Back from London and it seems a lot has happened - we now have 16 people (incl. Andrea) on the "committed" list and it looks likely that we will need three lodges. I will contact them later today and make that reservation.
I propose that we should limit the number of participants to 21 (20 in the lodges plus me at home). If the list fills up to 21, members still wishing to join in could put their names on a "cancellation" list.
I agree with Jan Anne - it's too soon and too complicated to be allocating beds when the event is still many months away. The members who actually attend may change quite a bit over the months, and who gets what bed can be negotiated on the day of arrival. The one thing which seems sensible to suggest is that couples (of any gender) should be given priority when the double beds are allocated. Looking at the bed situation again - it is important, after all - if we have 20 members in the lodges including three couples in the the three available double beds, the other 14 will have -
3 twin-bed rooms (6 people)
3 single-bed rooms (3)
3 twin-bunk rooms (6)
3 camp-beds (3)
- so we could actually accommodate a max. of 18 people ( plus the three couples). But we will only have 14 so this gives us a bit of slack and those who really want a room to themselves will more easily achieve that.
They describe their wifi coverage as "patchy" and I will find out what this actually means. When I first spoke to the owner, he said they were upgrading very soon and I will check this out too. In the meantime, if poor wifi coverage is a definite deal-breaker for anyone, please let me know.
Vehicle-rental is something we should discuss in detail. I will have my car and could take up to three people; did Anthony and Simone say they were travelling to Scotland in their cars? Bjørn R intends to rent a car. And a couple of others may drive over from continental Europe. Two "people-carriers" would be enough to take all other members but there is the question of getting from the airport in Glasgow or Edinburgh to Killin. There is the possibility of 4x4 rental here in Killin but I suspect it will be very expensive - something else to check out. I think the car question may have to be solved by those members who can travel (fly) together, or are arriving at the same airport, jointly rent a vehicle. If two groups each rented a biggish vehicle with multiple drivers registered, it would be "problem solved". But there is plenty of time to deal with this.
I will pay the deposit for the three lodges. Can everyone who is definite about coming, please send £15 to paterson@wildcountry.uk.com via Paypal. Those who are intending to bring partners or spouses should send £30. At today's rate of exchange, £15 = €20.4 or $23.1 but Paypal lets you chose what currency you send and I would prefer it if you can send UK pounds. But I don't want anyone to send any more than this deposit; we don't know the final number of participants and so we don't know what each individual share will be.
