No hookupcamping story!!

[bruce t]

OK want some off road RVing? It is reasonably common in Australia to go off road in a modified RV. YouTube is full of examples.

Here's a news story about a family who got caught when it actually rains in the desert.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-13/family-campervan-stranded-in-simpson-desert-after-heavy-rain/100618224

Here's just one of many commercial sites that provide for the market. https://slrvexpedition.com.au/

Next time you think about complaining about your RV park then consider doing it with nothing but your RV and a compass.

 

[Chalkie]

3 hours ago, bruce t said:

Next time you think about complaining about your RV park then consider doing it with nothing but your RV and a compass.

 

No GPS?

[noteven]

Buggah

 

Edited November 15, 2021 by noteven

[Dutch_12078]

45 minutes ago, Chalkie said:

No GPS?

For off-road travel? They aren't lost, just stuck...

[Chalkie]

5 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

For off-road travel? They aren't lost, just stuck...

I wasn't talking about them being stuck but lost. My cell phone, at least, will allow me to use the GPS function without actual cell service to get a lat/long position. If I thought ahead and preloaded maps then better yet. Oh, and the cell phone has a compass function as well. 

[2gypsies]

From the aerial photo they tried to create their own road.  There are rules in the U.S. from national forest & BLM that limits creating your own road and ruining vegetation.  Quartzsite is totally different - just about anywhere is game but then, it's rocky soil; not like the dirt this couple drove.

I wonder if they didn't monitor weather.  

Edited November 13, 2021 by 2gypsies

[Randyretired]

I have waited a day or 2 to drive out of some NFS spots.  Every year it seems some hunters get stranded in the high country.  Our current place backs up to BLM.  One night in the rain we watched from our porch as a car tried to drive on a 2 track trail.  Then a young couple got out and tried to push to no avail.  After a bit the back country rescue came.  The next day a tow truck retrieved the car.  However, I never seen mud that deep!

[bruce t]

Guys there are no roads out there so you make your own. GPS? There's no phone signals to use the phone. So no GPS. Car cars navigation doesn't work without a signal. That's why most folks carry a satellite phone. They say they dropped one to them. They set off their emergency beacon which works via satellite. They will need help because when it dries that camper will be stuck in concrete!!

I'm sure 95% of Americans have no idea of how remote parts of Australia can be. Imagine Australian is the USA. You have highway 1 in California on the wet coast. No freeways. You have I95 on the east coast from say Miami to Washington DC. Then single lanes to Boston. Dirt from there north. And north south there is only one road in the centre. . Single lane. From say New Orleans to Duluth. No other north south road west of I95. East west? One single lane across the top that is closed for much of the wet season. One single lane road across the country along the south coast. There are no roads across the country. Only the road at the top and the bottom. There are a few other roads that require 4x4. The Tanami track is 'interesting' for the venturous. The Great Central road is also a venture. You need permits for that road.

Here's a web site that show a popular track. https://www.hemamaps.com/plan/trip-preparation/how-to-cross-the-simpson-desert

I put the post up just as a comparison of the RV life here in Australia. Not as a criticism of the USA. Hell no. We would be back in the USA in the blink of an eye if we could. It's just the difference.

Edited November 13, 2021 by bruce t

[Dutch_12078]

4 hours ago, Chalkie said:

I wasn't talking about them being stuck but lost. My cell phone, at least, will allow me to use the GPS function without actual cell service to get a lat/long position. If I thought ahead and preloaded maps then better yet. Oh, and the cell phone has a compass function as well. 

What good is a GPS when you know where you are? They very well may have had one, but knowing where they are or wanted to go wasn't the problem. Getting stuck due to the heavy rain was the problem. The only part that surprised me a bit was that they didn't have a sat phone with them, but at least they had the sat locator device. 

[Kirk W]

I think that because we have so much in common with AU that many of us in the USA do not grasp how much of the country is undeveloped and unpopulated. I used to do a lot of off road travel into the back country of the USA by 4WD vehicle, on foot, and by horseback but with exception of Alaska there is no area which a physically fit, properly prepared person could not walk out of if they had to. There are few places that we can be more than 30 or 40 miles from a public road. 

Edited November 14, 2021 by Kirk W

[bruce t]

Rule #1 for these types of folk is a sat phone. i thought they would have one also. But they are EXPENSIVE!

GPS can fail without cell service or satellite service. Large areas of Australia only have basic sat service. We have often had our in car nav system freeze and not comeback until it picks up a new signal.

Keep in mind that if it's big in Texas it's way bigger in Australia. Our largest station, (ranch), is over 9000 square miles. Long way to the front gate! Kids on those station do their school work via limited sat internet and short wave radio.

Much of Australia has no services at all. You're on your own. We do have the Flying Doctor which will rescue you where ever you are.

Trucks can carry 600+ gallons of fuel because of the distance between gas stations. Distance is the killer. 90% of our population lives on just 3% of the land. To go RVing anywhere away from 'civilization' is an adventure. The majority of our RVs are equipped to go off grid. Mind you not everyone does. I guess the majority still need/want their hook ups every night. But that's a good thing because the free campsites are less crowded.

We have what Americans call a B Class. We are set up with 100 days of LPG/Propane. 12 days of water. And depending on the sun, limitless power via solar. Without the sun we need to start the engine every 3 to 4 days to recharge the batteries. (Smart alternator via a dc to dc changer).

 

 

 

[Dutch_12078]

4 minutes ago, bruce t said:

Rule #1 for these types of folk is a sat phone. i thought they would have one also. But they are EXPENSIVE!

GPS can fail without cell service or satellite service. Large areas of Australia only have basic sat service. We have often had our in car nav system freeze and not comeback until it picks up a new signal.

Keep in mind that if it's big in Texas it's way bigger in Australia. Our largest station, (ranch), is over 9000 square miles. Long way to the front gate! Kids on those station do their school work via limited sat internet and short wave radio.

Much of Australia has no services at all. You're on your own. We do have the Flying Doctor which will rescue you where ever you are.

Trucks can carry 600+ gallons of fuel because of the distance between gas stations. Distance is the killer. 90% of our population lives on just 3% of the land. To go RVing anywhere away from 'civilization' is an adventure. The majority of our RVs are equipped to go off grid. Mind you not everyone does. I guess the majority still need/want their hook ups every night. But that's a good thing because the free campsites are less crowded.

We have what Americans call a B Class. We are set up with 100 days of LPG/Propane. 12 days of water. And depending on the sun, limitless power via solar. Without the sun we need to start the engine every 3 to 4 days to recharge the batteries. (Smart alternator via a dc to dc changer).

I think you're right that most Americans have no concept of just how "out there" the outback really is. There is simply nothing in the US comparable. I've never traveled on the ground there, but I have been on a number of flights over various sections.

Just a note though, GPS units use specialized GPS satellites that are active worldwide as long as you have a reasonably open sky view.

[bruce t]

Dutch I understand the various GPS setups. But folks get caught with a system that falls short in the outback. A navigation system isn't necessarily a GPS system.

But aren't we all becoming to reliant on technology?

[Dutch_12078]

57 minutes ago, bruce t said:

Dutch I understand the various GPS setups. But folks get caught with a system that falls short in the outback. A navigation system isn't necessarily a GPS system.

But aren't we all becoming to reliant on technology?

I agree, Bruce, way to reliant... I was just addressing your comment that GPS fails without cell or sat service. Cell phone based GPS often does require a cell signal for maps, etc, but standalone GPS devices only need lines of site to the GPS satellites that circle the globe with no gaps. Everywhere on earth is in view of at least four GPS sats. That makes GPS perfect for locating where you are, but for navigation, appropriate maps to coordinate with the current location are needed of course. In the link you posted though, the location wasn't an issue except for the emergency folks locating them. The mud was the larger issue...

[Ray,IN]

Thank you for posting  about this Bruce. The realities of how large the undeveloped area of AU has only now hit me.

I agree, the world's population is now dependent on technology. I  was reading last week where the U.S. Military has updated and modernized their land navigation courses and textbooks. I assume technology is a larger part of the teachings, which can either be a good or bad thing.

 I remember enough of my army days to use a map and compass to find a location, but a handheld GPS for off-road use would be soo much easier and convenient. However nothing else matters when you are bogged down and cannot extricate yourself.

In the 1970's my parents toured AU, and NZ. I  have sat and listened to them talk about things they saw and experienced until they tired of talking. I still have dad's wool sweater from NZ for a keepsake, and the hatband of croc skin and teeth be brought home to me.

 

[bruce t]

Both the USA and Australia are unique. Our differences are what makes us different but we have a common bond. Most Australians have no idea of what makes the USA tick outside Las Vegas and Disneyland. Likewise most Americans think we are all Paul Hogan or The Crocodile man. Australia has the same land area of the USA yet just 60% the population of California. By American standards Australian RVing is very 'crude' and basic. But by American standards we are way ahead in self sufficiency. For Americans a cross country trip on I80 is a big adventure. For Australians a big adventure is not getting bogged!

Yet in all the years we lived in the USA we came across very few 'real' off road and back country campers. Sure there are some tricked up 4x4's. But few, very few, of road camper trailers or trailers. Here's 5 minutes entertainment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95x67XJgKEMNot for me but 'typical' of those looking for extra hair on their chest.

bruce

Edited November 14, 2021 by bruce t

[Kirk W]

8 hours ago, Ray,IN said:

The realities of how large the undeveloped area of AU has only now hit me.

Here is a good size comparison.

We visited Bruce at home some years ago and so get just the beginnings of a feel for how different it really is. After spending a month in AU I can tell you that trying to see AU in a month is like trying to see all of the USA in 1 month. 

And this will show the population, per square mile of Australia.

Edited November 14, 2021 by Kirk W

[Ray,IN]

Thanks again Bruce, and you too Kirk. Before you began explaining to me, the term "Outback" was just a word. That video really helped me realize the difference between what going camping means in the different countries.

We'll never get to AU at our age, but today's technology allows us to see and learn anyway.

Here in the U.S. when we have a flat tire most of us simply call road service. In AU, depending on location, not knowing how to change and/or repair a flat tire can be the difference between life and death.

[sandsys]

9 hours ago, bruce t said:

Here's 5 minutes entertainment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95x67XJgKEMNot for me but 'typical' of those looking for extra hair on their chest.

No, thanks. I prefer Q.

Linda

[bruce t]

Using Kirk's map I drew in the 'only' main roads around and across Australia. On the east there are way more other roads. On the far west coast there are 2 main roads. The big holes in the middle have no black top roads. None. All subject to weather and a good reliable vehicle. You can't drive from say Brisbane in the east to Perth in the west without going way north or way south if you are in a conventional vehicle. You need a fuel tank with at least a 300 mile range.

This is what makes RVing in Australia interesting and different.

 

 

[Dutch_12078]

15 hours ago, bruce t said:

Here's 5 minutes entertainment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95x67XJgKEMNot for me but 'typical' of those looking for extra hair on their chest.

bruce

45-50 years ago, I'd have been right in there for a trip like that! Today, not so much. A trip to the grocery store can wear me out...

[bruce t]

For those with the time and interest I suggest looking up Nowherebound.com.au. Try their youtube channel. They have a modified 4x4 Isuzu towing an off road caravan.

I'm with you Dutch. I get annoyed by age and health issues. But think of the memories these folks have. Oh to be young again.

 

[bruce t]

An update.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-16/helicopter-heading-to-rescue-perth-family-in-simpson-desert/100623514

[Kirk W]

So does the government then bear the cost of the rescue operations? What of their expenses once out to civilization and the retrieval of the RV? Do you have some sort of insurance for such things there? I don't think that a US road service policy would retrieve an RV from an off-road situation here, even though the distances involved would be much less. 

[bruce t]

I'll start by saying they have been airlifted out by chopper. Apparently the 3 year old was having tantrums so they took up the offer of rescue. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-16/sa-zavros-family-relieved-after-rescue/100624030 FWIW Oodnadatta is a HUGE town miles from nowhere with a population of less than 200.

Kirk I can't give you an exact answer. But here in Australia if it's deemed an 'accident' then the gov picks up the cost. ie tax payers. However if they think there is negligence then the gov/organization can take action to recover the costs.

There a many examples of rescue that the gov pays for. Years ago a French solo sailor way way down south sent out a distress call. Long range RAAF planes eventually found him. They then had to send a navy ship to pick him up. No cost to him. Foreign tourists in rental 4x4s often get rescued.  Folks are often stranded in the outback. Even locals. The government picks up the account. (Rental companies don't like rescuing their vehicles so there are big invoices for those folks).

Here in Australia we have a large organization called the Royal Flying Doctors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Flying_Doctor_Service_of_Australia A not for profit organization. They have about 80 planes. They service a vast area. My roads are also air strips. When I was a director of the local motorhome club we donated many dollars to them. They have rescued hundreds of RVers who have taken ill while traveling.

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by bruce t