Walking Upside Down: October 2012

Over Labour Day weekend we went up to camp at Tawharanui. It was a bit of a rush to get away and in the process I forgot to pack a few things, namely chocolate biscuits and Earl Grey tea. Disaster! Fortunately a quick trip to Matakana rectified the matter. That and a few questions I've had lately about what to bring when camping spurred me to blog about what we do.

[Anchor Bay, Tawharanui]

We camp in a tent. It's a three room + vestibule dome tent. When we considered which tent to buy we preferred to get a lighter tent rather than the larger, heavier framed tents. It means we compromise a bit in terms of size, but that can be advantageous too. We have had no problems so far with it standing up to rain and wind.

[Our tent at Tawharanui a few years ago]

We mostly stay in camp grounds with minimal facilities (water and toilets) so we take a gas camping stove and have recently added a Cobb portable BBQ/oven to the mix.

How much stuff we take varies depending on the length of time we'll be away and what we're intending to do while there. We take the family car, a trailer and sometimes add in a roof mounted travel container. I do use a list, but we were in a hurry this time and I didn't, consequently... no chocolate biscuits. My plan for next time is to create some storage containers with dedicated camping items in them that can be grabbed and put into the trailer easily. We've done this with the kitchen gear and tent gubbings and it has worked really well.

[Sleepy girl on her stretcher]

Everytime we go camping we seem to think up ways to refine our experience. Our next challenge is to work out some way to have a fridge. DH has plans for solar panels, batteries etc to achieve this. We haven't quite reached the glamping stage though! :-)

[Making a dam]

Feeding the whanau is something that features strongly in my role and it can be a bit of a challenge. While my children aren't fussy eaters, they do fail to realise that while camping the menu changes from what they are used to. I do not have access to an unlimited pantry! So what do I cook?

This is a list of things I'll often have on the menu.

Breakfast

Cereal
Toast
Eggs/bacon
Olive filled pita

Lunch

Sandwiches
Canned stuff like spaghetti, tuna
Fruit

Dinners
I normally try and bring fresh fruit and vegetables where possible, but the dried vegetables are often convenient and aren't too bad in terms of taste. Canned peaches are a favourite dessert. I will sometimes pre-make things like pancake mix or a spice mix for curry. Keeping meat fresh is a challenge if camping for any length of time so either I have to make a visit to a store, or go vegetarian. The latter isn't always greeted with joy by my carnivorous family.

Bacon, eggs and pancakes
Pasta of various kinds with various sauces
Steak, potatoes, onions, salad
Devilled sausages with vegetables
Curry and rice
Burritos or nachos
Nasi Goreng
Pad thai
Canned soup
Whole chicken on the Cobb with roasted potatoes done in the base part of the oven
Anything BBQ on the Cobb e.g. hamburgers, sausages, steak....

Now we have the Cobb, I am keen to try other things. We've experimented at home and so far have tried pizza, a tagine, and Medfouna with varying degrees of success.