TO THE BEACHES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 285, 1 December 1944, Page 3

TO THE BEACHES

PLANS FOR HOLIDAYS BIG DEMAND FOR TENTS Besides booking seaside accommodation of all kinds from attractive boarding houses down to one-room baches, holiday-minded Aucklanders have also been more than active in recent weeks in hiring tents, awnings and camping equipment of every description for the summer vacation. The big rush to the seaside will begin in just over three weeks, and the peak of the season will extend over the fortnight ending on Monday, January S. There will, however, be much camping right through January and until the schools reopen at the beginning of February. All the bays and beaches within easy distance of Auckland will attract their quota of the tens of thousands who have planned to make this a real open-air Christmas. After a strenuous year there will be one thought above all others when offices and shops close and tradesmen down tools for a complete break. As they leave the city for resorts and picnic grounds, for the thrill of days in the surf or sunbathing on warm sands, for fishing, cruising or yachting, or, perhaps, just a rest, others from places near and far will arrive to spend the Yuletide season with relatives or friends or to occupy rooms in hotels or city accommodation houses. To the beaches will be taken many hundreds of tents where Aucklanders who prefer life under canvas in the summer or were too late to book baches will share the pleasures cf camping. Piha, Huia, Bethels, on the West Coast, Waiwera, OreAva, Red Beach, Long Bay, Brown's Bay and other places on the East Coast, and Eastern Beach, Bucklands, Beachlans, or Maraetai, on the southern shores of the gulf, will be among the popular camping grounds. Waiheke will be an easy first among the islands, though at Ponui Island there will be a large organised camp, while further afield Tauranga, Waihi and various places around the Bay of Plenty will have their full share of popularity.

Tent Supply Inadequate "Tents have been wanted in such numbers that it has been impossible to cope with the demand," said a representative of a city firm to-day. "Many people are planning to camp longer than usual, and some intend to spend six weeks in tents within easy distance of the city."

Some hundreds of Auckland girls and young women were expected to take part in the Y.W.C.A. camp at Kawau, which would continue until the end of January, the iverage stay of girls being about ten days, while at Orewa over a hundred boys would take part in the camp organised by the Boys' Brigade.

An influence which had contributed to the exceptional demand for tents for hire, it was stated, was the lack of private tents, due to the shortage of calico. It was not possible m pre-war days to buy cheap tents, which coiuc' be used for i few weeks during the summer and then discarded.

Camp equipment of all kinds, such as stretchers, mattresses, tables, chairs, sleeping bags and ground sheets, was stated to be as much in demand as tents, and it was difficult to satisfy all needs.