The great outdoors (part II)
Have you ever been camping in the rain? Have you ever been camping in the mud and the rain?? Members of RBP’s creative, digital media and PR teams recently have!
Following a successful camping trip last year, we hatched the idea during the hot spell we had in late May. The ideal of going camping in Derbyshire sounded great then, with thoughts of sunny walks followed by an evening barbecue and sipping beer alfresco around the tent. How wrong could we have been!
The gale force winds whipping around the office on the Friday, interspersed with heavy showers should have given us a clue, but undaunted, Dave and I set off from work on the Friday afternoon for the wilds of the white peak!
Upon arrival at the (actually, quite sunny) site, Dave noticed what appeared to be a muddy farm track, complete with tractor ruts, leading into a very muddy field – yep, that’s where we had to pitch our tent! We proceeded cautiously across the field, mostly sideways it has to be said, passed the smelliest toilet/shower block in existence and found a small muddy patch of grass where we pitched up. Shortly followed by the arrival of Josh and Chris, who watched Dave and I struggle with the tent in the rising breeze – oh what fun! Simon, Claire and Jonathan joined us later and we got the barbecue and booze going until the early hours!
The next day we awoke to heavy rain, and with spirits plummeting, took refuge in the campsite’s restaurant for breakfast. It’s amazing how a full English washed down with hot tea can revive your spirits, and with Steve’s arrival, we were soon on our way, trekking along the Tissington Trail towards deepest darkest Derbyshire.
After about five miles, taking in rock climbing, rescuing a lamb from a bridge, nettle leaping, some more rock climbing and what appeared to be a footpath to nowhere, a pub was found and a delicious lunch with a few pints revived us again. We headed back to the campsite and the ambitious ‘naked tree wrestling’ (suggested by Josh) was replaced by more sensible football and frisbie activities, followed by a camp fire building exercise – something that the more energetic amongst us, namely Josh and Steve, took very seriously. A barbecue and more boozing 'til late saw us off to our sleeping bags.
Sunday unfortunately brought more downpours and the borrowed tent had to come down in the rain. With all hands on deck this was completed swiftly and we bid each other farewell and headed back to our respective homes. I can say this, even if camping is not your thing, it really brings people together and every one of us had a great time. It makes you appreciate the simple things in life that we all take for granted, such as… erm… clean clothes, plates and cutlery, proper beds, central heating, pillows, toilet paper etc…
We will go again next year for sure, but it might have to be ‘glamping’ rather than just camping! A ‘yurt’ with a hot-tub might be on the cards. We’ll keep you posted! ;-)
Posted by Antony Creative on 21 Jul 2010 at 08:49
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