Harald Murphy: Perth man’s Tesla road trip stalled by Timber Creek floodwaters

You don’t see this every day: An EV enthusiast’s nationwide roadtrip was met with a wet roadblock and a days-long delay after flooding forced him to a stop. WATCH THE VIDEO.

A Perth electric vehicle (EV) enthusiast was finally able to cross into the Northern Territory from Western Australia with the reopening of the Victoria Highway after he hit a wet roadblock.

Harald Murphy is currently attempting the trip in his Tesla Model Y for the fifth time, after completing the journey in just 10 days towards the end of last year.

But this trip hasn’t exactly gone as smoothly, with Mr Murphy forced to spend 10 days in Kununurra while waiting for the flood water across the Victoria Highway to reside.

But Mr Murphy said he was ready to go again as soon as it reopened.

Mr Murphy finally got to enter the NT. Picture: Twitter

“Last night it was announced that the Victoria highway would be open to Timber Creek at 7am,” Mr Murphy said.

“So, I got up early and I was at the WA border at 5.30am WA time and proceeded through.

“There were about a half a dozen other cars waiting until it opened and we all went through quite safely.”

Mr Murphy – who had to drive through some of the floodwaters in the Tesla – said the drive to Timber Creek had been a memorable one, after witnessing first-hand the impact of the flood in the area.

“When you go past Bradshaw Bridge, just outside of Timber Creek, where it crosses the Victoria River it looks like a moonscape,” he said.

The Tesla Y taking on a flood affected bit of road on Mr Murphy's trip. Picture: Supplied

“All you can see for kilometres and kilometres is vegetation covered in brown mud, it really is like a moonscape. It’s quite eerie, really and there are huge sections of road where you can see they’ve been several metres underwater.

“Driving through the water wasn’t that bad. There was generally only 20 to 30 centimetres of water.

“There was one section where it sort of lumped up on a floodway that I didn’t know about, and at the centre it was about 40 centimetres. It was no problem, there is this myth that electricity and water don’t mix but in EVs everything’s sealed.”

Mr Murphy stopped at the Timber Creek Hotel to recharge. Picture: Supplied.

Mr Murphy said because he was “a glutton for punishment’ he will keep going on these long trips.

But he said he was also doing it to test the infrastructure for EVs on Australian roads.

He noted that he was constantly seeing improvements in the Territory.

“It’s really heartening that on most trips there have been more fast DC chargers installed than previously,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to Alice Springs, as I think the NRMA have completed a set of fast DC chargers as part of a national network. I’m not sure about Katherine.”

“Darwin has a few of the EV fast DC chargers. So, I definitely look forward to using those.

“I also saw them making progress on [a charging station] at Three Ways, so it will be good to see if that’s complete.”

The Map of Mr Murphy's successful 10 day around the country drive. Picture: Twitter

Now that he is back underway Mr Murphy said he was looking forward to completing his trip in time for a special occasion and he has altered the course this go around.

“I’m hoping to get back home and for obvious reasons by Valentine’s Day. That would be lovely because I have a lovely and patient wife and we have a dinner booking on the 14th,” he said.

“This trip is slightly different because I’m gonna do it in a figure eight formation.

“Basically going from Perth, through Darwin down to Port Augusta, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville, and then across the centre to basically Tennant Creek, back down to Port Augusta, and then west to Perth.”

Having left Perth on January 18 there will be no ten day record set this time around for Mr Murphy, but he is lucky he has that patient wife as he is fixing to do it all again.

“I am a bit of a glutton for punishment,” he said.

“So, attempt number six will be sometime later this year. But yeah, I’ll just be happy to get number five under my belt first.”