[websmith]

I thought those of you on colder climes (and maybe wamer) might
enjoy a virtual visit to somewhere wamer for 10 minutes or so.
(today colder climes includes the UK as there is snow outside this morning)

So here is the web diary of my recent visit to Ascension Island, which is just south of the equator , halfway between the UK and the Falklands with lots of photos.

My brother-in-law is the Ascension island dentist and when we first visited in '97 the island was closed to visitors apart from relatives of people working there, although that changed a year or so back and ths island is slowly opening up.

This year we re-visited for the first time since '97.

http://www.websmith.demon.co.uk/AscensionIsland/diary-home.htm

Enjoy

Les

PS

If you used to be a 35 mm SLR user and have found something lacking in digital cameras, then do have a look at the latest generation of digital SLRs as they have dropped in price to an affordable level for us non-professionals.

I got a Canon EOS model just before my visit (and also a 1 gB compact flash card), and it is great, but that is just personal preference as my 35mm SLR was a Canon T70 from the 80's which I also took to Ascension for slide piccys.

Ironically the T70 jammed on my very last day on the island, and I still haven't worked out how to free it.
Maybe that is an excuse to buy a Canon EOS 35mm so I can share lenses.

[Chris - AMWSO]

Cool pics Les.... some of that does look a lot like Mars... did you see any little Mars Buggies driving around pretending to be several thousand miles away :D

[websmith]

Well it would have to be a 4x4 moon buggy with low ratio gearbox.

Never sure if the story about the moon buggy on Ascension is true or a bit of folk-lore that has been repeated enough on the net to become reality.

Here is link to nasa moon buggy page
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo_lrv.html
but there is no mention of it being tested on Ascension ,
or anywhere else for that matter.

Talking about things being true, I've always had a niggly doubt about whether the Apollo landings were genuine or possibily just have been a cold war stunt as both sides got up to really silly stuff during the cold war.

However this page about the Apollo Laser Ranging Experiments proves they must have been genuine unless Nasa somehow got the reflector there and setup accurately by other means.

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhelp/ApolloLaser.html

Les