packdown

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Time for a swim

The packdown

Kristy-Lee Biggs

Somebody asked recently about the pack down. In our previous years, we could never pack down in time for check out and were always hot and bothered by the end. This year, we nailed it with time to spare!

I loved the frequently offered idea of an extra night and taking the day to do it, but our place rarely has extra nights (and is a bit $$$).

So we used a couple of hours the night before to pack down the shelter, leaving only the next morning’s essential clothes, food and cooking things unpacked. Everything else was packed up in the relative cool of the night and stored in the tent.

We have young kids so were up by 7am, rolling up bedding before the sun hit the tent. We used a rubber broom with a squeegee on the back to remove the morning surface water on the tent, leaving it to dry while we had coffee and breakfast.

All done in two hours for a 12-man tent and five days’ of beach life/family camping supplies. Smashed it …

…and then we went for a swim before driving home