17th April 2003

Woke at about 05:00. The wood was silent. After about 15 minutes a pigeon signalled the start of the dawn chorus. I dozed back to sleep until about 07:30. Time to get up. The fire was lit and after about an hour it was ready to begin cooking breakfast - egg, bacon, sausage and mushrooms. By the time I'd eaten and cleared up it was about 10:00. A latrine was dug and tested.

Time to assemble the brushcutter - what a hassle. I soon realised how useless the instructions were, and had to work a lot of it out myself. Two hours later I had it assembled and ready to go. I began clearing further along the main track. After a while I had emptied the fuel tank and was exhausted in the heat - time for a sit down.

After a drink and a rest I refilled the brushcutter, but it wouldn't start. I spent well over an hour trying to get it going, but to no avail.

By six o'clock I decided it was dinner time. The fire was stoked and another potato put on. After 40 minutes I put on the chicken and the beans. Total cooking time 45 minutes. This time the potato was a bit hard!

After stoking the fire again for the evening I cleared up. The evening was spent reading my book and drinking a bottle of beer. By 21:30 I was exhausted, a little bit on the cold side, and ready for bed. Another clear night. Whilst lying in bed I could hear a Tawny Owl somewhere in the wood. I can add this to my list along with a raven and a chiff-chaff, not forgetting the pigeons.