HOLIDAY TRAVEL

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 365, 28 October 1932, Page 2

HOLIDAY TRAVEL

SOME IDEAS FOE EXTRA MOTOI^ CAMPlNG CoMFoiiT. THE COOKING PROBLEM.

The success of any camping holiday depends principally upon two things, the weather, which we can't control, and the camping gear, which we can. Eyen with good tents and comfbrtable equipment generally, camping is by no means joyfuli when a howling southerly is raging outside, and one has only to see a crowded motor cainp dii the mofning after a heavy storhi to agree with me that yoti really should buy the best equipment you can alford. A few extra pounds sp'ent in the initial outlay means hoth extra comfort and longer wear, for where a £3 tent may give you dnly two season's wear, a id one may easily give you five season's' of more if properly looked after, with the additional advantage that it is most unlikely to be ripped in half during had weather. Buy a Motor Tent. In practically every big town there is a manufaeturer or.stbckist of spe-eially-designed motoring tents, as apart from the old style ridgepole tents, and any one who is commencing motor camping for the first time should certainly purchase a speciallydesigned tent. They offer many advantages, being easier to erect, more comfortable, andj more easy to pack, Further, they are always equipped I with foiding poles and pegs of special design, which makes you completely independent — a very necessary feature when you remember that in a great many cases the motor camps at which you will be staying are attached to towns, and have no bush near them. Having decided 'to buy a special motor tent, you have to find one of the right type at the price you can alford, and this is not always easy. There is one type, however, that I should advise you to avoid, and it is the tent which is acutally attached to the car as a lean-to. I have seen these on many occasions at motor camps, and have never yet found an owner of one who would buy another. They are quite all right if you are stopping only one night in a place, but as they depend upon the car for support if you drive off in the morning yoU have to Ieave the tent more or less waving in the breeze, with disastrous results if a storm comes on. What a Good Tent Costs. A good typevof motor camping tent of the foiding pole type suitable for two people can usuaily he had for round about £5, while cheaper examples of the same niodel can be bought for about half the price or a little over. The £5 tent will p'robably have a duck top and walls of ordinary tenting, while the cheaper one will be pnrely tenting, which does not stand up to the weather in the same way as the heavier material. The very best tents of this size will cost anythirig up to £12, unless you intend giving them a great deal of work, or can easily afford the initial outlay, these more expensive de luxe hiodels need not he considered. For the family man the outlay will be a little heavier, depending on the size of the family, and in some cases it will he found cheaper and more convenient to purchase two tents rather than buy a big one. Most manufacturers list a motor camping tent about 16ft long by 8ft for from £10 to £15, and of course a tent of this size will hold a good-sized family and ean, if desired, be partitioned off inerely by buying some tenting and arranging it on hoolcs inside the tent.

Reasonably Friced Gear. Those who have never motor eamped have little idea of the things th'at are really necessary for comfort, and those which can be done without. First and foremost in my opinion comes a table and stools, sb that meals can be eaten in comfort. A handy man can make a collapsible table for half-a-crown, and hutter-hoxes will do for stools, but if you have tke cash to spare you can buy a really useful col-lap-sible table which folds into a suitcase for round ahout £1, and little stoolsj for 3s 6d. If you want more comfortable ehairs you can buy can-vas-bottomed ehairs with wooden backs for 6s each. Camp beds are more reasonably priced to-day than they have been for years, and you can get a 2ft one for £1, and a 2ft 3in one for 25s. These are fairly comfortable,, but again, if you have spare cash, you can achieve additional comfort by buying (or making) a camp mattress. These usuaily have a canva's top and a ^ strong sack back, and are filled with kapok. Some people prefer sleeping on the ground in sleeping bags and these can now he had from ahout £ 9.

lipwards according to quality. As with tents, the prices of all the gear I have quoted varies with quality and in most cases those given above represent the cheapest in' their class. Cookiiig in comfort is always one of the prohlems of motor cqmping, and a primus st'ove or metliylated spirits lamp should really be looked upon as the minimum. Excellent stoves burning air and benzine with two burnefs can be hought noiv for well under £2, and any one who can use solder can huy a couple of benzine twis; and make them into the oven type of stove that costs from £3 to £4, and which is such a boon wh'eh on tour, allowing you Oto cook roasts to perfection. - The oveii type is, of course, the most desirable, as you get tired 6f the eternal stew type of din-^ ner whiph is about all the ordinary stoves will manage. Good chip heaters capahle of being used for frying and hoiling the hilly are now very rea§onahly.* i}piee'd, and the 3s 6d methylated Spirits, lamp, when placed in a close'd tin (like. a 101b honey jbin) will soon hoil a biily. A favourite idea with some canipers is the picnic case, fullyj packed with cnps, plates, knives, etc., but perSonally I do not like it very mueh. They are so carefullvmacked-iri-unstti^^ thoR

it is rather a nuisance having always to replace them the same way, especially when you are in a hurry to move on. If all the plates, etc., are packed in a box with plenty of room to spare, it is really easier. The successful packing of a car when on a motor caihpin'g tour is oue of- the major items and the inexperience should certainly have several attempts before actually starting off. Once you find the way in- which things' wiil pack to leave the greatest amount of ffee Spac'e iii the cdf itself;- ydxl you should stick rigidly to that form of-packirig and, you will always know exactly where everything is. ' A little time spent in careful ■selection bef'orehand, and a iittle extra caih in the packing of the car itself will be more than off'set by.the comfort that will he experieneed throughout the whole tour, and more partieularly when vfeather conditions are. not .qf.fhe best.