Explanation

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15 May 2008

Hi Folks

Listening to the rain pound down on the tent for a second successive day while putting on yet another layer of clothing is a reminder of the delights of camping in an English summer ! Fortunately it is a good tent and I am relatively snug although central heating would be welcome….. At least the rain drowns out the traffic noise - not a camp site I would recommend. The previous site was not brilliant - things can only improve …. unless they get worse !!!!

There is of course always a silver lining. The occasional wet day allows me to catch up on admin - sorting out photos / notes / itineraries / backing up files / washing clothes ….

The traffic noise on this site at least hides the noise of my generator that I run once or twice a week for a couple of hours to charge electrics - lanterns / torches / radio / camera batteries / laptop …. How did Celia Fiennes and Daniel Defoe manage without all this stuff ? A question for a rainy day perhaps. I try not to use the gen because of the noise (prob less than that of an electric mower at distance) and the cost (petrol). Most of the time I can manage without because the lanterns and torches are rechargeable through hand-winding …. I can thoroughly recommend these as they also can be charged through mains electrics and the car. The radio can be charged through mains and hand-winding but not through the car - it is however exceptionally good in all other respects.

I have internet connection through mobile broadband (£10 / month - since you asked). This works through attaching a dongle (??????) which is about the size of a cigarette lighter to a USB port. Obviously the signal varies as you are travelling around and there are definite blank spots. For instance while I found a strong signal in a car park in Cirencester and at Slimbridge WWT I have been unable to get online at either camp site which is disappointing. Apart from blogging and sending emails and paying the occasional bill the main use of the web when travelling is to look at the met office forecast pages so I can plan ahead.

and, finally ….. these blogs will be somewhat intermittent because of the variability of broadband signal …… Incidentally I have used the site on which these blogs are posted for several years and can confirm that it is perfectly reliable and as safe from viruses / spyware and the like as any other site. Please note that if you do not wish to receive the blogs you can unsubscribe !

Take care

Steve

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