Telstra has the most coverage, so if you are with Telstra (and have a blue tick phone) then you will get reception pretty much anywhere!
Mack and I are both with Optus, and we figured we'd be OK without a phone sometimes so didn't bother to get a travel phone. We do have one now - a little Samsung phone on Telstra for just in case. Which we bought in Broken Hill when we were busy being broken down, because we felt it was safer to be able to call home with the situation we were in!
When we were planning this first trip, and we were thinking about the possibility of not having a phone, we started looking into GPS trackers and emergency systems. We started off looking at EPIRBs - they are typically for boats, but we figured if we were stranded in the middle of nowhere it would be better than nothing. But these are are 1 time thing, and they call the emergency services, so it has to be life or death before you use it.
And then we found the Spot Gen 3. You can peruse their website here - you can also find where to by them from this website.
It is pretty much a one way satellite messenger, which works on a subscription basis (exactly the same as your phone on a monthly contract), and will pick up your location anywhere in the world. And we freaking love it!
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From my point of view, Spot has 2 main uses:
- tracks your location, and records your journey
- gives you a method of communication to be able to call for help if required
How does it work?
Spot works on a subscription service, so you pay a monthly fee to keep your Spot active. The more you pay the more features you get. We pay a higher amount than the base level, because we wanted to be able to drop a pin on the map every 2 minutes so we could see a really accurate trip!
It works on satellites, so it works everywhere - it obviously works best outside, but we did get signal inside some buildings. We also clipped it to our bag when we went for big walks (like around Ayers Rock), so you can track your walking tracks too. SO cool! I would also strongly recommend getting the holder that sticks it to your window - we had it sliding around all over the place on our first trip haha.
There is then an app that you can pop on your phone, and you can see the trip as you go :)
What do the buttons do?
There are 5 buttons on the Spot Gen 3.
- Custom message - you can set this to say whatever you like. My suggestion is decide what you want it to say, and tell the person you send it to what it means if it comes through
- Tracking - once you turn Spot on, press and hold this to tell it to track your every move. If you have Extreme Tracker like we do, then it will drop a pin on the map every 2 minutes
- Check in - You can set what this message says too, and it pretty much means 'we have arrived'. We pressed this every morning when we set off, and every night when we arrived.
Above these buttons, there are 2 covered buttons (so you can't accidentally press them):
- The one on the left is the ''it isn't life or death, but please send help' button - select someone you know and trust who knows what to do to help you when you in a rural situation and can't help yourself
- The one on the right is the 'SOS I might die' button. ONLY use this if you have exhausted all other options and you have run out of water and food, or if you have been bitten by a deadly animal. It contacts the emergency services and search and rescue comes to pick you up. If it genuinely saves your life, its a free of charge service to rescue you; if it's a false alarm and you didn't really need saving, you pick up the bill afterwards (and you definitely don't want that!).
What we use it for?
Primarily, we had a it set to track our trip, so that when we got home we could look at the whole trip and see where we had been. Actually, we use it not just for huge roadtrips, but also for when we take a weekend trip away, or go camping or 4 wheel driving, because we think it's great to be able to see exactly where we have travelled.
We also use the check in button on big trips to let a select group of people know that we had arrived at our destination for the night. You can set up a group on the website, and give them access to the map to follow you, and send them an email or text when you press the check in button so they can see your GPS coordinates.
We didn't actually expect to need it to call for help haha!
We set up the custom button to basically say 'hey, we're OK, but we are delayed'. This was sent only to Mack's parents, and basically meant we're having some issues but I think we're OK.
The send us help button we then used when we didn't have any other options. Again we only sent it to Mack's parents, as we only really wanted 1 person trying to help, not many! This we used when we had tried everything Mack knew to get the car going again and nothing was working and we didn't have the parts to do anything else. Remember, though, that Spot literally sends a message that says where you are and that you need help. Nothing else. So be sure to select someone that knows you well and can successfully deduce what is wrong. On our first Uluru trip, Mack's parents figured we probably had car trouble and sent a tow truck to our location :).
Why we love it so much?
From a safety point of view, it's perfect - you can literally not have a phone on you, and people back home (aka worried parents) can see where you are, and also know you have a way to let them know if you are not OK (and also that you are OK).
From a road-tripping point of view, it's really cool because you can record your trip and see everywhere you went! I love that you can save your adventures to your account on the website to look back on your trips down the track. I also think it's really cool that you can give your friends the link to the map and they can log in and follow your trip - you might not have a use for this feature, but our friends and family love it!
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If you haven't been to Australia before, and you are planning on coming over for a roadtrip adventure, do your research! You would be amazed at how many people arrive, buy a dodgy car and set off on a trip without any kind of knowledge.
Be sure that you know how far you're going (and actually believe someone when they say driving from one place to another will take 4 or 5 days, or more). Know your car. Know how much food and water you have, and take more than you think you will need. Pack all of the sun protection you have - yes the desert really does get up in the 50s! Have a first aid kit, and know what to do in the event of a spider or snake bite. Have a plan for what you will do if you end up stranded somewhere without a phone.
Thanks for joining me so far on the Roadtrip Australia series. Join me next me when I talk about Australian wildlife.
I hope you have enjoyed so far, and that it has proved helpful!
Hx
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