Out of signal isn't out of answers.

Text Cooee a question and get an answer back by SMS. The weather, where to get fuel, what time somewhere closes, whether the road's open, a fact you need settled. It works anywhere in Australia.

Text COOEE to start 0485 088 977
Cooee
Today 7:42 am
weather in bright this arvo?
Bright: 19° and clear now, cloud building after 3pm, rain from about 6. Light wind. Fine for the afternoon if you're back by dark.
nearest servo open past 9 from here?
Ampol on Gavan St, Bright is 24hr. The BP in Porepunkah shuts at 9. Both about 5 min from town.

How it works

There's nothing to install. You text a number and it texts you back.

  1. Text COOEE to 0485 088 977

    That's your opt-in. You'll get one welcome text and you're set.

  2. Ask your question

    Ask it the way you'd ask a person. "Is the Hume open past Holbrook?" gets a better answer than "roads", but both get answered. Mention a town once and Cooee remembers where you are.

  3. Read the reply

    It arrives in a few seconds as a single text. For anything that changes, like weather, opening hours or closures, Cooee searches the web before it answers so what you get is current.

What happens before you get a reply

A text you act on has to be right, so Cooee does a few things every time.

It looks it up.
Forecasts, opening hours, road and park closures and what's on are searched at the moment you ask.
It checks the warnings first.
When you ask about a place, Cooee checks the fire danger rating, heat and wind for that area before it writes the reply. If there's a Total Fire Ban, that's the first line you read.
It's built for Australia.
An Australian number and Australian sources. Distances in kilometres, temperatures in celsius, and 000 if you ever need it. It runs over plain SMS, so it works on any phone.

If you'd Google it, text it.

Most texts come from places where the internet doesn't: a hut on the Overland Track, a campsite in the High Country, a servo on the Nullarbor. Some of the things people ask.

Closures"any closures on the Overland Track right now"
Roads"is the Great Alpine Road open past Omeo"
Weather"is it going to rain at Wilsons Prom tomorrow"
Fire danger"fire danger for the Grampians today"
Fuel"nearest servo open past 9 from Bright"
Lost"-37.15, 142.52 where am I"Maps won't load with no data, but your phone's GPS still works. Send the coordinates it shows and Cooee tells you where you are and what's near.

Save the number before you need it.

Text COOEE to 0485 088 977 to opt in.

Text COOEE to start