Sad to report that an overseas visitor to Australia has died in the North West of Western Australia whilst attempting to travel on his own in the Outback. His vehicle became bogged about 60kms from a Station property. Rather than stay with his vehicle and wait for rescue he decided to walk in temperatures of upto 45C. He was found about 10kms short of the Station still alive but died within a few hours. Sadly his vehicle had plenty of water, but he could n't carry enough to travel the 60kms.
Another guy (also on his own) was found on a very remote beach by a Coastal Surveillance aircraft by writing an SOS in the sand with a plank of wood - his only piece of recovery equipment!! He stayed with his vehicle and lived to tell the story.
So if you know anyone planning an Outback trip to Aus - travel in our winter, travel in a well prepared group and never ever leave your vehicle.
Twas Sun, 14 Dec 2003 10:43:19 +1000 when "Roger Martin" put finger to keyboard producing:
That's good advice.
-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.
Hi Martin, pleased to see good advice from a responsible vehicle hire company. Over the last 3-5 years a number of overseas visitors have died in similar circumstances, and in most cases were in "self drive" hired vehicles.
On one trip across Simpson Desert we had to help a group of Japanese guys who had hired motor bikes, and decided to cross the Simpson without appropriate planning or supplies. When we came across them they were not in good shape, and this was simply due to dehydration and heat exposure from poor planning etc. 620km may not be far when driving in normal conditions but in the Outback, at any time of year, should never be undertaken without a lot of research and planning.
Even if you know an area well, simple changes in weather, can turn a routine drive into an expedition, and as such you need to prepare and plan accordingly.
Basic rule in this country, on both land and sea, stay with your vehicle or boat, as they're much easier to find and recognise, than a person (or body)
The other big issue, due to the size of the country, is to forget mobile phones-if you are going into the scrub, take a proper HF radio or satelite phone if you can afford it. The best use your mobile may be, is to use the battery as a firlelighter if you know how and the battery is fully charged!
If you talk to people in the bush who have had to conduct searches for missing people,its amazing the number of times, especially going back
10-15 years, where they would find a vehicle, but no people, and within a distance of 5-10 kms find the owners dead out in the bush. When returning to the vehicle, they would find that it had a charged battery, and sufficient petrol water etc. Probable cause was that in the heat of the day, the petrol had vapour locked in the fuel line, causing the vehicle to stop- continual attempts to restart failed, and then the mistake of abandoning the vehicle was made, and walk out. Had they simply stayed with their vehicle, it probably would have restarted later in the day, but more importantly they would have had a much better chance of being found, and surviviing.
On or around Sun, 14 Dec 2003 10:43:19 +1000, "Roger Martin" enlightened us thusly:
Standard desert procedure, I thought. If you're stranded, stay with the vehicle. That and making sure someone has an idea of where you're going and when you're likely to arrive, so they know they have to look.
I suppose if you know your fitness level and how much water you can carry etc., and most critically of all *know where you are*, your options might include walking out. F'rexample, I reckon I could walk say 10Km and carry enough water for the purpose. But 60Km (whassat, erm, getting on for 40 miles) while do-able no doubt with proper preparation isn't the sort of trek you can just do in that sort of heat.
Assuming you have a means of navigating (or the ability to navigate by the stars), yer better off walking at night of course, too, when you need the warmth the exercise will give you, and resting up in the day, in shade if you can find any. In the desert, you'd need to be able to navigate anyway, night or day.
In some ways, I find these situations so hard to swallow. There is such an abundance of free literature to both tourists and citizens about safe travelling in outback Australia. Usually found on racks with 'what to see' brochures, I seem to get the impression that people will collect all the topical interest stuff and not pick up information on personal safety. When you've been travelling for 4 hours and open up a map and see you've moved an inch, it does begin to sink in where you really are. For UK travellers holidaying here, all this information is also on the web so you can start preparing even before you leave home. The following links are for SA only. Steve W
I've never been to any real outback type places below (the Icelandic interior is quite big and a bit hairy but there were 30 of us in 5 vehicles, which helped. Plus they're not short on water most of the time). But one thing I've learned through TV, magazines etc is:
NEVER * leave the vehicle.
But, in a hypothetical situation where I knew I was 30km from salvation, and if I stayed put I might be unfound for weeks, the temptation to get out and walk would be strong.
So, in this case, does NEVER really mean NEVER? Or, if not, what's the cutoff point? Say, for example, you were a 10 mile walk from an inhabited building? Any guidelines as to how many hours or miles you would expect to survive on the water you could carry?
Twas Wed, 17 Dec 2003 10:51:52 -0000 when "David French" put finger to keyboard producing:
I recall seeing a documentary (I think it was in australia) where he walked out and got help successfully. (however directing the rescuers back to his vehicle proved tricky and his wife was dead when they found her). However if you know exactly where you are but no-one else does, and you are fairly sure your fitness is up to the task then I'd try to walk out, leaving details of direction, intended route etc with the vehicle so if it was found first it'd be fairly easy to find me.
-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.
Tragically, I think that's what the guy in Australia did recently, and he died. One of the factors was, he had plenty of water in the vehicle, but couldn't carry it with him. I wonder whether he would have survived, had he stayed in the vehicle.
There are a number of factors which will influence 'survival' in such a situation (go buy Ray Mears DVD) :-)
One significant issue is that of perception. In the UK we will generally know that by walking x miles we will eventually find something or someone. Having some many years ago 'got lost' in the northern part of the Sahara - only a mile or so in, but driving a totally clapped out Citroen estate rent-a-wreck, I can see how easy it is to 'think' that one knows where one is, and believe that getting back on track is easy. Thankfully I had an old fashioned location device (a compass) which alerted me to the fact that I was going the wrong way...
The sheer scale totally threw me and I can easily see how being in some remote parts of Australia may have the same affect. After all, a beach is a beach isn't it? Nope, some beaches (again I had this in Maroc some time later) seem to go on forever. Nice if you want to get some privacy, not so if you want to find a way back from whence you came :-)
My rule of thumb has always been to stay with the vehicle. I hope I'm never in such a serious position to have to test my resolve in this respect, though.
Twas Wed, 17 Dec 2003 14:29:02 +0000 when Mother put finger to keyboard producing:
Having been miles from anywhere in a few countries it's surprising to find out how much the terrain/temperature/humidity affect you physically. It could be all too easy to say "I'm only 20 miles from a village, I'll walk there and get help", not a big deal if you are fit and it's in the UK, 20 miles is a different game in a jungle and different again in a desert and then there's the colder climates.
I think the key is, know your own capabilities in the enviroment, and that of your vehicle. And takes some mates in other vehicles..
-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.
The original post stated that one tourist did survive (North west Western Australia). The picture published in the newspaper showed his vehicle 'bogged' in the sand in the desert. A small 'soft roader' apparently ill equipped, on a very rough sandy bush track. The vehicle was not appropiate for the journey, shouldn't have been there. Steve W
The digital network was an enormous step backwards, whilst it might have protected drunken politicians from being overheard it reduced rural coverage to a fraction of the old analogue network. I doubt the area of the Canning Stock Route where the guy died would have had coverage other than for EPIRBs or SATphones.
The sad part about the whole episode is that according to other news reports is that the coppers lowered tyre pressures and drove the vehicle out.
I've done my share of stupid things in the Outback (rode a BMW650 on my own from Birdsville to Marree a few winters back) but it was in the days of the coppers expecting you to report back - which I did. Nowadays they get so many people who dont phone to say that they've arrived that some police stations will not even accept travel itineraries.
Twas Thu, 18 Dec 2003 09:27:54 +1030 when "QuickDraw Steve" put finger to keyboard producing:
Proper Prior Planning and Preperation Prevents Death.
-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.
I had the impression that neither were all that well prepared, but the one who survived did the right things when he did get stuck. Stay with the vehicle, rest in the shade during the day, that sort of thing. But I had the feeling he should have had more water with the vehicle.
Twas Thu, 18 Dec 2003 10:20:15 +0000 (GMT) when snipped-for-privacy@zhochaka.demon.co.uk ("David G. Bell") put finger to keyboard producing:
Water is a hard thing to calculate if you are not familiar with the enviroment..
-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.
It would seem that the first precaution in going into an unfamiliar environment would be to get familiar with it. Any source of information on touring inland Australia will emphasise both carrying water and staying with your car. Also making sure someone knows your itinerary and will raise the alarm if you don't turn up. (my 110 has a 40litre water tank under the driver's floor outside the chassis) JD
Twas Fri, 19 Dec 2003 06:56:12 +1100 when JD put finger to keyboard producing:
I have always sought as much information as possible before visiting unfamiliar places, foolhardy not too.
-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.
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