CAMPING HOLIDAYS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19821, 24 December 1938, Page 4

CAMPING HOLIDAYS

MANY GISBORNE PARTIES PROTECTION OF HEALTHSOME USEFUL HINTS Large numbers of Gisborne camping parties have set out or are preparing to leave town for many of the camping spots in the district and also further afield. The recent changeable weather does not appear to have diminished the. number who have made camping arrangements, but has been the means of inducing most of them to take precautions against cool conditions which sometimes occur during the Christmas period. The Health Department has issued an interesting circular giving advice to campers, drawing attention to precautions which should be taken for the protection of health. Exercise in the open is an aid to health, states the" circular, but excess is harmful. The essence of a holiday is relaxation. The same brain controls the muscles and the mind, and excessive bodily fatigue is not an antidote to mental and nervous overwork. It is unscientific and harmful for those of mature years to indulge in violent athletic exercise without proper training. A 20-mile tramp with muscles flabby from disuse means exhaustion without benefit to compensate. Even the most ardent holidaymaker is better for a sound sleep at night. Remember that a badly-pitched tent may be stumer than a shut-up house. Every tent should have a drain dug round it to carry off water after rain, and the tent-ropes must be slackened each, night to allow for shrinkage from moisture. Waterproof ground-sheets are invaluable to rest on by day or to put beneath the mattress at night. The use of judiciously suspended mosquito-netting gives peace and security at night where insect pests abound. The irritation of mesquito-bites may be allayed by bathing with weak ammonia or sodium-bicarbonate solution. lodine may be applied subsequently to prevent the development of infected sores. Sandflies do not readily bite a mud-covered surface, fortunately for bare-legged children disporting in creek-beds.

Care to Diet

The diet of campers is necessarily simplified but it should contain a liberal supply of fresh vegetables and fruit, and a minimum of tinned food. One fact not sufficiently known is that milk should not be added to tea before putting in a thermos flask, as by this means a good medium! is provided for the growth of bacteria, which may be present in the milk. Milk should be carried separately and kept cool. Water from wayside streams may not be safe according to its source. It is safer to boil it, as is fortunately done in the popular pastime of teamaking. Meat for campers may be kept fresh and uncontamlnated by flies in an improvised safe of buttermuslin stretched over iron hoops and hung from a tree in a cool place. Butter may be kept cool in an unglazed pottery dish with wet muslin over it.

When packing remember that, though we hope for summer at Christmas, we sometimes meet winter, and warm clothing cannot be left out of the bag. Simple Remedies Shoes are important. No one even on holiday can be happy with sore feet. For little children sand-shoes are good at the seaside. Shoes for tramping must have thick soles and broad, low heels, and must not cramp the toes. They should be worn with thick stockings, preferably undarned. Stockings should be soaped before use and the feet dusted with boracic powder. Regular daily bathing of . the feet is advisable. If blisters form, they should be let out by tunnelling under the edge with a sterilized needle. Fine strips of adhesive zinc-oxide plasted should be evenly applied nr lattice-work pattern over the affected parts.

Campers should carry simple firstaid requisites, cormprising few bandages, some common antiseptic, as lysol, or boracic acid; tincture of iodine is generally useful. Friar's balsam is not only beneficial for use in sore throats (a few drops every few hours on loaf sugar), but makes an excellent external protective covering for cuts. In conclusion, good campers do not deface the landscape with debris, such as old tins, waste paper, decayed vegetable, and animal matter. Such rubbish forms a breeding-ground for flies, and many form a fertile source of infection. In any case, It is an eyesore. A true lover of nature will always leave a scene as beautiful as he found it.