Weekend Camping Frolics
Jessica and I decided that it would be a laugh to combine tents, bicycles, Baileys and classic ghost stories this weekend. I chose a lovely campsite in the Surrey Hills with basic but very clean facilities, and headed there with Jess' Palatial Mansion and my 3-man Coleman, Saunders Spacepacker and Vaude Bivi for testing.
I think we chose badly where to pitch as it took us much, much longer to get the tents up than we expected. We could get the tent pegs in by about 4 inches with some effort, but after that the ground was like concrete. Consequently, I decided not to pitch the Saunders this time. We shot off in the car to a local country pub for supper instead of cycling there. We had thirty minutes before the pubs stopped serving and we were knackered!
After a nice supper we returned to the campsite as it was starting to get dark and explored the facilities. The loos and showers were very clean and with plenty of toilet roll. Very reassuring.
We decided to move the show into Jessica's tent so I made the Coleman ready for me to collapse into later and took sleeping bag and lantern into Jess' rather spacious sleeping area. There we had three ghost books (two fiction, and one Ghosts Of The Cotswolds) and a bottle of Baileys waiting! We poured and I started to read. One of my best memories of the evening is that I was partway through reading a nautical tale that was really more gothic horror than ghost story and I noticed that the wind had blown up somewhat. The white walls of Jessica's inner tent were billowing and the lantern suspended from a small hook at the top was swinging to and fro and the whole effect gave the impression of a ship's cabin in uneasy seas. Very suitable for the story we were reading and the Jolly Roger that was flying outside!
So we read and drank and Jessica booted me out at about two-thirty in the morning. It was blowy and a bit rainy but not cold at all. I snuggled down into my cosy Coleman Phact X3 and was warm enough to be able to sleep on top of my bag covered by a light fleece blanket. I dozed off very quickly.
My night's rest was messed up by two things, but they are lessons to be learned and I won't forget them. The first was that my right arm woke me up aching ferociously; using a 2.5lb lump hammer to put the tent pegs in was obviously not the best idea and had strained my arm. The second issue was that I had stupidly forgotten to make sure that I had something to drink in my tent, and therefore had to dry-swallow two sets of ibuprofen gel capsules which promptly got stuck part-way down my gullet! As I was only half-awake and it was very dark, I didn't fancy having to get dressed and get into Jess' porch to try and find the water.
It rained a few times during the rest of the night, heavily on occasions, but the tent did just fine and did not let in a drop. I found the sound of the rain oddly reassuring and gave me a real sense of wellbeing! I felt very contented snuggled under my blanket listening to it patter, then pour, then patter again.
Some time close to morning it got colder and I wriggled into my sleeping bag and dropped off again.
We dragged ourselves up at about nine am for a wash and some breakfast. I trained Jess in the art of eating single-serving boxes of cereal and milk with no need for a bowl....! My tiny 0.8 litre kettle provided the perfect amount of water for two teas at regular intervals. Having my old, beaten-up garden chairs was a very good idea. A serious luxury for a camp, a chair.
We tried out my new bivi at this point. Had I not drunk so much Baileys, I probably would have spent half the night in the Coleman, and half the night in the bivi. But, ho hum......
I have a claustrophobia problem that I'm trying to overcome with this piece of kit. I am fine in it with a Thermarest, pillow and blanket, but my sleeping bag is just too big and lofty - there's no room left for me once it's in! This may end up being a piece of summer kit that is used with a fleece blanket and with clothes on by the side of a bike trail. I'll test it properly next time I camp.
We didn't want to leave, but Jess had to be leaving by three pm. We unpitched and packed the tents without too much hassle as the wind had dried them out nicely by this time. I need to repeat this experience as soon as possible! I would highly recommend this campsite, especially as you are allowed to have camp-fires there and the owner is extremely welcoming. If you want the location and contact details, leave a comment here and I will send you the details.
I think we chose badly where to pitch as it took us much, much longer to get the tents up than we expected. We could get the tent pegs in by about 4 inches with some effort, but after that the ground was like concrete. Consequently, I decided not to pitch the Saunders this time. We shot off in the car to a local country pub for supper instead of cycling there. We had thirty minutes before the pubs stopped serving and we were knackered!
After a nice supper we returned to the campsite as it was starting to get dark and explored the facilities. The loos and showers were very clean and with plenty of toilet roll. Very reassuring.
We decided to move the show into Jessica's tent so I made the Coleman ready for me to collapse into later and took sleeping bag and lantern into Jess' rather spacious sleeping area. There we had three ghost books (two fiction, and one Ghosts Of The Cotswolds) and a bottle of Baileys waiting! We poured and I started to read. One of my best memories of the evening is that I was partway through reading a nautical tale that was really more gothic horror than ghost story and I noticed that the wind had blown up somewhat. The white walls of Jessica's inner tent were billowing and the lantern suspended from a small hook at the top was swinging to and fro and the whole effect gave the impression of a ship's cabin in uneasy seas. Very suitable for the story we were reading and the Jolly Roger that was flying outside!
So we read and drank and Jessica booted me out at about two-thirty in the morning. It was blowy and a bit rainy but not cold at all. I snuggled down into my cosy Coleman Phact X3 and was warm enough to be able to sleep on top of my bag covered by a light fleece blanket. I dozed off very quickly.
My night's rest was messed up by two things, but they are lessons to be learned and I won't forget them. The first was that my right arm woke me up aching ferociously; using a 2.5lb lump hammer to put the tent pegs in was obviously not the best idea and had strained my arm. The second issue was that I had stupidly forgotten to make sure that I had something to drink in my tent, and therefore had to dry-swallow two sets of ibuprofen gel capsules which promptly got stuck part-way down my gullet! As I was only half-awake and it was very dark, I didn't fancy having to get dressed and get into Jess' porch to try and find the water.
It rained a few times during the rest of the night, heavily on occasions, but the tent did just fine and did not let in a drop. I found the sound of the rain oddly reassuring and gave me a real sense of wellbeing! I felt very contented snuggled under my blanket listening to it patter, then pour, then patter again.
Some time close to morning it got colder and I wriggled into my sleeping bag and dropped off again.
We dragged ourselves up at about nine am for a wash and some breakfast. I trained Jess in the art of eating single-serving boxes of cereal and milk with no need for a bowl....! My tiny 0.8 litre kettle provided the perfect amount of water for two teas at regular intervals. Having my old, beaten-up garden chairs was a very good idea. A serious luxury for a camp, a chair.
We tried out my new bivi at this point. Had I not drunk so much Baileys, I probably would have spent half the night in the Coleman, and half the night in the bivi. But, ho hum......
I have a claustrophobia problem that I'm trying to overcome with this piece of kit. I am fine in it with a Thermarest, pillow and blanket, but my sleeping bag is just too big and lofty - there's no room left for me once it's in! This may end up being a piece of summer kit that is used with a fleece blanket and with clothes on by the side of a bike trail. I'll test it properly next time I camp.
We didn't want to leave, but Jess had to be leaving by three pm. We unpitched and packed the tents without too much hassle as the wind had dried them out nicely by this time. I need to repeat this experience as soon as possible! I would highly recommend this campsite, especially as you are allowed to have camp-fires there and the owner is extremely welcoming. If you want the location and contact details, leave a comment here and I will send you the details.
posted by Catherine at 20:38
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