Hi KD,
Hope you enjoy getting back into bushwalking!
I can't really help you with the GPS problem, but were are you walking? Depending on where it is (and others will probably disagree with me on this), you'll likely be fine heading off on your own and relying on signs to get you back. But be careful, and pay attention to where you've been, so that you can backtrack if necessary.
With topo maps, there's guides online about how to use them. I'd definitely encourage you to have a shot at using one yourself on a walk to get the feel of them! Some pointers about topo maps for NSW:
- The maps usually used for bushwalking have a scale of 1:25,000, published by the LPI
- You can browse them online here:
http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au (click basemaps, then looking for 1943 imagery, select topo maps (current), then click on the topo maps (current) box to activate the maps)
- Frequently you can get the paper maps from local visitor's centres
- Each box on the topo maps is 1km by 1km, and 1.4km diagonally across
- The pinkish lines across the map all connect areas of equal height, so you can visualise (with practise) what the terrain looks like... It's good practise to get a topo map and go to a lookout and sit down for a while connecting features on the map to those in the landscape (and the other way around too)
- The closer together the pinkish lines are, the steeper the terrain is. The map will have a 'contour interval', or how far apart the lines are vertically. In the 1:25k NSW maps, it's usually 10m, but sometimes 20m
- Topo maps aren't intuitive at first, but with practise you'll get used to them!
With the GPS, does it have any default basemaps? If it does, you can find the track you want on the GPS hopefully. The GPS should have a feature to manually add waypoints, and you can put them along the track you're planning to walk. If you have the GPS recording a track of where you've walked, that should help you get back to where you need to be if you get lost on a daywalk.