NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Paper versus Digital
From: Peter Fogg
Date: 2010 Jul 17, 18:39 +1000
From: Peter Fogg
Date: 2010 Jul 17, 18:39 +1000
On the Paper versus Digital topic, from another local forum:
"On my way home from Birdsville the other day found these two cars down a station track, the GPS said this was the road to Innamincka!! I had to direct them up the road to the right turnoff; you know the one with the signs that say Innamincka 294km. Have a map as well as GPS . Graham. Travel West http://www.travelwest.com.au"
Helpful clues to assist NavList readers' comprehension:
"Birdsville" A tiny place in the south-western corner of Queensland. A kind of Mecca for outback travellers. Comes alive once a year for the horse races. Google for more detail.
"a station track": The closest American equivalent would be, ah gayess, a large ranch. Properties out there can be vast; like small European countries, criss-crossed by primitive vehicle tracks that can diverge from the main road, another unsealed road which can be - often is - in equally poor condition. Signs are rare.
"Innamincka" More a pub (hotel) than a town. Together with Birdsville, known as the 'The Outback Loop' with, predictably, a website so dedicated:
http://theoutback.com.au/
The current road advice reads:
"Walkers Crossing is closed owing to flooding at Cooper Creek.
All other roads to Innamincka and Birdsville ARE OPEN including the Strzelecki Track , Della Road, Burke and Wills Bridge/ Adventure Way, Arrabury Road, Cordillo Road, Birdsville Track and the Simpson Desert."
After good rains some time ago, a couple of thousand kilometres away throughout western Queensland, the expanses of salt plains that usually comprise Lake Eyre are covered in water. Sailing boats, dragged up the track from sealed roads out of Adelaide to the south, are gathering for a rare regatta held by the Lake Eyre Yacht Club. There are sea birds such as pelicans by the thousands, and wild flowers after recent rains that carpet the desert from horizon to horizon. Travelling, however is even more difficult that usual, as tracks close and reopen. Getting bogged is common.
"On my way home from Birdsville the other day found these two cars down a station track, the GPS said this was the road to Innamincka!! I had to direct them up the road to the right turnoff; you know the one with the signs that say Innamincka 294km. Have a map as well as GPS . Graham. Travel West http://www.travelwest.com.au"
Helpful clues to assist NavList readers' comprehension:
"Birdsville" A tiny place in the south-western corner of Queensland. A kind of Mecca for outback travellers. Comes alive once a year for the horse races. Google for more detail.
"a station track": The closest American equivalent would be, ah gayess, a large ranch. Properties out there can be vast; like small European countries, criss-crossed by primitive vehicle tracks that can diverge from the main road, another unsealed road which can be - often is - in equally poor condition. Signs are rare.
"Innamincka" More a pub (hotel) than a town. Together with Birdsville, known as the 'The Outback Loop' with, predictably, a website so dedicated:
http://theoutback.com.au/
The current road advice reads:
"Walkers Crossing is closed owing to flooding at Cooper Creek.
All other roads to Innamincka and Birdsville ARE OPEN including the Strzelecki Track , Della Road, Burke and Wills Bridge/ Adventure Way, Arrabury Road, Cordillo Road, Birdsville Track and the Simpson Desert."
After good rains some time ago, a couple of thousand kilometres away throughout western Queensland, the expanses of salt plains that usually comprise Lake Eyre are covered in water. Sailing boats, dragged up the track from sealed roads out of Adelaide to the south, are gathering for a rare regatta held by the Lake Eyre Yacht Club. There are sea birds such as pelicans by the thousands, and wild flowers after recent rains that carpet the desert from horizon to horizon. Travelling, however is even more difficult that usual, as tracks close and reopen. Getting bogged is common.
