I was out walking over the Staffordshire Moorlands, and as I arrived at a trig point (the highest part of that area of land), I found Mick, a very nice man with a passion for amateur radio.  He was telling me he could communicate with people in Australia and New Zealand from up there.  Currently he was tuned into Japan.  What a nice life.. out in the hills on a sunny day communicating with people in far flung places (without using a computer!).