whats in a name

I've read the article in question Eric and was a tad concerned about the glorification of trying to empty the Waeco as quickly as possible each night. Sure a few beers around the campfire is a big part of any nights camping. Drinking the amounts alluded to in the article and then driving off early the following morning shouldn't be promoted in a 4WD mag IMO. As for the misinformation I have never been antwhere near the Cape so wouldn't know one creek from another and would never plan a trip using info from a magazine artice. You need far more detailed info from more reliable sources (this forum for one) before ebven contemplating it. I have enjoyed the first two installments and am looking forward to the final one, it sound like an awsome experience.
To be fair to the magazine the author of the article should be taken somewhat tongue in cheek. If you read the letters page there are several other mistakes from previous issues pointed out by readers, perhaps they do need to check a bit more thoroughly before going to print.

I too am a bit concerned about the amount off tinnys they seem trying to consume ,this is not the way 4wdriving should be premoted to the young ,it starts to sound more like a beer run than a trek in the bush ,we need to promote 4wdriveing as a family and resposible sport and get away from the old days of idiots racing around the bush with more beer than food in the esky, there are enough people out there just looking for another reason to knock us out of the bush without a large mag giving them fuel ,by the way I like the mag and get it each month as they do have some good stuff in there as well .
As to the question of acurate reporting I feel it needs to be as acurate as possible if they get a creek name wrong what else might they fail to notice , I would hate it to be the direction of a track to water that may save a life ,some people do head out with the notes from a mag as there guide to a trip without proper maps and plans.

Eric,

I wrote for 4x4 Australia Magazine for 10 years. Despite giving all the correct data they make plenty of mistakes including putting tje wrong titles to photos. It all has to do with proofreading and tramnsposition of information. In the end I did not worry as long as my cheque arrived after each article.

To the above replys.
Yes as you say the way you seem to have to get to camp and get realy stuck into the stubbies is a concern and the issue is that they are promoting it as the way it should be and in the area they are, the laws and drinking problems are a big issue.
If our green freinds or another type of magazine say open road got hold of the story they would have a feild day with the 4wd industry.
In my opinion this is the way 4x4 owners get labled.

All the best
Eric

www.capeyorkconnections.com.au

Dear All

The political correctness people are at it again. I am only a newer member and have resisted posting against the five or six people that continually denigrate, criticize and belittle other people, because of their self opinionated superiority.

People that respond by quoting "Yakka Yakka Yakka." then try to pull each other apart.

Weve got a forum that is the same as most other members of so called clubs, who are into the cliques of either haves or have nots, will or will nots or toyotas or nissans.

Sorry but this is just rubs me up the wrong way. I suppose it is the solely because I have put in a fairly hard day yakka and have read the forum after a few JW and cokes.

Probably only me but I resist from posting for the fear of not being as well informed and sound in knowledge as others with regard to the subject of 4WD

Get a life

Regards

Big Dog

From my point of view, if I go out and spend $8 on a mag to find out information then I would expect that info to be well researched, correct and well written. The mag in question tends to reply to criticism by denigrating those who have writtten in pointing out mistakes, in the above case even became rude to one letter writer who was pointing out a series of mistakes and poorly worded articles, even the author's wife got in on the act! Some articles seem to be more farce than info under the premise of being "enjoyable reading", if they were more like this forum then at least I would learn something.
Rolande

I agree totally with the comments on alcohol consumption. They would be off the road with their licences taken away for a while if it happened near the law. Just because they are enjoying the freedom of the bush there is no reason apart from overt alcoholism to act that way.
I experienced a tag along trip years ago where the leader & a few cronies had a tinnie in hand at every stop mprning , noon, & night & it was not a good example to the youth. Their b.b. reading each morning would have been quite high.

Eric,
I've been reading that mag for several years now and whilst I appreciate where you're coming from, I have built up an "appreciation" for the writing style of the gentleman in question.
I emailed the magazine in support of the writer when a reader took him to task about certain aspects of his style of doing things.
This bloke is one of those true-blue Aussie larrikans that a lot of us (myself included) try to emulate. What I mean by that is that even though my vehicle is only 3+ years old, I like to do most of the maintainance work on it myself (like he does) so that if something goes wrong "out there", that I've got half a chance of fixing it myself or at least knowing what it is that's wrong that I can't fix and that is gunna cause me to die!! (Can you imagine sitting in the blazing sun in a car that won't go and not knowing why the bloody thing won't start?) A lot of what he says in print is done with the sole purpose of getting at the wowsers (not saying that you're one of them, though). This bloke is a responsible father of 3 young kids. When he says they emptied out the Waeco every night etc; that's tongue-in-cheek . I've seen one of the videos they did about going through south oz. If you took everything literally on that video, 2 blokes appeared to have knocked over about 3 cartons of grog (that was tongue-in-cheek too).
I feel a bit sad that we, as Aussies, no longer seem to be willing or able to work out when someone's putting out a bit of a tall story.
You're right though, there may be a lot of young blokes who read the mag and think that because the "old bloke" (apologies to Roothy) says he drinks 2 cartons of amber lemonade every night, that he must be telling the truth and that they'd better get a wriggle on and do the same thing.
As for the photo captions being wrong; well I reckon Willem hit that on the head. Simply a mix-up within the editorial staff etc. I buy these magazines for their entertainment value, not for their ability to be 100% accurate and to make life and death decisions on. If I saw a picture in a magazine of a 4x4 going through a shallow creek and the caption read "crossing the Wenlock", I wouldn't get there myself 6 months later and just start driving through without checking, just because they showed a picture of it in the mag. Sure, they could have got the captions wrong, or maybe the caption was right, but did it after a 3 month dry spell, whereas I'm there just after the wet season.
People need to re-invent their sense of humor and their sense of taking responsibility for their own actions.
Jeeez I'm glad I got that off my chest.
Cheers, (whose shout is it anyway?)
Roachie