CAPTION: The Whereis four-wheel-drive spent last week in Port Macquarie and the region capturing data for digital mapping.
PORT Macquarie is going to be on the map – literally – after last week’s visit by a high-tech mapping four-wheel drive.
Armed with five state-of-the-art cameras on its roof, the Whereis 4WD is set to capture new road networks and key points of interest to provide Australians with a local perspective of Port Macquarie.
Dingo, the aptly named Whereis data-capture 4WD, spent Thursday mapping Port Macquarie and surrounding areas.
The vehicle is designed to capture new information for Whereis to add to its extensive navigation map database of Australian cities, towns, landmarks and roads.
Drivers Greg and Jen Freeman have been touring around the country in the 4WD, gatthering the information.
“This is the best job in the world – we get paid to drive around some of Australia’s most beautiful places,” Mr Freeman said.
“When the opportunity came up, we jumped at the chance. It’s a fantastic way to explore parts of Australia that we have not seen before and we love that we’re a part of mapping this great country,” he said.
Having worked for many years together in a bank, where they first met each other, the Freemans said they had no issues on the road.
“We are still talking – which is great news. We’ve been on the road for almost two years now and we are yet to have any troubles,” Mr Freeman said.
The Whereis 4WDs log more than 240,000 kilometres of roads across mainland Australia each year. A team of around 100 mapping experts then convert the data into digital maps to be used in GPS units, the online mapping site whereis.com, and various navigation ‘apps’ for the iPhone.
