I was discussing this with some friends recently and we all have copies of Camps books, I have several but none of us use them as we are all converts to Wiki Camps which has information that is much more current and in more detail than the Camps books.
Do the Camps books still get printed and do you still use them, the other question is there any thing similar or better than wiki camps out there.
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I read only recently that 'Camps' is still being printed and I think the next edition is due in the first half of next year.
I don't know of any better or equal to 'Wiki'.
I use both, first check "Camps' then zoom in through 'Wiki' to get hopefully up to date info and pics. I must admit though, I tend to use 'Wiki' more nowa days though.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there.
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Had a look on Wiki last night for St Lawerence Rec Grounds and found nothing , Maybe wiki user are not using St Lawerence and so it don't come up , Maybe spot only come up on Wiki if user post it on Wiki .
I, like Dougwe and jrg, use both - planning a trip, then checking for up to date info on places I would like to stay. The Camps book people actually go to the sites and report on them, they ask questions if you meet up with them, and love to hear of new spots. Whereas Wiki is posted by travellers, some of whom unfortunately put in misleading information - have seen one spot that has been entered three times - within 1km of each other, all the same spot - just different names and descriptions and directions (co-ords).
Camps is great value - all your maps for the country in one place, co-ordinates are correct, as is the info, mostly. Not much we can do about closed sites, or prices for low cost van parks have been put up, between publications.
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jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
When we started this adventure I went out and bought the latest camps book.. then I found out about wikicamps.. sorry to the book lovers, wiki kills camps hands down! Advantages are each camp site gets updates, photos, prices, conditions. I have even seen fuel prices on wiki. Then again, fuel map Australia fills that role very well (another wiki product.)
Cheers
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Wikicamps wins hands down. Google maps is use for planning future trips. You can't zoom in on the Camps maps. Wikicamps also has offline maps for when there is no internet.
I got both Camps8 and Wikicamps. Find Wikicamps the best. Haven't used Camps8 since I got Wikicamps. However having a big hard copy map is always a plus when planning. Just bought the latest large HEMA to replace an old dog-eared map that was missing most freeways.
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Nowadays I use word of mouth from wherever current campers are.
Wikki. Just in time. for missus and nearby dunny's. (a lifesaver)
and another camps one in ph? but ph in car with daughter.
Also have "Windyty" on tablet/ph for approaching weather patterns.
Very good.
Also use reverse tracking on GPS in ph.
so no matter where we go in strange place.
we can get back to car/van, again.
Just start "tracking" when leaving veh/van.
then when wanting to go back. hit reverse tracking.
and it'll take you back again.
Used my marine H/Held GPS yrs ago.Pre car GPS.
no street mapping.
just walk along (or drive) and turn at bends in line on screen.
Electronics are soooo far advanced nowadays it ain't funny. more frightening.
They can put a missile in your front door from a satellite in space.,
and read number plate on car you driving.
Had a look on Wiki last night for St Lawerence Rec Grounds and found nothing , Maybe wiki user are not using St Lawerence and so it don't come up , Maybe spot only come up on Wiki if user post it on Wiki .
It is listed so check your spelling of "Lawrence" and change "Grounds" to Reserve when doing a search on Wiki Camps the name and spelling must be right. Or reduce the search term to just "St Lawrence" and the Recreation Reserve will be found by the search
My vote is for Wiki Camps, no heavy book to carry around and up to date with the latest info.
Been using wiki camps for about a month and bought camps 8 yesterday just for the road maps all in one place. Use Camps now to plan initially then get onto wiki to finalise and look at sites and comments.
Use a tablet for google when planning which roads to take on the trip but dont run the tablet in the car so use camps/GPS if necessary read by the Navigator
I think at this stage there is still a place for both of them for us.
I use both but prefer Wiki. As Jules said, sometimes wrong names are entered in Wiki, which can be a pain if you are looking up a particular spot. You need to spell it same as on wiki or it won't show. Great app though. Best thing I ever bought for my van, (after the diesel heater ) :)
Cheers, John.
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Wikicamps is great but check the co=ordinates - we were sent about 10k out of our way to a free camp, someone had entered the co-ord of 1, instead of 01 -s it came out as 10 - up a narrow farm road, had to turn into a newly cropped paddock to turn around! That is my only beef with Wiki.
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jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
Wikicamps is great but check the co=ordinates - we were sent about 10k out of our way to a free camp, someone had entered the co-ord of 1, instead of 01 -s it came out as 10 - up a narrow farm road, had to turn into a newly cropped paddock to turn around! That is my only beef with Wiki.
I was caught out Just like Jules with dodgey wiki camps co ordinates and would rather use the camps ones...
In my opinion (so I could be wrong), there is a place for both of them
I look upon Wiki like a moving slide show, where places are updated by other travellers, but not every place is actually entered
Camp books (the one I have) Camp Australia 8 I use it as a map guide, (along with a GPS), and when someone recommends a site, or an easier/interesting/different road route, I ask them to point it out on my camp book
Yep both . Sometimes with no reception the books are better . Often just searching on net when you get there . Knowing recreation, cattle yards, boat ramps , elect substations etc . Have room to park over night . Just keep out of the way . Or move after sun rise ., Out west we stopped at the roads leading to microwave towers etc . To be off the road a little if no parking was available ..
We only use printed materials, as all too often we are in locations with no phone coverage whatsoever - often staying there for a couple of days at a time
"she" can then go to the book and work out our next few days of travel, and it all works nicely
Also - we use state-by-state road atlas books, most in 1:250,000 format that gives us heaps & heaps of info re small back roads that never got shown on the old gps unit [and it got chucked into the bin after 3 yrs in the cupboard]
With Wiki Camps you do not need phone coverage to use the resource, as once the database is downloaded it only needs to update next time you you have coverage, preferably WiFi for the phone to update the latest reports, this happens automatically once you are in range.
Cheers
David
I have both but almost exclusively use Wikicamps - once I've found a couple of likely destinations I check them out on Google Earth for more precise location, size, access (is there room to do a U-turn and leave if no spots are available as I can't reverse the bus while towing the car), etc. I have a Hema HN7 GPS with Camps 8 sites loaded, and quite often use that to guide me to a camp site.
Joe
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St Lawrence Recreational Reserve is near the Waverly Creek Rest Area. I usually just pinch into where I want to be at the end of my day and work it out from there. :)
Wikicamps is great but check the co=ordinates - we were sent about 10k out of our way to a free camp, someone had entered the co-ord of 1, instead of 01 -s it came out as 10 - up a narrow farm road, had to turn into a newly cropped paddock to turn around! That is my only beef with Wiki.
Wikicamps does not have dodgy coordinates, operator error entering numbers the wrong way is the problem (speaking from experience). Different coordinate formats and different ways to enter numbers, varies with different GPS's. Practice before leaving home.
Wikicamps is great but check the co=ordinates - we were sent about 10k out of our way to a free camp, someone had entered the co-ord of 1, instead of 01 -s it came out as 10 - up a narrow farm road, had to turn into a newly cropped paddock to turn around! That is my only beef with Wiki.
I was caught out Just like Jules with dodgey wiki camps co ordinates and would rather use the camps ones...
Wikicamps does not have dodgy coordinates, operator error entering numbers the wrong way is the problem (speaking from experience). Different coordinate formats and different ways to enter numbers, varies with different GPS's. Practice before leaving home.
Some GPS's can miss out zero's, some must enter them. I had an in dash Pioneer GPS that had to enter 18 as 18.0 in the D,M,S format. It took getting lost a couple of times to work it out. Sometimes the S for south must be entered as a -. It does in Sygic on an Android device but not on an Apple Ipad.
