SEASIDE "BACHING."

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 15, 19 January 1931, Page 8

SEASIDE "BACHING."

GROWTH IN POPULARITY.

WHERE WOMEN SHINE,

THE JRUSES OF THE GAME

Few developments abolit Auckland in recent years have striking as the increase in the number of people who leave.home in.the summer months to live in cottages at .the seaside. Going down the. Gulf in one of the excursion steamers that call at the better-known of the resorts, or poking about into the lesser-known of the , bays in the harbour one is sir;:'.: by the -..; kl - "-rp.wth in the number of small houses, obviously built for summer use. Where only one gmall\ residence roughly put together, | lonely amid a setting of tall pines and far-read ig arms of water, stood just a few years ago, there to-day cluster, dozens of little, pleasah£-Laturc ::cs, gay in paint and inviting in structure. "Baches" these 1 "e friendly houses are called, and the name fits. It conjures up in the mind the hu: 7 to leave home in the week-end; bright red or green roofs, e:.:..11 but airy rooms v, much window B]v ; --.ks, soiJiel!.j!>s comfortable;

laughing people; and, above all, youth AYheii oim >2s ..he name of "Dew-drop Inn," or "Look Me Over," one immediately thinks of breakfasts which are really limciee, of lr ' 3 which are 1..: ::.rs, and of suppers which might well lake the place of all th:But there arc differences in L..l:ds, which fall into two main das: , determined by V. j are dwelt in by men. or by women. The- difference includes all those important points concerning th& sufficiency of meals, the elean.-iiss of rbor:s aim table linen, and the fashion in which beds are made. When me:, decide to "bach" the!" one ill'.«a is to spend the minimum of time indoors and the maximum outside. As a result, when it io C's turn to get tea he first has to wasL Lh« dishes left over from the rush to catch the bus the previous morning; and then he finds that

the sausages,- -man's■ standby, have not been • ■ taken- -out' of< -the- • brown paper wrapping, and perhaps have made an intimate-• friendship with the- large family of flies which live in the same 'house. If he is/.wise, he cuts that part 'jofF, and says nothing; his companions ;<may (or may not) re-nark on the fine meal.. If he is conscientious the meal also includes bread and butter, provided the man in charge of the commisariat, has remembered to bring it home with him. The one table cloth, which perhaps was stuck into the bag at the last moment, is soon filthy and the men then use newspaper. .. .

Seldom does a man remember to bring a pot with him, and, even if he did, it would carefully while, the men in a body form a, deputation to the nearby bach where there is a crowd of jrirls. Girls iilw'iiys-remember pots, but that is the motive behind the motive, and the ruse is an old one. Soon all the girls in.the neighbourhood are known.

■ Of • course there are- . differences, "baches ,5 where the beds are made in the mornings, and meals that are properly cooked at nights; but they are usually the ones which arc.inhabited by women. When 'it is A's turn to make the tea, everything is there before her, as though she were at home. Newspaper is scarcer and is relegated to the places where it belongs. The table linen is more or loss clean, and there are even serviettes. The evening meal is one of two courses, and the meat is always reliable. Never would she dream of forgetting the butter; there.is always a supply of milk; The beds are iiuulo neatly and with sheets. One does not stumble over sodden bathing suits in one corner of the room, the floor is clean, and the beds arc free from sand. Someone always knows wlicro the gramophone needles are; and there is always a supply of hot water ready for the washing up. It is F's and B's turn; and they sternly refuse to leave the pots.

They welcome their men friends with large quantities of cake for supper, also free from sand; the water in the tea has always boiled, they concoct delicious little dishes from scraps which, their male companions would have given to the large number of marauding cats and dogs invariably in the neighbourhood. Who, in a men's bach would ever think of rissoles for breakfast, even if there was time to cook them? But, if they did, there'would never be any fat. System is a great thing, and women have it down to a. line art. It is a good thing for men. that women like "bachin?. 5.