Kamping!

I

’ll admit to most people that I am intrinsically tight. My ancestors are Scottish, and I live in Yorkshire, so I’m bound to be tight. Actually, I prefer the term “prudent with money” but tight is also pretty accurate. However, I’m also a perfectionist and there are very few corners that I will cut just to save money. I’ll spend, but I’ll just make sure what I’m spending on is giving us good value for money.

Hence Charlie and I have invested in a tent. Now we could have gone out and bought ourselves a little two man hiking tent for about thirty notes, and struggled with space, or we could have spent significantly more and gotten a dome-style tent. In the end, and after much consideration, three spreadsheets, a website and some Usenet research, we elected to buy a rather large six man tent, with two bedrooms - we figured that it would be easier for four people to put up and take down one tent, than their own, plus we’ve lots of space inside for sheltering from the rain. And we can sub-let half of the tent out!

It’s our plan to use this tent during the six months of the year when we need to do overnight stops: it’s much cheaper than booking a room at a Travelodge, or similar. But I must confess that camping in the winter months, when you get a frost, is not such a good idea (but we did try it, when we went to Southend-on-Sea, as detailed in the Ka Diary).

Given that camp site fees - including a shower block with ample hot water - are a fraction of a Travelodge, and even considering Charlie and I bought ourselves a rather large tent (it could double as a garage), we only need to spend three nights in the tent (rather than in a Travelodge) and we’re saving money!

However, a word from the wise. When you go kamping, learn from the Boy Scout motto: “Be Prepared.” Because you never know when it will freeze (on your first trip out with a tent and the Ka, heh). As these pictures illustrate!

That’s chez Dervy in the background, one taken in the evening about five thirty, and the other taken in the morning about six thirty after a hard frost. The temperature dropped to –2°C, so yeah, it was cold.

Charlie and I were equipped for the cold – we had a duvat, two blankets and a fleeced sheet type thing. But the air temperature was so cold such that we had trouble sleeping!

And in the morning, it was so cold, I couldn’t get out of the tent to take a much needed leak! The zipper had frozen solid!

Kamping with the Klub

Now as though Kamping with just the three of us – Charlie, Kermit and I – isn’t enough fun (eh, darling?), how about Kamping with the Ka Klub?

Fiesta in the Park was our first Klub Kamp Out.

Kamping with the Klub isn’t all about getting the tent pegs nicely lined up and having inspections of your tent interior in the morning; no it’s more about having a barbeque, a bottle of wine, and sitting in front of the glowing embers /cough/ freezing yourself whilst having a natter about all things, usually not encompassing the Ka!