Big overland Australia Trip - Best navigation and maps

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Danielcphotography

New Member
Hi Guys,

Thanks for the wealth of knowledge here.

I am planning a big lap of Aus with the aim to see and stay at a bunch of cool places around the country, we are travelling in a 4WD and full offroad Caravan so we aim to go as far off the beaten track as we can.

What is the best way to navigate, and not just navigate but find the best spots and places?

We already have Wikicamps, and I already have Locus maps and use the solution on here to add state topo maps to it, running on my Android Tablet.

But we are really keen on something like maybe the Hema Explorer Cloud where people have logged 4WD routes with pictures in an easy to see format?

Or the new CamperX from Hema? It seems to have a bunch of POI's with Info taken from the Caravan and Motorhome association system?

Should I also look at the 4WD maps from Hema? I hate that they have split all their info among numerous apps and costs. I just want to pay one cost for everything and have it in one App :/

Especially valuable to me would be community POI with photo's of awesome places so I can get an idea of what I might find before I go somewhere.

Thoughts?
 
CTL

CTL

Well-Known Member
I know the developer of CamperX. I think it will eventually become a good resource now that he has partnered with Hema.
 
discomatt

discomatt

Well-Known Member
We use Hema for touring, Rooftops for Victoria HC though because Hema doesn't have enough info for HC touring/4wding
 
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boobook

Well-Known Member
CamperX does look promising if you are after the social media, review and accommodation side. Hema told me that soon it will have offline turn by turn directions even for off road. That sounds promising. But I would say it will be full of ads and linked to their other products such as the magazines like Camper trailer magazine.

The number of over lapping products from Hema is getting confusing.

I'd say this is aimed at people who tour using big camp sites and caravan parks with ads - kinda a Grey nomad product.

It is getting annoying that they are now producing 5 platforms. Paper, Hema 4wd, Hema Explorer, Hema device and now Hema X Planner, and if you want Hema maps on each you have to pay 5 times - usually on top of the app price.
 
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boobook

Well-Known Member
Just to add to my last post, I have the Hema Explorer and not overly impressed. It does seem confusing around the maps you select and is slow.

I like the sharing of tracks, but this is easily done on the Hema cloud website which is quite good and free from memory. Also Exploroz is a great source for tracks if you are a member. 4x4 Earth should do something like that ROFL.

IMHO nothing goes past Memory Map ( which the Hema 4wd app is based on). I have Roofotp, Hema, Westpoint, downloaded offline satellite maps, and a whole bunch of maps I scanned from paper including old maps in this high country from the 1880's, Government National park maps etc. ( th elast ones are a bit of work)

The same could be said for Exploroz I am sure, but Memory Map works on Android, IOS, PC and Mac, and they don't charge for the software and only once for the maps.

While Wikicamps, Hema X etc sound great, in practice I found them to be very incomplete and glorified ads.

Memory Map combined with Google for finding caravan parks, service stations, supermarkets are the best IMHO.
 
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Danielcphotography

New Member
So is there anything as good as Hema 4WD for the remoter area's?

I'm talking with details like washouts etc?

Can I load Hema 4wd into Locus at all?
 
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boobook

Well-Known Member
Danielcphotography said:
So is there anything as good as Hema 4WD for the remoter area's?

I'm talking with details like washouts etc?
Click to expand...
Not really. The Hema set now includes the topo 250 map of Australia. The Hema Maps are great for planning or generally knowing where you are and going. They have phone numbers for outback pubs, servos and emergency services. They are the most accurate and up to date.

The 250 topo has finer detail and is great for when you are coming up to a turnoff or intersection. They aren't as good to get a bigger picture of where you are.

Any Open Street Map based product - and there are hundreds of them, are great in popular areas, but unreliable and useless in remote areas. These are often free, but not worth the paper they are written on in remote areas.

Westprint does a set of maps that are similar to Hema. They also so dome specialized ones for particular regions or tracks ( eg Googs track). They have a lot of interesting historical information but tend to be less accurate than Hema and not updated as frequently.

The state based maps are good for fine detail but like the 250 maps, don't give you a good overview of where you are.

Danielcphotography said:
Can I load Hema 4wd into Locus at all?
Click to expand...
I don't think so. But I have personally found Locus to be a pain in the ass that is more work than it is worth. If it supports Hema, then and only then it may be worth considering.
 
billolga

billolga

Well-Known Member
@Danielcphotography be careful with the "Full Off Road" bit with Caravans as there is no such thing.
Take a Tent/Swag with you & leave the van for a few days to do some places.
BTW you can do a hell of a lot of Australia to fantastic places in 2WD. We did our first round Australia in a Hatch Back Mitsi Colt with the back seats out, a jerry can & a tent.
 
phs

phs

Well-Known Member
Just use the memory map app with a tablet, iPad or phone.

you can obtain plenty of maps, all up I have spent about $250 but have nearly the whole county covered in a lot of areas 25, 50, 100, 150, 250k topographic and Hema though plenty more available just have not had the need as yet
 
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mikehzz

Well-Known Member
Another vote for Memory Map. I use it on phone, PC and tablet. PC planning is good, transfer the route tracks to the mobile devices. I use Wiki camps for places to stay. I've tried a lot of the other GPS programs including Oziexplorer.
 
CTL

CTL

Well-Known Member
For those in the know, can you transfer the Hema maps you get with the Hema 4x4 Maps app to Memory Maps?
 
G_ute

G_ute

Well-Known Member
Anyone tried the Garmin Overlander yet?
buy.garmin.com

Garmin Overlander™ | Navigation for Overlanding

Overlander<sup>™</sup> is a rugged, multipurpose sat-nav with a 7” colour touchscreen that features turn-by-turn directions for on-road navigation and topography maps for off-grid guidance. Use your Explore account to wirelessly sync your tracks and waypoints across your Overlander, smartphone...
buy.garmin.com buy.garmin.com
'

I like the idea of dediated GPS and have have similar in the past, more for street nav though. I find the interfaces fast and intuitive, and only a single app/purpose to use.
Seems a bit USA-centric at the moment.
 
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mikehzz

Well-Known Member
CTL said:
For those in the know, can you transfer the Hema maps you get with the Hema 4x4 Maps app to Memory Maps?
Click to expand...
The Memory Map app is free on every device so if you already have the maps it would cost nothing to try it. Knowing both companies I doubt it.
 
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