Disc Golf Road trip in edeliver 3
Andrew was playing in a tournament at Spa Park in Taupo at Labour weekend, and we were well overdue for a road trip, so we decided to combine moral support with a camping trip. Weather wasn’t looking too good but we took a chance anyway, departing on Friday rather than Thursday to avoid the worst of the weather.
The van was lightly loaded with a full size canvas tent, stove,mattress and lots of other stuff. The wind was in our face most of the way, and we chose to go over the Desert Road. We took it easy, charged once at Bulls ready for the climb to Waiouru which is nearly 1000 meters above sea level. We charged again at Waiouru to cover the rest of the journey. Total distance was about 370 kms, and we arrived in Acacia bay with over 100km of range left, which we used for pottering around Taupo.
We played 9 holes of Disc golf at Spa Park on Friday after we had set up camp, and Andrew joined us for a first practice round. A lovely meal at an Indian restaurant in Taupo finished off a long day.
Saturday was a cracking day, lazed at the campsite for the morning, Avocado on toast for lunch, then joined Andrew on his second practice round, playing 9 holes of the competition course that we hadn’t played the day before.
Sunday was also a fine day. We went to The Craters of the Moon, a geothermal area just outside Taupo, had lunch in town, the did two rounds of the pop-up pitch and putt course, which had been created for the weekend by the tournament organizers. I managed to complete both rounds 1 under par!
We spectated at the Tournament for an hour or two, trying desperately to work out how some of those players were so good, and sympathizing with those that struggle as much as we do.
On Monday, we broke camp and set off home, after topping off to 92% charge on the way through Taupo. For a change we decided to drive down SH5 to Napier, stopping at a disc golf course on a stick golf course at Te Pohue about 100kms down the road. The weather was pretty miserable over the hill, raining windy and poor visibility, but it cleared for an hour or so while we played what could be a really pleasant course, but currently is not really friendly for inexperienced players.
On to Napier, to charge to 90% at the Airport, then off again heading home. The promised foul weather closed in just before Dannevirke, where we stopped and topped up to 90% again, because we could. Shocking rain and wind over the new motorway to Palmerston North, and then a long slog down SH57 through Shannon to Levin. A few minutes delay as we joined SH1, and then a simple drive mostly on expressways and motorways. We would have made it home on the charge we put in at Dannevirke, but an abundance of caution and the marginal weather and road conditions made a stop at Paraparaumu for 5kWh of extra juice seem worthwhile. We arrived home 10 hours after leaving the campsite.
Total kms over the weekend was 876, most of which was at highway speeds on major roads, with lots of height gained and lost on both legs. The weather was always windy, usually a head wind, and very wet for the journey home.
We used a total of 187.4 kWh of power, giving consumption figures of 21.39 kWh per 100kms, or 4.67 kms per kWh. Average range worked out at 234.8 KMS out of our 50.23 kWh battery.
Spreadsheet of charging and power usage (PDF). Taupo_23_Oct_2025