June 29, 2014
Gear
We have made a few changes to our gear this year. The whole thrust being to be lighter and simpler. Firstly we have decided to take no camping gear at all. In the past few years we have only used it a little and then when we have been very stuck for any other accommodation - last year we only used it three times. Doing this immediately takes 15kg off the overall weight. Feel a bit nervous about what will happen if we are unable to find accommodation - we are taking survival blankets and sleeping bags so perhaps will end up sleeping under a bush in a remote part of Poland ! I hope not but it would make a good story.
The other major change is how we will deal with the internet. In the past I have done my postings via a netbook which has proved very satisfactory but it is getting old now and with its charging gear is really fairly heavy. In addition we have carried a kindle and an iPad so we both have something to read. In March I went to Brisbane to look after Grandchildren and I went to the Apple shop and bought a mini iPad 2 (retina version) which is 3G enabled, a blue tooth keyboard and an adaptor so I can load photos from the camera. I have loaded Pages, Google Chrome and other seemingly useful apps. Now all I have to do is practise. I like to write my journal off line then post it when a reasonable wifi signal is available, being completely used to Microsoft Word Pages feels strange but no doubt with practice I will get better. Where as I was completely unable to load photos using Safari I find it is very easy to load individual photos using Google Chrome I seem to be unable to download batches. Having consulted Neil he tells me that I will need to use the email method. I have tried this and it seems relatively straight forward. We will still take our other iPad, as we both like to read ebooks, and of course our regular phones in case we lose each other. The other advantage of the change is that if we are unable to find accommodation we should be able to search it fairly easily as long as there is cell phone coverage. The SIM card we use is an Australian Woolworths International Sim, we used it last year and found it good, it certainly beats trying to find sims in each country you come to. The price is not too bad 32cent / mB if you buy European data packages.
After about 10days in Brisbane I think the Apple Shop in Carrindale was very pleased to see the last of me when I flew home. I just wish they had dedicated Apple Shops in NZ (we only have Apple resellers) as their free tutorials are really excellent, The good news is that I seem to have it all working well.
The best thing however to reduce the weight I carry would be to lose weight myself rather than fuss around with gear. Surely I should be able to fly up hills if I lost 10kg !
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