4WD Weekends out of Perth
(4th edition)
by Ian Elliot
travel, fansonly
copyright 2015
read (skimmed) January 2016
rated 5/10: readable, but only if there's nothing else
If you are an experienced four-wheel-driver, this is a book for you. It's definitely for "fansonly". For me -- it's next to useless.
Every so often we get suckered into buying one of these books. We have the 4wd, we want to use the 4wd, let's get a book which gets us going... And this particular series is just not for us. Are you a beginner 4wd-er ? Forget it !
Still, one thing seems to have improved... The author has caught up with modern navigation. The "GPS Waypoints" are provided in a format which is compatible with a GPS. Eastings and northings are fine for those who are stuck with paper maps. My more modern GPS seems to have left them in the dark ages, with paper.
(And yes, I've read the warnings about depending on a GPS device with batteries which may go flat. So we also have various suitable paper maps. Which could be burnt or soaked or just lost. I'm more likely to have a spare battery than a spare paper map.)
And why not load the waypoints to a website, for easy downloading ?!
The drives themselves look good, an interesting collection. There is an overall map of the state showing the approximate location of each drive. A good start.
Each drive (there are 18) comes with a map of the drive area. But the drive itself is not shown on the map !! What use is that ?! Other than an advertisement for the company which provides the maps...
So. Which drives are suited to a beginner ? Which are better for experienced drivers ? Perhaps some should only be tackled as a convoy...
What ?! There's no rating ! No indication of easy, medium, challenging.
There is a quick section of "Terrain". I start to read those. Where the terrain is described, for example, as, "sand tracks and a beach which can be treacherous in places", I know to avoid that drive. Reading through the Trip Notes I find, "The beach here is very treacherous. Do not drive on it." Does that mean that the "treacherous in places" beach can, in fact, be bypassed ?!? If so -- say so ! It completely changes the feasibility of following this trip !
So "Terrain" allows me to eliminate some trips. Correctly or not. Unfortunately, not every trip has a Terrain section.
This is a book for experienced 4WDrivers. For people who are used to following a track and dealing with whatever conditions they find. Suitable -- judging by several photos -- only for drivers with shovels, winches and several other vehicles to provide assistance.
I'm a beginner 4WDriver. What this book does, is scare me back onto the highway.
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