{"id":510612,"date":"2026-02-28T23:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T23:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/510612\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T23:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T23:04:17","slug":"meet-the-mapmakers-recording-every-remote-road-in-australia-to-keep-travellers-safer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/510612\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the mapmakers recording every remote road in Australia to keep travellers safer"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a chilly morning in the Victorian High Country, and a group of campers are starting the day with a bacon sandwich.<\/p>\n

They’re not here for the scenery \u2014 they’re mapping Australia’s most remote and rugged tracks.<\/p>\n

“We’re on the road with the Map Patrol, and we’ll be capturing some tracks that might have changes due to the long snowy season this year,” said team leader Rhys Holmes.<\/p>\n

“We’re expecting some intense weather today, so we’re going to have to be careful.”\"A<\/p>\n

Rhys Holmes got chatting with the owner of Hema maps while camping, and secured what he described as his dream job. (ABC News: Daniel Fermer)<\/p>\n

The Map Patrol was dreamt up by the Australian company Hema Maps in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n

The small team crisscrosses the continent, racking up 100,000 kilometres a year to record each and every road.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Driving through Victorian High Country with Hema Map Patrol. (ABC News: Daniel Fermer)<\/p>\n

Dangerous dependence<\/p>\n

It’s the kind of thorough mapping that’s needed more than ever, as an increasing number of Australians get lost and bogged due to our reliance on mobile phone apps<\/a>, such as Google Maps.<\/p>\n

The global mapping systems have patchy coverage of regional areas, and often don’t function out bush due to the lack of phone range.<\/p>\n

Hema mapmaker Brett Madsen says it’s a growing safety issue.<\/p>\n

“We’re aware of a few instances where people have been stranded or been in the wrong location, that’s led to deaths and people being stuck for weeks on end,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Brett Madsen specialises in geospatial science, using digital data to represent the geography of Australia. (ABC News: Daniel Fermer)<\/p>\n

And he reckons our reliance on electronic voice directions is causing people to switch off their critical thinking.<\/p>\n

Google Maps error survival trek<\/a><\/p>\n

Rangers say two young German tourists are “lucky to be alive” after their car became bogged because of a Google Maps error.<\/p>\n

“People tend to follow where the phone’s telling them where to go, and not necessarily looking at what they’re driving on,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They’re just saying, oh it’s telling me to go that way, I have to go that way, whereby the trust they’re placing in those devices now is massive and potentially dangerous.”<\/p>\n

So at a time when both 4WD and smart phone sales are booming \u2014 is there still a place for an old-fashioned paper map?<\/p>\n

‘You’ve got to get dirty’<\/p>\n

A cold drizzle starts as the Map Patrol vehicles pick their way through a steep gully.<\/p>\n

Mapping software glows on the dashboard, recording a GPS location every 5 metres.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Hema navigation device, attached above the vehicle’s in-built console. (ABC News: Daniel Fermer)<\/p>\n

“It’s dropping breadcrumbs along this track, and they’ll all being connected up to show one line,” explained Rhys Holmes.<\/p>\n

“It’s giving us a latitude and longitude and elevation, so for simple map geometry it’s a simple X, Y and Z.”<\/p>\n

But it’s not all about geometry.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Hema’s Map Patrol has gone through several generations of vehicles, including this model from 2007. (Supplied: Hema Maps)<\/p>\n

The team enters detailed information about the track condition, hazards, camping facilities and points of interest that will be fed into Hema’s online products and detailed guidebooks.<\/p>\n

Brett Madsen, a geospatial engineer by trade, said there was no substitute for actually driving a road.<\/p>\n

“We’re sometimes asked why we don’t just use aero photography and satellite imagery to make the maps,” Brett said.<\/p>\n

“But you really need to get out there and get your car dirty and see it for yourself.<\/p>\n

“We’re just lucky we have a way more luxurious journey than the early surveyors \u2014 they were phenomenal.”<\/p>\n

A long history of mapping<\/p>\n

For tens of thousands of years, Aboriginal people used songs, story and rock art to record the best and safest routes across the continent.<\/p>\n

Then, in the 19th century, teams of surveyors set out with horses, lugging the theodolites, chains and inkwells needed to record the first rough roads carved out for transportation.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A surveying team photographed in the Darwin area in 1869. (Supplied: Goyder Expedition Collection, Northern Territory Library)<\/p>\n

These days, the mapping data is fed in real-time into Hema’s centralised system, creating a cobweb of roads that reveal where Australians journey, and where we remain reluctant to go.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A compilation of the Map Patrol’s data gathered over the past five years. (Supplied: Hema Maps)<\/p>\n

Large swathes of the interior have barely a line, the landscape too hot and dry for all but the hardiest Indigenous communities and four-wheel drivers to traverse.<\/p>\n

And it’s these remote areas that pose the greatest risk to inexperienced travellers who hit the road without a proper map.<\/p>\n

In recent years, numerous intrepid travellers have got into strife after following the path set by generic navigation apps.<\/p>\n

‘Common sense not common’<\/p>\n

It’s a growing issue among inexperienced travellers, according to Paul Warner from the organisation Four Wheel Drive Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There are many reports of people blindly following where the voice tells them, because they presume it’s going to tell them a viable route, and that’s not always the case, especially outside of the city,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The couple became bogged after trying to reverse course on a bush track they had been advised to follow by Google Maps. (Supplied: Greenvale Roadhouse)<\/p>\n

“People need to keep their wits about them, and be monitoring things like track conditions, weather, and what they’re actually seeing with their eyes.”<\/p>\n

“In the end it comes down to common sense, which doesn’t seem that common anymore.”Police rescues\u00a0<\/p>\n

So is it an example of technology making us dumber?<\/p>\n

Jim Armstrong oversees search and rescue operations for WA Police.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Bush searchers can be expensive and time-consuming for authorities such as police and the State Emergency Service. (ABC News: Erin Parke)<\/p>\n

He reckons technology like digital maps and Personal Locator Beacons (PBS) are helping keep people safe \u2014 but only if they’re used properly.<\/p>\n

“The key thing is for people to watch where they’re going, because Google Maps will show you a road, but it won’t show you that it’s flooded or surrounded by bushfire,” he said.<\/p>\n

He urges adventurers to keep an eye on government emergency travel apps, and download map data before setting off, so they’re not reliant on mobile network coverage.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Hema has reduced its range of paper maps in recent years, as consumers make the switch to digital products. (ABC News: Erin Parke)<\/p>\n

Off-road and online<\/p>\n

The Map Patrol vehicles have both generic and Hema navigation devices mounted on the front dash, and the difference is stark.<\/p>\n

The in-built car device, built from global mapping data, shows us floating in a large blank section of grey space.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

During the trip, heavy rainfall made the roads muddy and the creeks fast-flowing. (ABC News: Erin Parke)<\/p>\n

“The generic digital maps are really designed for urban areas, which in Australia, is the 5 per cent of the continent where 95 per cent of the population live,” explains Brett Madsen.<\/p>\n

“They’re just not suited to driving out bush, even though that’s what the cars are designed to do.<\/p>\n

“So our focus is filling in the rest.”<\/p>\n

The company is planning a push into the United States market, as well as trying to become a factory standard feature in 4WD vehicles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"There's<\/p>\n

Brett Madsen says generic digital maps are not suitable for driving in the bush. (ABC Kimberley: Erin Parke)<\/p>\n

Digital products now make up 50 per cent of Hema’s sales, but the pivot to digital hasn’t been seamless.<\/p>\n

In 2024, a joint venture with an app developer went sour, and the company’s online map service was abruptly shut down.<\/p>\n

There’s currently a civil case before the courts, and the company’s online platforms have had to be rebuilt.<\/p>\n

Family origin story<\/p>\n

It’s all a far cry from the company’s humble beginnings in Queensland in 1983.<\/p>\n

Henry and Margaret Boegheim started out laminating nautical charts at their Brisbane home, forming the company name from the first letters of their first names.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Henry and Margaret Boegheim created the company Hema Maps in 1983 at their home in Brisbane. (Supplied: Hema Maps)<\/p>\n

In 2025, it was sold for the first time, to businessman and outdoor adventurer Sam Hayward.<\/p>\n

His eyes light up as we talk about maps, not so much as a product, but a gateway to adventure.<\/p>\n

“I’m like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to maps,” he chuckles.<\/p>\n

“It’s a real passion, because it’s actually about aspiration \u2014 where do you want to go, where’s your family going to holiday, what’s just beyond that boundary?”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sam Hayward has a long history of outback travel, including walking camels through desert regions of Australia.\u00a0 (ABC News: Daniel Fermer)<\/p>\n

“It’s also a philosophical thing.<\/p>\n

“Mother Nature is the greatest teacher, so if you ask me, the more time outdoors the better, not just for yourself but for society.”<\/p>\n

The ‘romance’ of maps<\/p>\n

So what future is there for the old-fashioned printed map, stored in the glove box and pulled out around the kitchen table?<\/p>\n

According to Hema, sales remain stable \u2014 around half a million paper maps a year \u2014 and Mr Hayward is determined they won’t go out of print.<\/p>\n

“There’s nothing like opening up a map and gathering around it, and working out where you’re going to go,” he reflects.<\/p>\n

“There’s a romance and a practicality you just can’t get with an iPhone screen.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s a chilly morning in the Victorian High Country, and a group of campers are starting the day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[58077,28769,64,63,99,11004,255890,161211,8652,9087,10009,32635,3792],"class_list":{"0":"post-510612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-4wd","9":"tag-adventure","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-business","13":"tag-cartography","14":"tag-guidebook","15":"tag-hema","16":"tag-mapping","17":"tag-outback","18":"tag-outdoors","19":"tag-survival","20":"tag-travel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}