Still taking the tablet

Spent an enjoyable evening tinkering with my tablet computer - an Archos 80 IT, in case you're interested - trying to get it to work with various other bits of kit such as a camera, an MP3 player, various memory sticks and a memory card reader. Most things have to be connected via a powered USB hub, which arrived earlier this week, along with a series of power gadgets (transformers, converters, adapters, etc.) for which we'll also have to find bag room.
[To upload the accompanying photo of some of the kit and caboodle I'm talking about took seven separate gadgets and cables.]
Last time we went travelling, we had none of this, just one camera each, the film - yes, film - to go with them and a few spare batteries. Ah, the low-tech good old days of... ONLY TEN YEARS AGO!
Stroll on.

More Planning

Last weekend, we put the finishing touches to our self-drive tour routes in Western Australia and New Zealand. (See 'Our trip' page for details and links.)
However, we also spent a lot of time trying to estimate costs, both up-front and day-by-day, and the bottom-line was something of a shock. We were hoping, perhaps a bit naively, to be reassured that our plans to date were within budget. Well, they're not. In point of fact, we, or more specifically, Juli is having to go through every aspect with a fine tooth coomb, trying to find, for instance, cheaper alternatives to shore trips and excursions through the cruise company. It's  been a really worthwhile exercise and has led to Juli finding all sorts of useful information about the places we're going to and things to do under our own steam when we get there. Seems we'll be spending quite a bit of time in the saddle... of a bicycle.
Looks too like we're going to have to pull in our reins somewhat in Australia, if we don't want to come back home to nothing. We're still looking at that, but one option is to use the tent, which we'll have with us anyway, and public transport more.
Pass the Greyhound route map.