Early Morning Cromarty Firth
Took a walk down to Ferry Point early this morning.
Click on this Pano image below for a larger version
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Found! WiFi in Dingwall
Since arriving at Dingwall campsite, last weekend we have been thinking about finding a WiFi cafe – there was not an obvious one in Dingwall and we went to a cafe in Ullapool where we got WiFi last year but they no longer offered a free connection. It is not so important as I have a really good 3G data deal from T-Mobile but WiFi mean’s catching up on some TV via BBC iPlayer and JSC wanted to FaceBook with his friends.
The Camping and Caravan Club sites have WiFi but when I looked into this in the past it was not very good value, especially when compared to my data bundle.
I went into Dingwall this afternoon and after buying some award winning black pudding from the local butchers I went to Grants Café Deli, in the High Street, where I got a cappuccino and they had a free 30 minutes of WiFi – however it was a BT Openzone access point, so I logged on using my account and had nearly an hour online. I watched Click, edited the blog, logged into a client’s server to check a problem out and updated eight apps on my iPhone.
The opening times at Grants are good; Mon to Wed 9am – 6pm, Thurs to Sat 9am – 8pm and Sun 10am – 4pm, as many Dingwall cafes stop serving at 4pm.
I got back to the site and put my iPhone in flight mode to charge it in the car, whilst we cooked and ate our award winning black pudding – which also got our seal of approval! After tea I got my phone out to update the blog and when I turned it on, the WiFi was still enabled and I have discovered there is a BT Openzone access point within range of us here – and I am now wondering if this is also part of the C and CC Site WiFi which means there would have been WiFi at Dunbar as well! I just never thought to check or ask because of previous costs and my current 3G deal. I will check in future.
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Glen Glass and the Cromarty Firth
There was a heavy and prolonged thunder storm, last night in Dingwall – following what had been a fine day. The rain was so loud beating in the tent that we had trouble hearing the thunder over it.
I awoke, this morning, (JSC was still asleep) to a damp but bright campsite and had a very good coffee made with my “coffee maker”, sitting outside the tent, watching the rabbits on the field. Eat your heart St*rb*cks this is the only way to appreciate fresh made coffee.
Once JSC got up we decided that we would go walking.
The photos below are from Glen Glass, a little north of Dingwall – as you can see blue sky and sunshine.
Click on this Pano image below for a larger version
What you cannot see in the photos are the midges – so JSC went back to the car, leaving me to take my photos and try out a bit of gear I bought yesterday – a lightweight midge head net! Not something I had considered before, however the air at the campsite at Cragganmore, last week, was “midge soup”. The other backpacker I met there had a midge head net which she found useful. That got me thinking that many of the wild camping places I plan to visit in the future will probably also be plagued midges.
The one below (modelled for you by JSC) is the Micro Head Net, from Highlander, it packs small,weighs little, (I will weight it when I get home) and cost £4 from Tiso.
We left the forest and headed for the coast – with a stop at the picnic site at Invergordon. The Cromarty Firth was used by the navy in the past as it is a deep safe anchorage. Today the oil industry uses it for the same reasons.
Click on this Pano image below for a larger version
Another photo using Pano – if you have an iPhone get it – it is easy to use and, as you can see, great results.
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Logie Steading
The weather forecast today was not so great, so we planned a trip to the secondhand book shop at Logie Steading.
Well as you can see from the photos – it was excellent weather.
Click on the Pano image below for a larger version
There is a walk from the visitor centre/shops down to the River Findhorn, where it passes through a gorge.
Below was the view we had from our picnic spot on the banks of the river. Click on it for a larger version.
Click on this Pano image below for a larger version
So remember if you come to Scotland assume the weather will always be unpredictable!
Breakfast in Dingwall
For some people it is breakfast in bed – well Jeremy is still in his sleeping bag and has not yet got out of the tent.
Below is the cooking area – using the board we found in Dunbar.
The wind shield is there to protect the windbreak from any stray flames from the burner.
Above you can see the Crusader burner with the meths burner unit from a titanium, Vargo Triad XE dual fuel stove.
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3G Signal Coverage
A couple of weeks ago the BBC announced that it was going to carry out a survey of UK 3G Signal Coverage – using an app for Android mobile phones and the participation of members of the public. This morning the results have appeared here and make a case that smartphone users outside of the of the major population centres of the UK do not get a good deal when it comes to 3G (but of course we all pay the same fees). This is something our engineers at Octagon Technology, myself and our clients understand very well living in Lincolnshire – a county not known for great urban sprawls!
There is a quote somewhere about how good and reliable statistics can be and the mobile operators have always relied on their statistic of providing coverage to a very high percentage of the population, not a statistic of covering the UK with a 3G signal. I can understand this from a business investment/profit position as 3G installations are expensive and the mobile companies paid billions of pounds for the rights to the frequencies to transmit 3G.
The government has hinted at initiatives to increase coverage in rural areas (let’s see this happen) and now they are talking of improving coverage on major roads and railways – Lincolnshire has little in the way of major roads and we may or may not have a direct rail service to London!
Now I enjoy living in a rural area, and will put up with the inconvenience of not having a polluting, noisy, fast motorway coming through our city and the small inconvenience of having to go to Newark for a train to London. I will also work around using 2G sometimes rather than 3G. But the point is when are the mobile providers going to have a scale of charges that reflect the service you get rather than the service they say you will get – and we all know at this point the mobile companies will direct you to the disclaimers about selling you 3G and then providing 2G and that is your problem and not theirs. Now this is my point – in these days of technology if you live and use your smartphone in an area with reduced 3G coverage, it must be possible for the mobile providers to reduce your bill accordingly?
In the BBC article it points people at a website for checking 3G coverage where you are – OpenSignalMaps. We are camping very close to the station in Dingwall and luckily I have a 3G signal.
This site has gone into the favourites on my iPhone for future use.
The aim of the site is to create a worldwide coverage map, using an Android app to collect the data – if you have N android phone or tablet I’d encourage you to get involved – I would if the was an iPhone app.
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Dornoch
Jeremy and I walked down to the coast at Dornoch today. We took the small brew kit and had a brew and noodles with tomato soup for lunch.
There was plenty of RAF action whilst we were there with pairs of Tornados performing “power turns” in front of the beach, displaying their underneaths and weapon loads.
