OPEN-AIR LIFE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20510, 11 January 1935, Page 3

OPEN-AIR LIFE.

Motorists’ Camp is Popular Holiday Resort. From the middle of December up to the present time, more than 200 campers have made the Automobile Association’s camp at the Showgrounds their temporary home, enjoying the fine facilities provided. They have come from the far north and the far south, some to stay the night and others to remain for a fortnight or more. On the ground yesterday was a motor-caravan which has come from Auckland and is going to the Bluff and back. It is not just a matter of going on to the ground, putting up a tent and camping in real earnest. The camper has the choice of sleeping in his tent or caravan, or in one of the thirty-five cubicles provided for the purpose. Fifteen of these cubicles have four beds each, and the remainder have two beds. In the cubicle building are separate baths for women and showers for the men. Dining and Cooking. Underneath the grandstand, where show visitors are wont to dine, the tables and benches provide for the requirements of the campers’ diningroom. The camper-guests leave their pots of jam and pickles on their particular table, ready for the next meal Nearby is the kitchen, well equipped with gas stoves supplied with fuel from a slot meter. Big sinks and tubs for dishes and clothes-washing, with provision for constant hot water, make this room a housewife’s delight. All along one wall, are a dozen or so gas rings, with irons handy. When a reporter visited the camp yesterday afternoon, one young mother was busy ironing, while her happy infant sat chuckling in his perambulator. Drying from the rails round the showring were items of the child’s apparel, giving a real homely touch to the scene. Clothes lines are slung everywhere, dotted with the day’s wash. The campers pay 10s a week or 2s a night for pitching a tent or caravan, and 10s a week and 2s a night for adults and 4s a week or Is a night for children if they wish to use the cubicles. These moderate charges include free milk, bread, a daily paper, baths and showers, free car parking and washing, a telephone and other incidentals. In the dining-room is the register, containing signatures from all parts of New Zealand—Helensville, Winton, Rotorua, Dunedin, Dargaville, Gore and a score of other places. This book is really a testimonial to the camp, for in the column reserved for comment are phrases of glowing praise. “ The best ever,” “ absolutely out on its own,” “ fine, will come back,” are fair samples. Best in New Zealand. Mr William Walls, the Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s custodian, who manages the camp, is a cheer}’ soul. Since he has been in charge of the camp he has made many improvements to its facilities, and now, with justifiable pride, declares tha.t it is the best motorists’ camp in New Zealand He says that this year many more motorists have been going in for a camping holiday, the whole family getting into the car and travelling, some-

times with a set purpose and sometimes with no fixed destination. “ We get all sorts of people,” he said yesterday. “ Two rough-looking men came here once, and after I had warned them to observe the camp rules concerning liquor and behaviour, it turned out that one of them was a church minister and the other studying for the church. They did not look it from the way they were dressed. “ Plenty of honeymoon couples find camping an ideal way to spend their time, away from the crowds and more or less out of touch with people.” The camp will experience awothf rush of visitors at Easter, but a through the summer campers are arriving. One gentleman was so enamoured of the life that he stayed seven months. At other times stock attendants use the cubicles, finding the accommodation handy to their charges when the ram fairs are being held.