The Great Desert Tracks

Mapped

The job now done!

 About two years ago an Australia mapping company called Hema Maps released a pack of maps called the Great Desert Track Maps which cover from the Kimberley in the North to the Bight in the South: from the Pilbara to the West and the Stuart Highway to the East. This was put together as a map pack of 4 sheets and represented the first time these remote areas had ever been mapped by detailed, on the ground field checking, using vehicle mounted GPS and advanced mapping software. A lot of you probably have the pack or at the very least have heard about it. Well from a very early stage it was obvious that this never went far enough East and Hema recognised this from the out set, so as soon as the phase one of the Desert Track Mapping Expedition was completed Phase two commenced, to stretch the coverage another two sheets East, bordered just west of Cunnamulla in Qld and keeping the line of the Northern and Southern boundaries from the first 4 sheets.

Well Phase 2 of the Great Desert Tracks Mapping expedition is now complete and Hema maps are launching the complete 6 maps series at the 2001 National 4X4 Show, which runs from the 25-28 of October in the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. But Hema have gone much further this time, in every sense, than the first Phase.

The complete Great Desert Tracks map pack contains 6 maps all the same scale and cover from Eulo east to the Pilbara and from the Gibb River road south to the Bight, with some of the most detailed mapping information ever collected for the area. The two new sheets cover the Simpson, Strzelecki and Sturts Stony Deserts, which include some legendary Tracks; the Birdsville Track, Strzelecki Track, the Oodnadatta Track and with a complete coverage of the tracks through the Simpson. Hema have continued their policy of trying to avoid the oldest problem in mapping, where ever you want to go is always on the corner of four sheets, by continuing to offer generous overlaps so that if you do not want to get the entire great Desert Tracks Map Pack you have a very good chance of getting all you need on one sheet.

This new coverage was much needed, but Hema have not rested there they have done major revisions on all four sheets from Phase one of the Great Desert Tracks mapping project. The production manager at Hema Maps, Rob Boegheim said, "Our two Western Australia based field checkers have uncovered over 1,500km of new tracks and their field work has resulted in hundreds of changes to the existing track detail." Which means that the new series of six maps, which makes up the completed Great Desert Tracks Mapping project, is right up to date.

All these maps are available individually for $14.95 but they are also available in a 6-map pack in a folder that can keep them all neat and tidy while still having room for more maps. In addition to the maps a comprehensive guide, giving background to the project, thumbnail guides to the top 25 Tracks mapped, complete check list of spares, repairs and tools you should take, a bit of guidance on different types of communication and a basic St John Ambulance guide to remote area First Aid is included in the pack and is available separately for $7.95. This really makes a complete Great Desert Tracks Mapping Pack at a price of $79 complete.

 You guessed it; Hema Maps have gone one step further. With the growing use of GPS, Hema have released the Great Desert Tracks Map Pack on CD Rom. The package includes all 6 maps, in electronic form, on the CD Rom as well as the information on the guide and comes complete with a Geographical program calls "OziExplorer Lite". This allows you to be able to identify any points with regard to their exact latitudes and longitude and lot of other features. But perhaps even more useful, the CD Rom is compatible to the complete OziExplorer Navigational program, as well as any other similar navigational programs on the market, so that if you have such a program or purchase one, you will be able to plug your GPS into your lap top and it will tell you exactly where you are on the Hema Great Desert Tracks Maps which will be shown in the background on your computer screen.

 Well after looking at these maps and the packs you would have to say Hema Maps really have all bases covered and these maps do not cost an arm and a leg. The Maps retail for $14.95 each, the same as the first 4 maps, the Companion Guide is $7.95 and the entire 6 map pack, with the guidebook, only goes up $14 from $65 to $79. The CD Rom package is exactly the same price $79 which makes sense because it contains all the information from the pack as well as a computer program.