My Kit List

If I ever do a trip like this again, which is pretty unlikely in view of the expense, I now have a good idea of what to take, so I thought I would share it with you.

Although it's been mostly dry, and we've had a fair bit of sun - especially in the last few days - it has always been cold, with air temperatures (as far as I can tell by looking at the public thermometers) ranging from 2 to 8 degrees. Almost every day we have had a fierce cold wind from the north. When the sun is out and you can get out of the wind it can feel very pleasant, but adapting to what I think of as a "cold British winter with leaves" is essential.

I feel sorry for the youngsters in their thin tents, but it's not many years ago that I was tent camping, and the young body is very adaptable. I envied them last night when a bunch of them were enjoying the midnight sun in the thermal pool. That has to be pretty near the top of a young travellers dreams! I've frequently in the past been the oldest person in the company I was keeping and the same applies now, but the difference is I can't communicate with them at a natural level. Language is not a problem. Nearly all speak excellent English and I can fall back on French or German. It's the softness of their voices and their - entirely understandable - lack of empathy with failed hearing. I've had some good conversations, but it's a "voice timbre lottery" and I often find myself telling them all sorts of stuff they probably have no interest in just to keep the conversation going. Add to that the fact that I have to remove the hearing aid when in contact with water and you can see why I wasn't tempted by the romantic social occasion in the hot pool. I put the blinds up to shut out  all the sunlight and went to bed. 

Old age narrows your comfort zone, and in my case poor circulation means my hands and feet are frequently much too cold. Warm gloves and socks help but can't restore warmth to chilled extremities, and the problems of hands and feet are different. My feet stay warm when I'm walking but this is when I am usually carrying the camera and big lens and I can't wear thick gloves and operate the camera. Thin gloves and hand warmers are the answer. Cold feet creep up on me when I'm inactive, but then I am usually near or in the van so can use the hot water bottle.

You see what I mean about stuff you didn't want to know? 

Cameras and gadgets

The one absolutely dominant piece of kit for this trip has been the camera and telephoto lens. I've experimented with all sorts of cameras, but find, for bird photography and portability this is the best:

Canon 70 D with Canon 100-400 mk2 f 4.5-5.6 lens. It's a crop sensor lens which means at 400mm you have a small field of view and it takes a lot of practise to home in on a moving target.

I'm greatly enjoying improving this skill, though it does mean deleting hundreds of dud pictures.

I also have a Tamron 16-300 lens which I love for landscapes, and as a general purpose lens which is much easier to carry than the Canon.

I don't carry them both at once though. When I'm out with the big lens I take my tiny Sony HX90 v. I have it set on auto and can rely on it to get excellent wide angle images in good light. With its 30x zoom it is also useful for identifying distant birds.

The camera has once broken down on me, and the thought of this happening while on this trip led me to buy a second camera as spare. It seemed sensible to buy an older full frame Canon and I settled on a 5D mk 2. I then found that the Tamron wouldn't work properly with it so had to get another lens, a Canon 16-35 f 2.8. It's a strange combination after the 70D but really comes into its own with, for example, interiors, or anywhere you want a wide view and top detail, especially in poor light. This is the wonderful old church at Holar:

I also carry a Canon x2 mk 3 extender but haven't used it yet on this trip.

Add to this lot all the accessories and my rucksack is full:

Double harness to carry camera and binoculars

Single sling to carry one or the other

Vanguard Endeavor ED 2 8x32 binoculars

4 Canon batteries and charger.

2 pin adaptor for uk plugs

USB charger for phone and laptop

Pebble booster battery with charger

Spare Sony battery and charger

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Android phone with usb charger

Laptop computer with usb charger

Electric hand warmers with usb charge cable

Hot water bottle!

Clothes

I brought a big padded coat and a thick fleece, but have not used them much. Layering works better. The layers can be really light, but should either be synthetic high tech fabrics or very fine wool. Cotton is ok for casual use but not in cold or sweaty conditions.

Long sleeved base layers - I have three but one is merino and I find it a bit scratchy.

T Shirts - I brought far too many. Two is enough

Lightweight fleece

Thin wool pullover

Lightweight high tech wind proof jacket

Down gilet

Fleece beany hat - can be worn under jacket hood

Cap with visor

Paramo waterproof jacket

Two pairs of comfortable trousers

Either waterproof leggings or Paramo waterproof trousers

Socks - several pairs of thick wool socks. The expensive hiking socks do not keep my feet warm when inactive

Several pairs of thin and medium weight socks

Thin thermal gloves

Waterproof lined mittens to wear over thin gloves

Thick windproof gloves (which I don't have but wish I did!)

Walking boots- two pairs in case one gets soaked

Lace up shoes

Slip on shoes

Slippers! 

Van kit:

The fridge, hob and sink are all working well. I've only used the grill to make toast so far but it does that well. It was fortunate I did a belt and braces job on the electrics, because the split charge relay, which charges the batteries when the engine is running, burnt out. I also lost the inverter which I was relying on to charge the camera batteries. Since I have only once bought hook-up power I have not had much use from the mains charger. The real winner has been the solar charger which works in minimal sun and on a day like today keeps well ahead of the normal power use.  The jury will remain out on the gas tank. I haven't made any attempt to see why it emptied so soon. The first 5 litre cylinder I bought lasted 10 days, which is more than I thought and proves that the 28 litres I had in the tank should easily have lasted the whole trip and more. 

There are lots of minor improvements which I will make to the van when I get home, but for now it's doing the job and I'm very pleased with it.