Camping

I was trying really hard to recover from the bug that had been tormenting me for just under a week. We had been planning to go camping down at Lake Hawea for ages and I didn't want to miss out. So on Saturday morning I summoned up all my available energy and boarded our overloaded van which would bear me, half the family and the tents to that legendary camping spot six or so hours away. Three or four days later after more vomiting and unmentionable gross sick episodes: I ate my first meal in ages. Yay, the celebration wasn't extensive however. It was raining and we went to bed before eight o'clock. The whole time I was telling my sisters "Don't touch the side of the tent!" Someones finger had already brushed the canvas which caused me to place a towel on the floor of our previously pristine tent. Yeah, it wasn't that pleasant. Especially because I was still feeling very weak. I haven't told you yet but our type of camping isn't the one that you have to pay for a plot; hear the neighbor you don't know snoring and actually have a flush loo to go to in the middle of the night. No, our style of camping is called "freedom camping." Consisting of a farmers paddock on the edge of a lake, tiny porta loo in the bushes and creepy cows and sheep grooving around. Thankfully this time Dad bought a loo tent. Yay, at least there was something to keep the loo paper dry. Phew, we were almost civilized. I expected to hear a lot of scary animals in the middle of the night. That has always been the thing to mark previous camping trips in my mind. Those episodes when you realise that the only thing keeping the creature from you is a thin layer of canvas prompts all sorts of imaginary threats that, in daylight, seem absolutely ridiculous. But still, they are ever so real in the night. This time I didn't hear any creepy noises. Well, apart from that night with the possum that sounded like he had a madagari spike stuck in it's throat. I was more disturbed by the siblings that mooed like cows and made baaing noises like sheep. Who knows? they might follow the noise and invade our campsite in the middle of the night! Here is a picture of the lake. That white stuff isn't sand by the way, it's rocks. And the water is really cold.