Ok, if you follow my blog you’ll notice I’ve been absent – no I’m not talking about that vacant look in my eyes (that’s perfectly normal) I’m referring to unplugging and going camping for a week. It was so much fun and I didn’t get internet withdrawal, not even a little. A week of bliss – sun, cold beers (mostly), dam building, cricket and diving through waterfalls.
It was a good reminder that the real world (as in the tactile stuff) is out there and needs to be experienced away from the HTTP that you’re surfing right now. Now don’t get me wrong I love most things about the internet, in fact I’ve just started working for Affilorama.com as a technical copywriter so a lot of my work is blogging and posting on the forum – so its actually really important for me to be across what’s happening in the world of affiliate websites and the internet in general. But you just have to get out the house, especially when you live in such a beautiful country as New Zealand and were enjoying one of the hottest summers on record.
I really do enjoy camping but I usually find that we’re missing something that everyone else seems to have, so it goes on the ‘must have for next time’ list. Matt and Hannah had a gas fridge and I totally had cooling envy – has anyone ever noticed how useless chilly bins are?? I swear they actually started heating the food we had in there and the slicka pads (freezer blocks for anyone not living in NZ) dont help that much. But the real thing we missed was a tent – yep thats right our loyal tent of about seven years died an ignominious death on the first night as we set up (mental note: dont set up a tent in the dark and make sure its all in working order first). A broken pole ended up going through the nylon fly – the poor tent looked ridiculous but was still functional as long as it didnt rain (it was our moon roof :). So were on the hunt to track down a new tent. Luckily Bryn and Brook were coming up the next day and we got a message to them to pick up a replacement tent kindly supplied by Martyn and Bronnie.
We did heaps (I even read a book, fiction no less) but the week went way too quick and soon it was back to routine. But I had my new job with Affilorama to look forward to and the photos to reminisice over.
Here’s a quick list of things to chalk up to experience from this trip, we shall call them camping tips 101:
- Leave in plenty of time so you dont get to the campsite in the dark, unless youd rather sleep under the stars
- If your tent has a broken pole carry a good supply of duct tape, or a new tent
- If the ground is on a slope, sleep so your head is higher than your feet, or face mild throbbing in the morning
- Get a smaller chilly bin (esky for aussies) which is more effective at cooling
- When the dam bursts dont try to ride the flow, you will only succeed in filling your shorts with sand
- Transporting a kayak on your car roof does not require an expensive roof rack – just some tie downs and camp rolls work wonders
- Avoid drinking too much before playing cricket no matter how friendly the game pretends to be
- If you’re doing the TTLC (the three litre challenge) stick to water, its easier and less messy than fizzy drinks or milk, or even fizzy mineral water 🙂
- Go for the Captain Cooker at the Mussel Inn – its premium home-grown beer
If you have some sweet as camping tips just mention them here, enuff said. Now its time to plug back in …