Cape York guide - Hema or Ron & Viv?

Submitted: Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 at 20:24

ThreadID: 98685 Views:3612 Replies:4 FollowUps:3

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Cape York

This is the true 4WD journey to the tip of Cape York following the Old Telegraph Track (OTT) and its many challenging river crossings.

Cape York

Section: Treks

This is the true 4WD journey to the tip of Cape York following the Old Telegraph Track (OTT) and its many challenging river crossings.

Cape York - Outback Travellers Guide

Section: Shop

Nineteen stripmaps break the tracks in the Cape York region into identifiable sections giving travellers information on regional roads, fuel, water, landmarks, accommodation,

Cape York (The Tip)

Section: Places

A lovely 2 km return walk to the very top of mainland Australia. The track climbs onto a ridge which gives views in all directions before the descent to the sign at the Tip.

tommo05

Just a quick pop quiz on which is a better guide for Cape York - Ron & Viv Moon's Adventurer's Guide, or Hema's Atlas & Guide.
I know people refer to Ron & Viv's as 'the Bible', but I've heard a few negative reports about it having information that is not up to date. As yet I have only heard good things about the Hema.
Thoughts and opinions please?

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Reply By: Member - PJR (NSW) - Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 at 21:36

Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 at 21:36

We took both

AnswerID: 497239

Follow Up By: tommo05 - Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 at 22:23

Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 at 22:23

Yeah I have considered doing that. Did you find one more useful than the other?

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Follow Up By: Member - PJR (NSW) - Wednesday, Oct 24, 2012 at 09:00

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2012 at 09:00

Not really used on the trip in hard paper form.

But in the planning I used the book to learn about the place not to drive there and the paper hema maps to actually plan the route and then to build an Oziexplorer track and waypoint files, including "proximity" audio files attached to the waypoints, for all three cars using Ozi to follow. I did not refer to the paper map once on the trip as we have the digital Hema maps in the VMS indash navigation guide. I scanned the book at Seissa while lying on the beach soaking up the rays.

It's a long way back so do not rely on just the maps and book. I scanned the internet for weeks in the planning stage. No! Not 24/7 but several nights a week.

Phil

FollowupID: 773047

Reply By: Member - John G - Wednesday, Oct 24, 2012 at 09:31

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2012 at 09:31

G'day Tommo

Forced to choose, I'd opt for Ron & Viv Moon's guide, but buying and using both is a small cost against the total cost of the trip.

The Moon guide is constantly updated, but that doesn't stop retailers selling out of date editions. Just make sure you get the latest edition of both publications.

You have a great trip ahead of you.

Cheers
John

AnswerID: 497259

Reply By: Member - Hunjy (NSW) - Wednesday, Oct 24, 2012 at 09:34

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2012 at 09:34

We used Rons book which was very good regarding travel and facts and we also used the Cape Yorker Magazine which has a more personal up to date approach.

What we did is planned our trip on a paper map, put it on GPS and compiled notes, articles and brochures(from visitors info centres mailed to us before we went) in approx order so we could refer to them as we went along. This preperation made it easier for us as driving,looking at things, setting and packing up camp and 2 kids with needs takes up most of our time so the magazine showed us an up to date Cape york.

Mal

AnswerID: 497260

Reply By: harry & the hobbit - Thursday, Oct 25, 2012 at 10:19

Thursday, Oct 25, 2012 at 10:19

Hi tommo,
Just returned from a 6 week trip up there and being old fashioned we relied on both guides.
Found the moon's book to be out of date in a lot of references and the Hema to be very useful in most respects. Take both. Would go at this time again, very quiet, little traffic and easy to get camps everywhere.

AnswerID: 497343

Follow Up By: tommo05 - Thursday, Oct 25, 2012 at 20:03

Thursday, Oct 25, 2012 at 20:03

Good to know, I was planning to go in June but starting to look like I'm not going to be able to go then after all. October sounds like a good back up plan.

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