CAMPING HOLIDAY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 108, 3 November 1923, Page 15

CAMPING HOLIDAY

■■ For- a girl who loves'the open-air life, a camping holiday is tho finest tonic she can have. ' That is, if, she is prepared to take the rough weather with the smooth, siiys an English writer.

Of course, that is the one drawback about camping. It may rain— and rain —but personally I always -make arrangements for that. I have never failed yet to find rooms in the nearest village when there is the likelihood of a real spell of bad weather, but, as a rule, things are not so tragic as all that. And even if there is some light summer rain, it doesn't matter very much. I just put on oilskins and go out as usual; I have never cared much for a caravan holiday, because of the trouble and expense connected with the inevitable horse. But with a tent one has no such tiresome, responsibilities. . . . One can not leave one's tent with certainty of its being there when one returns, for tramps abound in-most of the "public" beauty spots, and an unprotected tent is a great temptation.

Of ,course, there must be good water near—a stream is best for ordinary purposes, and drinking water can be obtained from the nearest farm or cottage. But don't pitch your tent too near the said stream, or you'll be eaten alive by mosquitoes. In fact, avoid any lowlying, dampish ground as you would the plague. Also keep a little distance away from trees, or the drips from rain will be fearful, not to mention" the' fact that some trees—oak, especially— attract lightning. . . ■ I would never dream of camping alone. Three or four girls are the best number, and, for mercy's sake, leave the grumbling one at home if you can. Out in the spaces one feels even more like murder towards tiresome folk than in a town, and the grumbler's life isn't worth a' toss—in your thoughts. It must be understood from the first that it is to be share and share alike. Everyone is to do her bit.

There must be no skimping of food. Tinned food is all very well in emergencies, but fresh boiled eggs, cold boiled ham, and any cooked food, such as a meat roll, taken from home, make a simple and easy breakfast, and for din.ner there are always stews that cook themselves over the oil stove, ,milk puddings, blanc-manges, jellies, and, for cold days, the plain suet pudding, eaten with synrp or jam. *" Use a hay box. One can buy them from any big store, but the home-made one is good enough for me—just a 6quare wooden box tightly packed with hay, into which one fits the saucepan, covering it with a thick hay wad. A stew or a pudding will simmer away in it once it has been brought to the boil, and one can leave it for hours.

The mosquitoes and other pests are sure to worry, especially during the evening, and a mosquito net should be taken by each girl, so that one's bed can be completely enclosed by propping the net up on four sticks, driven into .the ground, two on each side of the bed. Take collapsible furniture—a fold-up canvas table, fold-up canvas beds, and fold-up deck chairs. The whole of the camping paraphernalia need not take up 'a great deal of room if one oacks sensibly, and weeds out all clothes except knockabout skirts, cool summer dresses, a few ruga,' and a warm coat for each camper.' The coats can be used as blankets with the rugs. ' . A big bell-tent (second-hand) costs about three pounds. You can rig up a shelter' to cook under with an old ground sheet.

Take creams with you for your complexion, hands, and arms. And if things should go wrong somehow, vou'U only laugh! . . "