Camping weekend

I feel revived after our weekend 20 minutes away on the other side of the Black Mountains. Admittedly it took a very long shower and a very early night to revive me but still we had fun.

It didn't rain which, given previous behaviour by weather in Wales, was impressive. The tent went up in about an hour and stayed up for two nights. We slept to some extent though not nearly as much as I require. And why is it that when you wake up after a night in your tent your eyes are puffed up and you look like hell and you walk like a woman twice your age which in my case is like a woman in need of several walking sticks. I remember learning eye exercises as a teenager in a vain (in both senses of the word) attempt to make myself look less like Rocky after the fight. But hey, camping is all about being grateful for your bed when you get home.

Our equipment all worked although I remain unconvinced about the self-inflating mattress which went from c. 1.5 cm to c. 3 cm and was really hard to roll up again. So, it's very thin and uncomfortable and actually quite hard to pack. I'm also unsure about the double sleeping bag. The good thing about it (apart from that) is that you can snuggle up when you are freezing. The bad thing is that your partner can steal your cover from both directions and you end up strapped up against them by the bag, unable to move. And really close to his hayfever snoring.

The main reason we had a great time is clearly nothing to do with the equipment and everything to do with the fact that we were on the same campsite as people we knew with lots and lots of children. Emilia and Charlotte vanished for hours at a time while we sat in the very comfortable camping chairs and drank wine and talked and looked at the view, the fire and the stars. Perfect weekend.