travel to Freycinet Lodge and a very welcome Destination Charge overnight.
21 March 2020: Explore the Freycinet area – many delightful short walks and stunning scenery.
22 March 2020: Back to Hobart then a complete one-day traverse of Highway One from Hobart Town Centre to Devonport via Launceston. Stopped at the commercial 50kW charger outside Kempton to make the distance required, as out destination that night was Cradle Mountain Lodge. Again, thankyou RACT (owners of the lodges at Eaglehawk, Freycinet and Cradle Mountain) for installing Tesla Destination Chargers at each.
23 and 24 March 2020: Explore the Cradle Mountain area. By then the Visitors Centres and Ranger stations were closed as a Covid precaution, but the parks were still open and the Dove lake circuit (and other short walks) were delightful. The highlight, probably of the trip, was an evening feed (you have to book) at Devils@Cradle. Seeing the young Tasmanian Devils in a six-way food contest was brilliant, but even better was a chance to see the absolutely delightful Quolls at this sanctuary: think small hyperactive spotted marsupial cats with lots of charm and that is Quolls. Devils@Cradle are doing a brilliant job supporting these endangered creatures.
25 and 26 March 2020: To Strahan for the highlight of the trip – the Wilderness Rail trip from Strahan to Queenstown via the old cog railway, but by then Covid is in full swing and the entire town is closed down (trip cancelled – rats). We drove to Queenstown and Lake St Clair – spectacular views there and around, but the news was getting grimmer by the day and it was made clear by the State Government that it was time for all out-of-state visitors to depart. All hotel food shutdown, so it was takeaway in the hotel rooms.
27 March 2020: a leisurely return to Devonport via the NW and the coast road, then
28 March 2020: not quite the last boat out, but very close!
Tesla Model 3 around Australia 