Remoteness in Cape York
With good preparation, some means of communication that work, and knowledge of how to fix the basics on your vehicle, you should not.
Your main worry is to get stuck in a place too far in the bush to walk out with absolutely no-one around for ages.
But there are
a few
simple things
that help:
* Drive carefully to make sure the reason you got stuck is not that you
crashed your vehicle (not joking!).
* Have basic
knowledge about how to fix your vehicle - how to swap a tyre at
the very least.
* Carry the gear you need to get
yourself out of bog holes.
* Carry
some means of
communication that work
in remote
areas so you can ring for help if needed.
* Always
carry enough food and a
lot of
drinking water because you will have to wait
even if
you rang for help.
Telstra Next G
has the best coverage (Vodafone and Optusnet are not to rely on at
all), but even
Telstra only works in the handful of townships on the Peninsula, so as
a
remote area emergency help your mobile phone is useless.
UHF
Radios
A UHF Radio
Satellite
Phones
Satellite phones
EPIRB
EPIRB
Spot
Personally I carry the SPOT
* you can
send an OK message to your friends - the satellites pick up your exact
location and your friends can see it on a map.
* You can
send an "I am in trouble" message to your friends or family - this is handy if you are
stuck but not in an immediate life threat.
This type of message needs to be pre-installed and pre-arranged with
your friends before you leave - once you are stuck you can only press
the button, not type. You can for example
pre-arrange with
your friends that they ring RACQ for you, or that they
come and find you. Again they can see your exact location on a map, and
also get
GPS coordinates.
* you can
use it as an EPIRB and send the 000 emergency message - if your life is
threatened, and the emergency people get
your exact
position and will come looking for you.
I
am really happy with my Spot,
its price
In March 2015, the body of the Melbourne man Dane Kowalski was found in the South Australian outback, having died from a snake bite.
That's the obvious difference the remoteness does compared to being a driving distance to a hospital, plus no communication means.
A tragical story that could have been avoided would he have had some of the communication means to ring 000 in with helicopters.
If he wasn't bogged he could probably have made it to Coober Pedy to ring RFDS, but bogged with no communication and snake bite is obviously a rare but still possible and very dangerous combination very much worth bearing in mind when going remote.
Learn Bush Mechanicing
I could not help but mention - there is a hilarious but actually also very creative and right out practical way to get out of trouble when in the bush!Our Aboriginal People are the cleverest bush mechanics you can ever imagine!!!
Bush Mechanics is an Australian television documentary series that was broadcasted on ABC Television in the early 2000s and gained international recognition.
It features the Yuendumu Aboriginal People travelling through the central, most remote deserts of Australia, in hopelessly old and worn-down vehicles, only getting through by fixing them with bush materials and some brilliant, unthinkable bush mechanicing techniques.
Examples include filling punctured tyres with grass, having hand made "snorkels" coming out of the roof and using the roof as a trailer.. only to mention a few. It doesn't look pretty but it does get them through!
(All Episodes of the Series Included)
It is a great belly laugh and gives you ideas on what to do if you are out there in trouble with no help!
Those tricks are doable, and worth knowing, if it's your only way out!
Plan Your Trip... the FREE Cape York Travel Pocket Guide
Get this 50 pages guide totally for FREE. It contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip. You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you should take, how to get there and get around, where to stay (general info), what will it cost.. and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.Plan and Bring
to the Trip... the full Destination Cape York Travel Guide
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This site uses British English, which is the English we use in Australia.
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on this website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.
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