I couldn’t resist this post. I’ve just invested in a broadband Optus modem that can put me on the Internet just about anywhere, including in this instance Hyde Park in Sydney from where I have a good view of St Mary’s cathedral.

Sitting here I feel like an intellectual knight errant with nothing to my name but a weapon (in this case the laptop) waiting for the next quest to arrive bearing risk and the prospect of fortune. Except that unlike the Knight with his bare pavilion, this bivouac has its own library of Alexandria, packed neatly inside the weapon as well creating an unlikely combination of two of my best loves: the outdoors and a well-stocked library.