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Compass and Navigation 🧭

Master bearings, grid references, and map reading for the Australian bush. An interactive guide with a quiz at the end.

Interactive Tool

Compass Rose 🧭

Enter a bearing below and watch the compass needle rotate to that direction.

Enter a bearing and press Point

Try: 0 = North, 90 = East, 180 = South, 270 = West

Reference

All 16 Compass Points

The full compass rose, from cardinal points through to the half-wind points. Green = cardinal, gold = intercardinal, teal = half-wind.

↑

000°

↑

NNE

022.5°

↑

045°

↑

ENE

067.5°

↑

090°

↑

ESE

112.5°

↑

135°

↑

SSE

157.5°

↑

180°

↑

SSW

202.5°

↑

225°

↑

WSW

247.5°

↑

270°

↑

WNW

292.5°

↑

315°

↑

NNW

337.5°

Field Skill

How to Take a Bearing 🏕️

Follow these five steps to use a compass in the Australian bush, from reading your map to walking the right direction.

Orient your map. Place your map on a flat surface and hold the compass over it. Rotate the map until the map's north arrow lines up with the compass needle pointing north. Now your map matches the real world around you.

Find your destination on the map. Identify where you are and where you want to go. Place the edge of your compass so the long side forms a straight line from your current position to your destination on the map.

Set the bearing dial. Without moving the compass edge, rotate the compass housing (the dial with the degree numbers) until the north lines inside the housing line up with the north lines on the map. Read the bearing number at the direction-of-travel arrow. That number is your bearing.

Hold the compass and turn your body. Pick up the compass and hold it flat in front of you at waist height. Turn your whole body (not just the compass) until the red north needle lines up exactly inside the north housing lines. You are now facing your bearing.

Walk toward a landmark, then recheck. Look up and pick a clear landmark (a tree, rock, or hilltop) directly ahead of you on your bearing line. Walk to it, then recheck your compass. Repeat this process all the way to your destination rather than watching the compass while you walk.

Map Reading

Grid References 📍

Grid references are used on Australian topographic maps to pinpoint any location on the map with a number code. You always read across first (eastings), then up (northings).

4-Figure Grid Reference

Locates a 1 km square on the map

1 Find the vertical grid line to the left of your point. Read the number at the bottom of that line. This is your easting (two digits).

2 Find the horizontal grid line below your point. Read the number at the left of that line. This is your northing (two digits).

3 Write the easting first, then the northing. Example: easting 45, northing 78 = Grid Reference 4578.

6-Figure Grid Reference

Locates a 100 m square on the map

1 Start with your 4-figure reference. Now divide the space between each pair of grid lines into tenths.

2 Count how many tenths your point is to the right of the left-hand vertical grid line. Add this single digit after the easting. Example: 45 becomes 456.

3 Count how many tenths your point is above the lower horizontal grid line. Add this digit after the northing. Example: 78 becomes 789.

4 Write easting (3 digits) then northing (3 digits): 456789. This pinpoints a 100 m square.

Worked Example: Grid Reference 456789

Read the easting first: the left-hand vertical line reads 45, and the point is 6 tenths of the way across the square, giving 456.

Read the northing second: the lower horizontal line reads 78, and the point is 9 tenths of the way up the square, giving 789.

The full 6-figure grid reference is 456789. A memory trick: "Along the corridor and up the stairs." Always easting before northing.

Test Yourself

Map Symbols Quiz 🗺️

8 questions on Australian topographic map symbols. Can you read the map?