A Camping We Will Go

What a weekend!!

Jen and I started off with a bit of a lie in on Saturday... Well, Jen lay in, and I knocked together a batch of Apple and Cinnamon Muffins, which went down an absolute treat...

Once we both readied ourselves to actually do something outside, we head across to Grangers Camping World in Nunawading, with the purpose of buying a 5-man Caribee Challenge 6, which, despite the name, is a 5-man tent. The guy we saw at Grangers in Dandenong 2 weeks ago was at Nunawading (turns out he is the boss), and suggested we look at the Aussie 6, which is a geodesic design, rather than a 2-pole configured sleeping area, with a larger vestibule, and continuous floor. Once we looked at that, we decided the sleeping area was a bit small for a queen sized air matress, so settled on the Aussie 8!!! So far as I can tell, they are made under license by DMH. The closest I can find on their website is the Murray 6. I'll post some pics of our baby up once we try putting it up!

Last purchase at Grangers was an Oztrail Easy Table 4, which will fit in the vestibule of the tent, very nicely, with an armchair on each side, on those warm, mosquito friendly nights!

Lastly, at Grangers, we bought a stove top grille, which is non-stick, and will sit nicely on the cartridge stove. Quite a few of the www.offroadsubarus.com guys have bought them, and they work a treat, much better than a frypan.

Next, we were off to Anaconda, for a sausage in bread, and a wander, and to pick up a few more items!

Anaconda, for the uninitiated, is a lot like REI in the US, but a little smaller.

At Anaconda, we bought a Coleman Quilted Air QuickBed, which will take "Princess Camping" to a whole new level. We also picked up a 240 volt air pump, also by Coleman, which will run off the Waeco inverter, I picked up on eBay a couple of months ago.


Last, but not least, we bought a Coleman retro-styled rechargeable lantern, which will charge from the car, as well as mains. Very funky, and no gas, or mantles to burn or anything...

We're going to give everything a trial run, down at the farm over Easter...



Stay tuned for updates, and photos!

Fabulous Morning Clouds

As I left home this morning, I happened to look out to the South, and the colours in the sky, with the clouds were fantastic... Oh, and the colours have NOT been manipulated!!!

Instructables: step-by-step collaboration

Instructables: step-by-step collaboration

This is quite a cool website I just found while searching for something else...

It's a bit of a shame they don't categorise the contributions, but I guess that will come later...

Well worth the look, if nothing other, than to look, shake your head, and ask WHY???

So Many Desires, So Few Funds

Doing a bit of eBay browsing the other day, and came across an Ultrafuge Dagger Kayak, which is very similar to the Perception Craft Mirage that I used to paddle when I was at school...

Got me to thinking about how much I do miss my kayaking... Here in Langwarrin, I'd have good access to the surf down the back of the Mornington Peninsula, as well as the Patterson Lakes complex for a bit of upper body work... Maybe it will sell for a reasonable price, and I'll snipe it at the end, but I suspect it will go for a bit more than I can justify right now...

Yet another item to add to the wishlist... :-)

In the meantime, it looks like I will just have to keep running the usual track (work to the Shrine of Remembrance, round the Tan, and back) at lunchtime, to keep the recovery rate down...

Wise Words

To my line of thinking, this would have to be quote of the day:

Whose cruel idea was it for the word “lisp” to have an “s” in it?

People.... Find something BETTER to do with your lives...

Who has the time to search Google Earth for obscure items such as this???

Perth's 'hovering car'

I've transposed the article, so it wont totally expire!



Eagle eyed users of the satellite imaging service Google Earth have spotted what appears to be a car hovering above the ground in a suburban Perth car park.

The photo is of a car park just off Honour Avenue at Point Walter in the affluent south western suburb of Bicton. The spot is a popular picnic location on the banks of the Swan River.

A number of cars are shown in parking bays and the vehicle in question appears to hovering above the ground nearby, its shadow clearly visible beneath.

Google Earth images are mostly taken by satellites - and sometimes by aircraft - within the past three years and there are no "live" images on the site.

The intriguing image was reported last week by the British IT news website, The Register.

One the the website's readers subsequently visited the very spot and sent in photos showing that there were no unusual structures there that could explain the phenomenon.
Other sceptical readers wrote in insisting the image was an optical illusion and was either a bus shelter, a pergola, a hole in the ground. One said it was obviously "Harry Potter and his friends on vacation".

Google Earth, launched last year, allows users to zoom across the planet and drill down to a height of about 300 metres. The program also has "tilt" function to give a side or angled view of an area or object.

Cars and boats are clearly visible at this level and in some areas, where even higher definition images are available, people can be seen.

The Google service has spawned a group of devoted followers who scour the satellite images for strange sightings. Users in the past have spotted a Stealth bomber parked on a runway in California, commercial planes in mid-flight and an image of what appears to be a ship on its side in a river estuary in Scotland.
The service has been critcised for giving terrorists a bird's eye view of sensitive areas, such as the Lucas Heights reactor in Sydney and Parliament House in Canberra.

It has also given stickybeaks an opportunity to peer into neighbourhood backyards and the home of the rich and famous.

(The hovering car can also been seen in this image on the Google Local service. People who have downloaded the free Google Earth software can see the car image here.)

Happy Australia Day

And today, we have received further recognition from Google of life outside the USA.

Happy Australia Day everyone! :-)

Now I'm Ready for an iPod

Apple have finally succumbed, and released a radio module for the iPod Nano, and iPod with Video...

iPod Radio Remote

About time, is all I can say, although it doesn't appear to be available from the Apple Australia store yet.

Now all I need is to be able to find a 4GB iPod Nano for the right price, although on further thought, I think an iPod Video 60GB is a better investment!!!

They were a bit cheaper in Japan, than here in Australia, but not worth the hassle if a warranty claim was required.

Tiny Power Supplies!

This would have to be without a doubt, the smallest PC power supply I've ever seen... A bit underdone for power, at 120 watts, but for a media centre PC, this would be grear!







picoPSU-120 12V DC-DC ATX power supply

Google Pack

Google have outdone themselves this time!!! Google Pack has been released, which allows users to download the following:

Google Earth - if you haven't used this yet, just get it!!
Picasa - Google's Photo Organiser
Google Pack Screensaver - havent played with this yet, but it uses your own photos for your screensaver
Google Desktop - personally, I don't like these indexing programs, but it's not bad... needs MSN history search ability though
Google Toolbar for IE - I reckon this is the pic of search toolbars


They've also bundled in non-Google apps, including:

Firefox - I use this in preference to IE
Norton Antivirus 2005 Special Edition - includes a 6-month update subscription
Ad-Aware SE Personal - another very handy app!
Adobe Reader 7 - I use the writer as a reader, but if you don't need to create PDF's, you do need to be able to read them!