Offgrid Downunder | Hema Maps Change The Game for Australia. Here’s how they did it
Welcome to Season 2 of the Offgrid Downunder Podcast — now bigger, bolder, and recorded in our brand-new purpose-built studio.
Hosted by Steve Zammit, this season brings a fresh lineup of voices, new stories, and exciting perspectives from across the off-road and camping community.
Australia is only covered by mobile phone signal across 30% of its landmass. If you’re relying on Google Maps in the outback, you’re relying on memory — and memory from a platform that’s never physically driven those tracks.
In this episode of Off Grid Down Under, Steve sits down with Sam Hayward, Chairman of HEMA Maps, alongside MDC’s Banksy and Vaughan, to dig into 40+ years of mapping Australia’s most remote country. From the company’s Dutch founders laminating marine charts in Queensland, to sending the entire HEMA staff into the desert in pairs to remap outback Australia, to the Map Patrol vehicles that are still out there collecting ground-truth data today — this one goes deep.
We cover why Google Maps and Apple Maps fall dangerously short in remote areas, how HEMA’s maps are actually made, the difference between the Smart Navigator and the app on your phone, and what kit Sam would recommend to any family heading out on a big lap.
Banksy also shares a cracking story about getting properly lost during COVID — headed to the Territory, diverted off-road, digital map dead, and driving through cattle paddocks hoping for the best.
In this episode:
How HEMA Maps started — founders Henry and Margaret’s story
The Great Desert Tracks expedition of 1998 that remapped outback Australia
Why Google Maps can get you into serious trouble in remote areas
Australia’s mobile coverage problem (hint: it’s not 98%)
Map Patrol — why HEMA still physically drives every track
The Alpha Program: 50+ volunteer travellers collecting data on the road
Smart Navigator vs phone app — which one’s right for you?
The biggest mistakes people make planning remote trips
Physical atlas vs digital navigation — does one replace the other?
What’s coming for HEMA: HEMA Cloud, turn-by-turn offline, and more
FIND HEMA MAPS:
Website: https://hemamaps.com
App: Search “Hema Explorer” or “4WD Maps” in the App Store / Google Play
