If you’ve read the previous blog that was all about putting the tent up, Pete is now attempting to take it down. This is proving difficult due to two large fluffy labradors. When taking a tent down you need to:
1. Take down all the airbeds, pack up the sleeping bags and take everything out of it first – otherwise you will never get it back into the bag.
In order to do this you need to be on your hands and knees. In dog language being down on your hands and knees means that you’re down there to play with them as you are their height. It is difficult to take a tent down when one dog is licking your ears and the other one is constantly dropping a toy on your toes or fingers as he wants you to throw it for him. This is not helped by your wife doubled over laughing (let’s face it, it is really funny), not calling the dogs off at all and even worse, taking photos to blog about it.
2. Once everything is out start to take down the actual tent while preventing children using the cross braces as lightsabres – this is not your father’s definition of ‘helping’ and stopping Sidney running off with them as they are just posh sticks.
I’ve legged it inside and am keeping out of the way typing this instead. Taking tents down is up there with understanding the offside rule – blokes domain (apart from I do actually understand the offside rule, I just don’t let on that I do).
3. Make sure you put everything together as it all has to go into the car and that you put the tent in last – this last comment didn’t go down well, one of the reasons I ducked and decided it was safer being inside the house. Neither did ‘haven’t you got it down yet?’ ‘what’s taking you so long?’- run!
Oh, the thought of an Airstream…………….so much more civilised.
Just for the record, this is not the first time I’ve been proper camping (Canvas and Eurocamp does not count), when I was 18 years old I went to a Rotaract Camp in Hertford over August Bank holiday. My mate Ashleigh brought her 6 or 8 man tent and we took double air beds and duvets. I have no recollection of putting the tent up, I think we managed to sweet talk some blokes into doing that for us. It rained ALL weekend and we ended up having about 8 other people crashing in our tent as they all had two man tents that looked like a mudslide had torn through them, the rest of the memories are lost in a sea of bacardi or something. I’m sure Camp Bestival will be a lot different – I only drink bacardi on holiday in hot places and Ivor Biggun and the Red Nosed Burglars won’t be playing – yes lead singer Doc Cox from That’s Life, wonder what happened to them?