Camping

I think we are going camping. Does any dog know what this is?


Here I am supervising the preparations

Master and mistress seem quite excited. Apparently mistress (The Keeper of The Purse) likes camping because it is CHEAP.

When she was a little girl, her mummy and daddy told her that camping was for poor people, so she never went camping.

Then she went to Australia, and went camping on the beach with some friends. She says it was good fun, even though one of the tents fell down, and they all slept in a mix of tent and poles and people. (mistress says to add - note slept - no more no less - only slept)

A little bit later in Sydney she met master and he had a very small tent. Her mummy and daddy must have been right because master was quite poor when he was young, but he liked camping.

Off they went to the Blue Mountains and crawled into his tiny tent together. I don't think one of them would be able to get into it now. Hehehe Although they still have the tent. It is a Vango Zephyr Solo. (Mistress is so useless she got the name wrong until master corrected her.)

On their way home they had to go up Govett's Leap. Mistress does not like heights and thought this was horrible. But the alternative was yet another night in the pokey tent! So she clambered up the metal steps and collapsed at the top of the gorge. (Mistress is interfering with my blog again and wants to ask my Australian dogfriends if the metal steps are still there?)

As if. Twenty years later. I am a dog and I think it is highly unlikely.

Anyway back to camping. For some reason, even taking into account Govett's Leap and the pokey tent, mistress was by then addicted to camping.

Whenever anyone else their age was taking proper sensible holidays, master and mistress were off backpacking and camping. Round Europe, or long distance footpaths in the UK.

When they were still in Australia she went back to see her mummy and daddy (first time after she had got married) and master had told her to get a tent. (He was still working in Sydney - there was a postal strike at the time so he didn't even have to write to her. Well that's what he told her anyway, hehe).

As you've worked out, mistress knew little about tents, so she told master about a very light one she had seen. "No," said master over the 'phone, without seeing any pix or anything. "That won't be strong enough. Get the other one you mentioned."

So she bought a Wild Country Quasar. This is more than 20 years ago and the company has changed a lot and been taken over as usual. But they still have the tent and still use it. It has had a new ground sheet, and some new poles after a drunk fell on it in one of the Scottish islands (it was one of their best holidays by the way). They still have the Vango too. I don't know why. Perhaps it is for me, although I think I will sleep in my Landy - on my comfy seats.
And I can guard it all night, and play boundaround if I get bored. In the morning I will be able to bark and wake up the whole camp site. I think this is going to be such fun.

Anyway, master and mistress decided they didn't want their dogs to go into kennels when they went on holiday (this is before the days of passports), so they bought a slightly bigger tent to take in their Land Rover. It was a still a Wild Country one, but they don't think it is as good quality as the very first one.

And then they bought something called a Caranex to fit over the back of their Land Rover. This meant they could sit up straight and cook at a table when it was raining in the UK instead of doing everything lying down in their little tents. I am glad we are going camping in Andalucia where the sun shines every day. (note from mistress - it doesn't shine in all of Andalucia every day - but you can usually say it will shine somewhere in Andalucia)

So pups, and huge dogs, and all my mates that come and read my blog, we should be off-line for a couple of days (as us computer-lit doggies say).

The camp site is by the beach, so mistress had better take some nice piccies. We will all be outside in the fresh air and perhaps there will be lots of cats and rats for me to chase round the camp site. I don't know, but I can always live in hopes.

So it's no more of this....



But a bit of this.....



I think the strawberries are more interesting than the camping gear, and no-one is watching me....



Bored now...they can get on with it...not a dog job

Catch you all in a few days. Ruff. Pipps. Soon to be Pippathecampingdog.




Edited to add clicky linky to Australian bush and to admit I'm not sure exactly where we climbed up but it was horrid! So the pic shows Pulpit Rock which may have been where we ended up.... - Kate