This article follows parts one and two of our road trip in Queensland.

After a restful sleep and good chats we headed from Rockhampton to Emerald (271km) with a short stop in Duaringa to refuel – the just in case had now become a necessity.

The Best Western Stirling Motel had two Tesla Destination Chargers and I was wondering how they came to install them. Management said it seemed like a good business decision, and the cleaning staff told me they had a lot of use. The owners were based in Brisbane and installed destination chargers at all of their hotels. The positive tone of these conversations turned out to be characteristic of people outside Brisbane. I was amazed that I didn’t have conversations about long extension cords, battery fires, and other FUD inspired topics. The car garnered a lot of interest and respect everywhere we went.

We stopped at Duaringa – 111 miles west of Rockhampton – a small town that housed Mackenzie Park chargers – 15-amp outlets were available to the public, according to PlugShare. Well they had been deleted for some reason and we looked for a backup plan. It was done in the guise of the lovely Olive, who ran the information center. She was very helpful and invited us to use her power for a small donation. Luckily it was a 15 amp outlet outside the building, so we parked in silence (Olive was amazed at the silence of the car) and started exploring.

First of course we used the amenities block and then had to visit the information center where we bought some souvenirs. Olive was a wealth of information and told us the history of the city. As Fourbys and his caravans came and went, we spent a few hours exploring the historic cemetery and chatting with the locals.

The first question was always “how long is your reach?” The second was “how long does it take to charge?” I was surprised by Bob, who was selling tangerines from his C near the toilet – he told me he had stocks in companies that mine for rare earths and we had a good discussion about the new economies. evolving around the development of batteries. State Emergency Service volunteers returned a boat and asked many questions, sat in the car and explored the “iPad” screen.

Coal train through the window of our Tesla Model 3.

Of course, I was so busy talking and showing people around the car that I didn’t realize I was using a load every time I opened the door. After a few hours we donated to Olive, left and wondered why we had received so little extra charge (30km of range versus the 50km expected). My patient wife had plenty of time to explain it to me as we drove the next 100 miles to Emerald, passing coal train after coal train.

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