A LIVING HISTORY BLOG.

18TH CENTURY LIVING HISTORY IN AUSTRALIA.

Wednesday 11 May 2016

Simple & Common Navigation In The Wilderness.

The easiest way to get into a wilderness spot & find your way out again is to follow a water course. But make sure that you come OUT on the same side of the water course as you WENT IN. If you cross over to follow the water course back out, you may find yourself following a different branch of the course taking you in another direction.

A header stream in Wychwood Forest New England NSW Australia.

The sun rises in the East & sets in the West, but during Autumn & continuing through winter, the sun rises & sets progressively further to the North. You need to take this into account when plotting your route.
Sunset over Wychwood Forest.


In Australia we have the Southern Cross to guide us at night. Use the Southern Cross at night to mark your direction, then start travelling at daylight.

To maintain direction, line up three trees or landmarks or a combination of both which run in the direction you wish to go. When you get to the first marker, put your back to it & line up another marker in line with the two remaining markers, then continue.

The compass is an easy way to find direction, this one also has a sundial so you can tell the time of day. Mostly though you will probably use the passing of the sun over the earth to give you a rough idea of the time of day.
When plotting your course on a map, be sure to line the North of the map with the true North.


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