Digital mapping resocurces for Australia


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By ThinArthur on 18/09/18 at 8:45pm

Hello, I'm going to Australia for a few weeks in late November / early December, where I hope to do some walking. I've been trying to find some affordable/accessible digital mapping resources, ideally both for pre-walk planning (ie. like WalkLakes) and for my Garmin GPS.

Haven't come across much. Garmin's own products are a little pricey for a short stay. I see TalkyToaster has a 1:50k download for a Garmin (£11), but there isn't too much detail about it.

Does anyone know of anything else or have any recommendations?

Regards,

Simon


By ScoutScarShuffler on 19/09/18 at 7:08pm

A quick google turned this up :- http://traveloutbackaustralia.com/get-free-outback-maps.html/

For my part we did a 6 week (Dec/Jan, saw the turn of the millennium in on Sydney harbour what a night that was) road trip of part of Australia in a camper van using just a rough guide and paper maps, paper maps and compass were also used when walking. Alice springs,Kings Canyon, Cober Pedy and the Blue mountains are well worth a visit and plenty of walking to be had, great country but wouldn`t swap this one for it.

Have fun and a safe trip


By ThinArthur on 19/09/18 at 9:09pm

That's very helpful, thank you. Sounds like you covered quite a few miles - don't think I'll be going that far. And you're right about paper maps!


By geoffmozz on 20/10/18 at 12:12pm

OpenAndroMaps supply free OpenStreetMap-based topo maps for Australia.

These work well offline on a smartphone. Best apps to use.... Android app - Locus Map, iOS - Cartograph

Here's good help on how to get started with 'em. I wrote the guide so feel free to ask more questions :-) http://www.cumbriasoaringclub.co.uk/kb/ ... ingstarted

The above guide also discusses Talky Toaster maps and how to use them and OpenAndroMaps on a computer for pre-planning.

I've used the Talky Toaster maps in this country and they're very good but they don't look as nice, or zoom as well as the OpenAndroMaps. However they all use the same source data from OpenStreetMap and NASA contours, so mapping-wise they'll be much the same. OpenAndroMaps colour footpaths according to the Swiss Alpine Club classification which can be handy in very rugged terrain.



WalkLakes recognises that hill walking, or walking in the mountains, is an activity with a danger of personal injury or death.
Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions.