Time to restart my old thread I think!!!
I took Jo'anne out for her first camping yesterday, we made a bed from bracken, which took quite a while to gather enough!! I also got bitten by the bracken resulting in a nice slash across my left index finger, when will I learn!!
After making our bed and putting my auscam hootchie (generously donated by my brother) up for the first time in anger, it was time to gather wood for the fire. A simple task, it is made much more difficult by the fact that the woods in Germany are managed to death, so the only wood around is pine and a bit of birch around here. Also, dead wood is cleared away quite quickly, but I found enough dead standing birch to get a fire going, along with a bit of fatwood I got earlier in the year from an old pine stump.
Dinner was a bean and rice affair with some sunflower seeds and pine kernels, followed by chocolate bar and drink before bedtime. Then it was time to settle down and listen to the night take over.
The bed was comfortable, but I would use even more bracken in future. It compressed quite a lot, and before you say it, no I'm not a fat git!! Jo'anne kept any wild animals at bay with her constant snoring and the bean influenced flatulence
but I also suffered as a consequence!!
We had a light drizzle for most of the night, but the hootchie stood up well to it, and I think there was a nicer sound than the current issue basha as the rain pattered on to it. In the morning, we awoke to a crisp but nice day, and started our breakfast. This was a simple pre-mixed cereal with one of Jo'annes' favourite "brews" of coffee!!
After that, we cleared up camp to leave just footprints and made our way back home for a shower and tick checks!!
I think Jo'anne enjoyed her adventure, and I think she was very brave to stay outside in the "wild woods" at only five years old!!
Happy bushcrafting!