Travel Whisper - Outback Survival Requirements -Graeme Kemlo

This week’s theme is clearly aimed at visitors to this country in the wake of last week’s rescue of a German woman missing for 11 nights in the rugged outback of Western Australia. It appears she became disoriented after hitting her head as her vehicle slid off the track. The whisper should be shouted out loudly – anyone travelling in our outback should be aware that surviving 11 days is a miracle – you can die in hours from lack of water when the temperature soars into the 50s Celsius., Your car is the largest, safest shelter out there. Then there’s some of the deadliest snakes in our bush. You need to tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return so that if you are missing for more than a few days an alarm can be raised. You also need a phone, or failing to find a cell phone signal, which is common out there – you need a personal locator beacon which pinpoints your location via satellite. They cost about $400, but you can rent one for $50 a week or a month for $115. Of course you need power, so you may need a power bank to charge it. Then there is the announcement by Elon Musk of his satellite phone using the network of satellites he already has for Starlink TV. It promises to truly change the mobile communications landscape with its potential to allow anyone anywhere on the planet to call someone anywhere else.