22 August 2013 (Thursday) - Off to Camp
Martin
arrived, and we set off to shopping. First of all to
the fishing shop. I was amazed to see perfectly good polaroid sunglasses for
sale for fifteen quid. If I want prescription sunglasses the polaroid bit
costs sixty quid alone. And I can get the whole (non-prescription) lot
for fifteen quid. I'd like to think this isn't blatant profiteering from the
optician... After a
brief stop at Tesco we made our way to a certain farm in Smarden
where clans gathered and we set up camp. We arrived in rain, and started
setting up camp in the rain, but the rain soon petered off. And having set it
up we repaired it. The mess tent has some life left in it, but I think it' s
fair to say that the gazebo is now fit for the bin. |
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A few
beers were sunk, and after a flying visit from Foo-Foo (the bunny rabbit)
er indoors TM"
arrived just as it was getting dark and announced that we (I) had
forgotten all the cooking pans. Woops. So after an impromptu drive home we
finally had tea at about 10pm. I staggered off to bed somewhat the worse for
wear as others went lamping. Lamping apparently is an obscure country
tradition by which you wave lights around in fields in a fruitless attempt to
catch wildlife which is nowhere near as daft as you might imagine it actually
is. |
23 August 2013 (Friday) - Duck
Houses
With no one else emerging from their pits I
wandered up to one of the ponds for a spot of fishing. The fishing started
slow, but soon picked up. After an hour the Rear Admiral and "Daddies Little Angel TM"
arrived with coffee for me, and we fished for another hour with varying
degrees of success until the summons came for brekkie. There was a bit of a problem with brekkie - it
was all still in the freezer. So we made do with omelettes. Very good
omelettes. As I was washing up so the sun was coming out. It
looked like being a bright day. Some of our party set off on a shopping trip.
Others of us set off to the pub via Dering Wood where it was rumoured that
there was a solitary geocache. There was, and from there we carried on to the
pub. But not the pub we had originally planned. The Dering Arms was several
miles away; the Mundy Bois was just down the road from
where we were. So once we had got some phone signal we told the shoppers
about the change of plan and they met us for a second pint before walking
back to camp with us. |
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Once back at camp we felt we ought to earn our
keep. The duck houses needed their annual maintenance so our job for today
was to get the duck houses out of the water and to leave them by the pond
side to drain. Regular readers of this drivel will know that I have had dealings
with duck houses before. So knowing what to expect I went along wearing my swimmies, and (as I had expected) immediately
slipped in the mud and was waist deep in a pond. "Furry Face TM"
excelled himself with duck houses, having swum across a pond to one and
having found a three month old addled egg inside
promptly broke it open and rolled in the gunge. I'd not taken my dog camping
before. This is one of many reasons that taking Patagonian Tripe-Hounds
camping is not a good idea. And having created one of the worst smells in the
known universe, he went on to exceed the expectations of even his staunchest
critics by disappearing into the last duck house and coming out a few moments
later in hot pursuit of a duck which was stupid enough to still be in that house. Some of the swimmers of our party went back to
the farm house for a shower. Me and my dog got hosed down in the farm yard.
And after a rather good bit of tea we sat round the
camp fire drinking to excess. So much so that I fell asleep and missed out on
the port... |
24 August 2013 (Saturday) - Emergency Plan
"B"
We had
all seen the weather forecasts. We knew today was not going to be a good day
weather-wise. I woke to the sound of rain on the tent in the middle of the
night, and lay awake listening to the rain for much of the rest of the night.
It was too wet to go fishing, so I didn't bother. I had a bit of a lie-in, as
did everyone else. It was gone ten o'clock before brekkie was done. We got
washed up, and shopping missions were dispatched. With a restless dog and the
rain slackening off to a medium monsoon I thought I'd take "Furry
Face TM" for a walk. I needed to get a cache for the day
anyway. I got the cache just as the rain started. By the time I was back at
camp I was rather damp. As was "Furry Face TM". Lunch
was announced, and with little else to do we declared Emergency Plan
"B". As emergency plans go, "B" is my favourite,
involving (as it does) copious amounts of beer. |
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Steve
and Sarah arrived to visit for the afternoon and evening. It was really good
to see them, it was just a shame that the weather
was against us. We spent much of the day tipping rain water from where it was
pooling in the tent. Mind you, we did have sweeties and cake. And beer. The
evening meal was good. We'd not had stew with dumplings at camp before. I
think we should have it again. But next time we should stir the stew. The
washing up took some serious elbow grease this evening. And having worn
myself out doing the washing up we had a beer or three more and just the
tiniest soupçon of port. Hic... |
25 August 2013 (Sunday) - Custard
!!!
The
rain continued for much of the night, but having slackened off just as it got
light I thought I'd have a spot of morning fishing. Having had a day of torrential
rain the pond side was a quagmire and the fishing tackle was awash. But
despite all odds I was soon bashing tiddlers like a thing possessed. After a
little bit of brekkie (camp brekkie is always excellent) shopping missions
were dispatched as were caching missions. And after discovering that "Furry
Face TM" is partial to Benenden
sauce we made the most of the good weather by continuing our work with the
duck houses. We got the duck houses onto a trailer, took them down to the
yard and gave them a good hosing down. There is something very satisfying
about hosing duck dung with a power washer. And
with duck houses glistening like new we had another beer, and enjoyed the
afternoon. Some took pot shots at targets with air rifles, some went off to
the nearby hippie-fest. Me - I alternated between beer and dozing in my chair
in the sunshine before going fishing. Fishing was fun. We didn't catch much
but we got to laugh at the Rear Admiral's phone which hadn't really enjoyed
having been charged and was having a sulk. A sulking phone is a sight to
behold. As is someone attempting to do anything with such a phone. I suspect
there is an app for sulking phones. However I defy
anyone to download it; especially with the Rear Admiral's phone when it is
having a cob. |
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Chip
visited. as a stalwart of previous Bat-Camps it was a shame he couldn't have
been along for the entire weekend. And as we waved goodbye it was tea time. Tonight's
tea was something new - pork steaks. Very good. Very tasty. And as the beer
got to the point of being far too much we had cake and custard. As it was
said at the time, what's the point of being sensible if you have custard. We
sat around the camp fire drank port, and dozed off. Good times... |
26 August 2013 (Monday) - Back Ache
"Furry
Face TM" was upset by something in the night and had a
woofing fit at silly o'clock. I then lay awake until seven am when I got up,
used the Turdis, and went for a spell of early
morning fishing. We came back to camp around nine am to find little movement,
and then started a leisurely packing up. At kite
festivals we are packed up and gone by mid day;
often well on our way home by mid day. At Bat-Camp
we are always some two hours later in packing up than we are at kite
festivals. Packing up is easier; we don't have to consider how to load our
cars; we just chuck all the gear into a barn for the winter, but still we
take ages. Whilst
putting my tent away I felt the muscle in my back go. It does that from time
to time. In retrospect I should have sat back and let everyone else do the
heavy lifting from that point, but I didn't. I carried on with the packing
and loading. I shouldn't have done that. We left
the farm just after one pm, which although later than I would have hoped, was
about what I was expecting… |
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You can see an album of photos from this camp by clicking here