Last Day at WWT Slimbridge

We woke up to frost this morning and so we decided to wear an extra layer before heading out to WWT.

We saw the bittern again. Well, I say "saw" since it's hard to distinguish between it and the reeds. We also saw the peregrine, black-tailed godwit and white-fronted geese, amongst other things.

We are very happy with the spotting-scope purchase because we wouldn't have recognized half the birds without it and we saw a beautiful snipe up real close.

We are now on our way home from Slimbridge in Herman and  Zoe is driving

Bittern Seen at WWT Slimbridge

Another good weather day today except it was bitter cold sitting in bird hides all day. It was worth it though, we got some good views of not one but two bitterns at the Zeus hide. I managed to capture the second on video. If it wasn't for the noisy click click click click click of the cameras with massive lenses then we may have seen a bit more of the bittern but instead it was scared back into the cover of the reeds.

Back at the campsite in Herman the Hymer, we run out of gas (always happens at night while your making the dinner) but this is good because it allowed us to switch to the refillable gas system that I fitted over Christmas. No more buying expensive gas bottles.

Another Great Day at WWT Slimbridge

What a great day we've had today at WWT Slimbridge. The weather started out with clear blue sky, a great day for bird watching.

However, our first stop was the telescope and binocular shop. After, what seemed like hours, we left with a shiny new spotting scope with tripod and bag.

We spent the rest of the day sitting in the bird hides. I think Zoe enjoyed the new scope, in fact she spotted a peregrine falcon miles away chomping on a kill on the ground. You couldn't make it out with the binoculars. We also saw three marsh harriers, buzzards, red shanks and many others.

Winter is definitely the best time to see birds.

WWT Slimbridge in Herman

This week we are going to the Wildlife & Wetlands Trust at  Slimbridge for a few days. We are staying at a campsite right next door in Herman.

We finally arrived after a miss-start due to me forgetting my camera lens and tripod just in time to watch them feed the spoon-billed sandpiper chicks. Feeding was shown through a live video to their cinema. The spoon-billed sandpipers are near extinction and there are only 200 left in the world. The WWT are in the process of bringing them back from the brink and have collected some eggs from the breeding grounds in the artic tundra in Russia. They now have 13 healthy chicks which is 5% of the spoon-billed sandpiper population.

The WWT are an amazing organization originally created by Sir Peter Scott who's father is the famous Captain Scott of the Antartic.

Skyrim: The Hangover is Over

That drinking game which I mentioned a few posts ago has sent me all over the place finding out what happened, which includes stealing goats, getting engaged and loosing the ring. Finally, I've got the staff [Click here to see a walk through] which I think is going to be really cool during combat.

I've recently had a run in with a castle load (slight exaggeration there) of mages. After a few failed attempts of running in and trying to wipe them out (it only takes a couple of swords swipe to down a mage) I decided to try an entirely different strategy. The problem with mages is that they might not have any armour but they can really fire off a lot of fireballs and ice missiles and getting close with a sword is tricky while a jet of fire and ice is blocking your vision and depleting your health.

My normal approach starts off by killing one from a distance using the bow but this alerted the rest of them in the castle which always ended in my death. I got close to killing them all a few times but I was always left was a powerful ice mage who would launch a massive (the size of a car) ice ball which slowed me down and then simply finished me off with ice missiles.

A mage using a shock spell

So, with a dwarven dagger and I thought that maybe I could sneak up behind each mage in turn and coup-de-grace them and reduce the odds. This worked out superbly and I only had two left which included the powerful ice-mage (she's got to be the boss mage). The problem with these two were that they were facing me and up a flight of steps and therefore I couldn't sneak up behind them without them spotting me. Instead, I quaff an invisibility potion, walk up to the ice boss mage, who is sitting on a throne, and cut him and the other mage down. Simples.

I Manage to Escape Prison in Skyrim

I've managed to escape the prison and in the process I cause a revolution.

On the way out through some dwarven ruins I come across a couple of really strange things. I'm not gonna spoil it but it's kind of a WTF moment or a "You are Shitting Me". You'll know what I mean if you see them. Click here to see a picture of one if you don't mind spoilers.

Before I continue with any other quests I want to find Sam (who challenged me to the drinking game) and get the staff that he owes me. Looking at the map he is bloody miles away. I thought I might get a coach ride. The fairs are very cheap but they only seem to go to the major cities and Sam is not in any where near a city. So, it's another long walk and there is a mountain range in the way.

Skyrim: Getting Drunk - it Gets Worse

Bugger. I think there is a lesson to be had here.

As mentioned in my last posting. I've ended up in a foreign land after getting total bladdered in a drinking competition. I've also been caught up in a national conspiracy involving murderers and such like.

It has now got somewhat worse.

I'm in prison !!


That's right. I've asked to many questions, found out the truth about what's going on and have been framed for murder.

I've got to escape.

I'm deep inside there somewhere

Skyrim: Getting Drunk and Getting into Trouble

So there I was in a bar in Ivarstead and this guy called Sam challenges me to a drinking game to win a magical staff. The guy was a woose and I beat him after just three drinks. I'm very drunk too and the screen goes blank and when I wake up I find myself in a far off place of Markarth which is bloody miles and miles away and I've never been here before.

In a similar way to the film "The Hangover" I've woken up in the Temple of Dibella which apparently I've trashed! I tidy it up and head out to find Sam and the staff that I've won.

I leave the temple and find that Markarth is a wonderful looking city built in a the side of a mountain with waterfalls cascading through the city. On my way out through the city I save this woman from being murdered by this guy.

Markarth

Well, now I'm mixed up in a conspiracy where I know just asking around is going to get me into trouble. The once friendly guards are now threatening me if I continue to ask questions.

I'll let you know how things turn out. I never going to touch a drop of alcohol again!

Skyrim: Magic Weapons and Greybeards

I've noticed that killing monsters is quite easy but I can get my arse handed me by humans (eg. the silverhand and bandits). Therefore, I've decided to invest in some magical weapons. I kit myself and my companion (Lydia) with weapons that do extra fire damage.

I've also kitted out my house with a few things, which don't come cheap. Mainly a bedroom and a alchemists alter to make poisons and potions.

With the better weapons in hand Lydia and I head out to visit the greybeards at Ivarstead to understand about the Voice of the Dragonborn. This is a main quest that will move the story along but Ivarstead is quite far away around the other side of a huge mountain.

The first place I come across is a cave (Darkshade) full of massive trolls. The new weapons are great and make roast mincemeat out of the trolls. It's at this point I release that the magical weapons don't have many charges and need to be recharged with a soul gem. Luckily, the trolls provided some useful souls.

Carrying on, I eventually get to Ivarstead but then I realise that I've got to traipse the 7,000 steps up the snowy mountain that I've been walking around. On my way up a dragon pops-up and attacks just when I'm chatting to someone. Very rude I thought. We kill it and it's soul is absorbed by yours truly. I think that's four I've killed now but really I've lost count. Unfortunately, the guy I was talking to didn't survive so I steal his kit. Now I'm the proud wearer of some scaled armour. [Note to self; add enchantment to scaled armour]

Finally, I manage to arrive at the greybeards place (High Hrothgar) and they teach me a thing or two about the Voice of the Dragonborn. Then they send me off on a trial to retrieve the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. I'll do that later.

At this point Handsome is level 14 and has four Shouts (powers that the Voice of the Dragonborn give you). These are:

• Unrelenting Force: Pushes enemies away (the first one you get)
• Fire Breath: Well you can't be Dragonborn without the power of breathing fire, right?
• Kyne's Peace: I have no idea what it does at the moment.
• Whirlwind Sprint: Makes you sprint like Sonic the Hedgehog for a couple of seconds

What to Take on a Motorhome Holiday

Zoe and I have been motorhoming for a few years now. We started out renting with JustGo and have gone on their Italy trip a couple of times. We now have our own motorhome called Herman which we thoroughly enjoy. It allows us to go away whenever we want.

On each trip, like any holiday, we start by packing. I think we've got this down to a fine art, especially if you are catching a flight and are limited to a couple of suit cases and a weight limit.

Over the years we have built up a list of things to take along and I want to share that list and some tips with anyone who might be interested in packing for a fly/drive holiday in a motorhome.

Baggage allowance on flights defers depending on the airline and where you are flying to. On EasyJet you are allowed 20kg for each person (including children I think) which is quite a lot.

Here is the list...

Important
The following is a list of the most important things you are going to need. This is stuff you really don't want to leave home without.

• Passports
• Driving licences
• Flight/Ferry details and boarding pass
• Money/credit cards for the countries you will travel through
• Campsite confirmations (if any)

General
This is a list of those things that you should definitely take with you.

• Bedding - Take a duvet, sheet and a few pillows and use a couple of those vacuum packed bags. You'll be amazed how much they shrink down and they are not that heavy.
• Carrier Bags for rubbish and dirty washing
• First Aid kit - some rental companies (including Justgo) already supply this
• Torch
• Camera and charger
• Phone charger
• Binoculars
• Reading book/Magazines
• Lighter/matches to light the gas hob (some companies supply this or the hob has electric ignition)
• Sandwiches & Drinks for journey
• Rucksack
• Towels
• Tea towels
• Wash kit/make up
• Sat Nav
• Maps (Justgo supply these)
• Four socket extension Lead - most motorhome have only got one socket so this is handy when charging your gadgets such as camera and phone

Clothing
We used to take a load of clothes with us but we found that we didn't wear a lot of them. Therefore, these days we don't take many clothes. Normally, we take a weeks worth of undies and three each of tops, jumpers and trousers. You don't need to change your clothes daily, it's not as if you are working in a coal mine or doing sports. Most campsites have laundry facilities and we tend to use them twice on a two week holiday.

• Walking Shoes
• Normal shoes (e.g. trainers)
• Slippers - something comfortable to wear without bringing mud into the living area
• Trousers - something comfortable to walk in. Remember that when jeans get wet they are wet for a long time
• Tops/T-Shirts
• Jumpers - consider both thick and thin for those cold and warm evenings
• Socks/pants
• Night wear
• Rain coat

Food
If driving to a rental place then you can simply take the contents of your fridge and fruit bowl. Otherwise, your first stop on holiday will be a supermarket. If you are getting a flight back home then you will need to consider what you will do with all the left over food and non-edible stuff.

• Sausages
• Bacon
• Eggs
• Fruit Juice
• Fresh Coffee
• Tea
• Cereal
• Milk
• Ham and meats
• Vegetables and Fruit
• Brown Sauce
• Mayonnaise
• Bread - some campsites offer a bakery service so you can get fresh bread each day
• Pasta Sauces
• Potatoes
• Wine/Beer
• Rice
• Dried pasta
• Cous cous
• Washing powder
• Washing up liquid - normally supplied by rental company
• Hand wash

Extras

Just a few things that you may also like to take

• Umbrella
• DVD's/CD's
• Chairs

Feel free to comment or suggest things to add to the list.

The Moon Phases

I love astronomy and a while back I noticed something strange about the moon which I don't think many people know about.

Over 10 years ago I went to Australia with a stop over in Singapore. At the time the moon was a crescent. Arriving in Singapore I noticed that the moon appeared on it's side (looking like a smiley face). Then in Australia instead of the sun being reflected from the right side (as in the UK) it was being reflected on the left side and that the moon's "seas" (the dark areas) where in opposite places than I'm used to seeing.

 So why is this? I think as you move up/down the planet your point of view changes. You view the moon at a different angel. As you travel down the moon appears to rotate clockwise.

Viewed from the Northern Hemisphere

Viewed from near the Equator

Viewed from the Southern Hemisphere

Skyrim: Brought a New House

The thing with Skyrim and these type of games is that there is a whole load of cash to be made by ransacking a dungeon. You basically complete a quest and pick up everything that is valuable; weapons, armour, gems, etc and then you sell it at your favourite shop. The problem is that although you can carry a lot of stuff and still move around you can't run or "fast travel". You can store stuff in containers like wardrobes and chests and come back for it later but it may not be there when you arrive.
 
So, I've managed to save up enough gold pieces to buy a new house in Whiterun. It has two floors, a bed and a chest to store stuff in and since it is my house and my chest the stuff I put in it will always be there the next time I look in it.

My New Home - Breezehome

The house is a bit of a shit-hole really. Is looks like it hasn't been lived in for a while; dusty, dirty, no heating or running water. I know you can buy furnishings and stuff but I don't know where you go to buy it from and there's no MFI.

After buying the house I completed a quest (a trail to join the Companions) which took me down a large cairn looking for a fragment of a broken weapon. I picked up anything of value storing it in chests a long the way so I could come back to it later and  then transported it all back "home" to my chest. I won't sell it all now because some of it maybe useful later but I've already made 500gps on what I have sold.

So now I'm a member of the Companions (who have a really cool secret which I won't spoil here). I am level 11 and I'm spent some of my perk points on sneaking, using the bow, one-hand combat and enchantments.

Making Fast Cash in Skyrim

I've just found a quickish way of making fast money in Skyrim without cheating or using a known bug. This way will also level you up quicker too.

While playing I've found both empty and full Soul gems and they are normally of the low level petty variety. Having found an enchantment alter and a few magically items I've disenchanted the ones I don't want to use and was going to sell them anyway. Disenchanting breaks the magical sword or whatever it is and allows you to learn the enchantment. Once you've learnt an enchantment you can apply it to most weapons/apparel using the alter. The soul gems are needed to make the enchanted item but they can only be used once.

An Enchantment Alter

So with my collection of petty soul gems and naff weapons that are left lieing around after a battle I've been turning these cheap weapons into expensive enchanted ones (I had about 10 full petty soul gems).

I've also just found an enchanted sword that captures the souls that you fill soul gems with. So I'll be using this for a while to fill up the empty soul gems I have.

Skyrim Adventure Blog

For Christmas Zoe got me the video game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the Xbox 360. I've been playing for a few hours now and I thought it would be a good idea if I describe my progress through this massive role playing adventure. The problem I see is that my endurance in writing this blog. Not only can the game take 100 hours+ to complete and therefore much to write about but I think I might just end up playing Skyrim rather than writing about my adventures in it.

Starting Out

A Khajiit. Does look a bit like my character

I've chosen to play a race called khajiit which is a type cat. Khajiits are good a being stealthy, can see in the dark and have a powerful claw attack. After playing the last Elder Scrolls game a few years ago I found that seeing in the dark without a torch is a must for my type of play and holding a flaming torch while trying to sneak up on someone is pointless.

I'm currently at level 7 and I've not selected  any perks yet. I'm going to save them up and decide later what I'm going to choose.

The Story So Far
I've managed to pick up a load of heavy armour, an amulet that increases your heavy armour skill rating and a pair of boots that increase the amount you can carry. This is all good but heavy armour is no good for sneaking around. So, instead I've made some very good light armour using a blacksmiths forge and I'm now wearing it.

After killing my first dragon (which wasn't too difficult since I had an army with me) I found a load of magical weapons at a bandit camp while on a mission to return some guys sword, a family heirloom. On the way to the camp I came across a fort occupied by a whole load of mages (magic users) hell bent on roasting my furry hide with fireballs. After killing the mages, a necromancer (a mage who raises the dead to fight for him) and skeletons I found a few spell books (one of them is raise zombie) and an enchanting alter. Using the alter I learnt most of the enchantments found on the magical weapons that I had.

Leaving the mage fort at night a whopping dragon flew overhead and landed nearby. Armed with a magical bow of lightening and my claws I ran towards it. I also noticed a very large humanoid creature running towards it too - odd, I thought. After firing a few arrows in the dragons direction (with a couple of hits) I figured out that the dragon was attacking a couple of giants. I've fought giants before and always died so I didn't want to get too close to them. Eventually, after I received a few scorchings from the dragon it landed between the giants and as they fought I pinged off a few arrows and the dragon died. Now all I needed to do was search the dragon but the giants had noticed me and trying to hide wasn't going to work. All I could do was run and they are fast. In the end I managed to search the dragon (and picking up it's treasure) and I managed to get away by sprinting for my life. I think if it wasn't for the fact of changing out of heavy into light armour I'd probably be giant's dessert.