Mobile phone reception is limited in most regions where Red Earth operates, and for the locations where we do get reception, these are generally only serviced by the Telstra network. It is therefore important for Red Earth Leaders and 2ICs to understand the locations they will be required to navigate to as part of their immersion. This includes knowing how to access and use offline maps systems when out of reception.
Red Earth uses two map programs to help staff locate where key spots and approved activity sites are found.
Google Maps
Red Earth will supply each immersion with their own individualised map of all the key locations you’ll visit during your immersion. This is a great resource to review prior to your immersion. However this map is an online resource and won’t be available to be used in areas without phone or wifi coverage.
Red Earth has marked all approved activity locations (important to notice these can change from year to year), especially:
- Fishing Locations
- Swimming Spots
- Emergency Evacuation Points
OsmAnd
Red Earth will also supply a GPX file with all key locations from the Google Map to be loaded into the OsmAnd App. As key locations can change from year to year, it’s important to delete points from previous immersions prior to loading the GPX file into OsmAnd App.
Once set up, this App is used by Red Earth Staff to navigate to key locations or approved activity sites in regions without phone or wifi coverage.