Worst pitch!

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st599_uk
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Re: Worst pitch!

Post by st599_uk »

PT1029 wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 9:00am Back inside, the noise continued, torch on inside... a crab about the size of the palm of my hand was inside the tent! I went to grab it to lob it out, to which it held its claws up, so I had to get my cook pot, usher it in the pot and lob it outside.
Once in Botswana heard a snuffling during the night - next day there were paw prints the size of a plate crossing the campsite we'd used.

Somewhere else (possibly Zambia) we were sitting round the campfire with a load of Aussies, along came a tiny snake and they freaked, mate picked it up and through it in to the bush. Turns out it was a very dangerous type.
A novice learning...
“the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
Slowroad
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Re: Worst pitch!

Post by Slowroad »

I was camping in a lovely alpine foothills in France about 20 years ago, the only one there. Woken up by grunting outside the tent - shook the tent about and whatever it was ran off grunting, and oddly, rattling. Next morning my rubbish bag, with tin cans in, was gone. Found it under a caravan, figure it was wild boar and the bag had got caught on tusks...
Some years earlier in an urban site in France I woke to my tent door flapping about and my bum-bag (that's how long ago!) missing. Money, passport, ferry tickets... but to cut a long story short, it was a lesson in self-sufficiency and the kindness of strangers on my first cycle tour abroad. I was only a day's ride from the ferry, found a few spare pounds and exchanged them, got a copy of the copy of my passport the bank had taken the day before when changing travellers cheques, and even found out the French for bumbag - 'une banane'. And when I got to the ferry there was a message for me - my bumbag had been found and was going to be returned to me by the police. Hilariously three French policemen turned up, and everything was there except the money. I think they then set off for the markets of Dieppe... I still have the bag.
“My two favourite things in life are libraries and bicycles. They both move people forward without wasting anything. The perfect day: riding a bike to the library.”
― Peter Golkin
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Sweep
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Re: Worst pitch!

Post by Sweep »

Slowroad wrote: 23 Jan 2022, 8:51pm I was camping in a lovely alpine foothills in France about 20 years ago, the only one there. Woken up by grunting outside the tent - shook the tent about and whatever it was ran off grunting, and oddly, rattling. Next morning my rubbish bag, with tin cans in, was gone. Found it under a caravan, figure it was wild boar and the bag had got caught on tusks...
Some years earlier in an urban site in France I woke to my tent door flapping about and my bum-bag (that's how long ago!) missing. Money, passport, ferry tickets... but to cut a long story short, it was a lesson in self-sufficiency and the kindness of strangers on my first cycle tour abroad. I was only a day's ride from the ferry, found a few spare pounds and exchanged them, got a copy of the copy of my passport the bank had taken the day before when changing travellers cheques, and even found out the French for bumbag - 'une banane'. And when I got to the ferry there was a message for me - my bumbag had been found and was going to be returned to me by the police. Hilariously three French policemen turned up, and everything was there except the money. I think they then set off for the markets of Dieppe... I still have the bag.
a thief had unzipped your tent with you in it and rummaged around for valuables?
Sweep
st599_uk
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Re: Worst pitch!

Post by st599_uk »

Sweep wrote: 24 Jan 2022, 12:42pm
a thief had unzipped your tent with you in it and rummaged around for valuables?
When I worked at a Scout campsite, we could take down a patrol tent complete with the thick wooden poles, pack it up neatly and make our escape, all at 3am without waking the occupants up.

People sleep surprisingly well in tents.
A novice learning...
“the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
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honesty
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Re: Worst pitch!

Post by honesty »

Many years ago I went for a mountain boarding event in France. We’d been promised a dedicated camp site. When we got there they’d freshly tarmac’s the camping site and the loo block wasn’t plumbed in. Not sure where they expected us to pitch tents but we ended up having to hammer pegs through the fresh tarmac…

May more years ago my family and I were camping in a French site. I went to sleep and everything was fine. Woke up after a good nights sleep and the caravan next to us was a charred axle. It had burnt to the ground. My dad had had to break the window of the car to wheel it away as well. Luckily the family whose car and caravan it was were in the shower block when it happened!
Slowroad
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Re: Worst pitch!

Post by Slowroad »

Sweep wrote: ↑24 Jan 2022, 12:42pm

a thief had unzipped your tent with you in it and rummaged around for valuables?

When I worked at a Scout campsite, we could take down a patrol tent complete with the thick wooden poles, pack it up neatly and make our escape, all at 3am without waking the occupants up.

People sleep surprisingly well in tents.
Yes, well, I did use to sleep well in tents, but a slight 'fess up - I had earplugs in. I'd been kept awake by a chap snoring the night before and had been very pleased with myself for managing to buy earplugs by asking a pharmacist in french for 'things for ears for to sleep'... yes, a learning experience! The thief had carefully moved my cooking equipment to get close enough to get the bag. I wasn't actually as freaked out by this as I might have been, but it did put me off urban campsites.
“My two favourite things in life are libraries and bicycles. They both move people forward without wasting anything. The perfect day: riding a bike to the library.”
― Peter Golkin
gregoryoftours
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Re: Worst pitch!

Post by gregoryoftours »

I've had a couple of unfortunate wild camps in England where I ran out of daylight and ended up sneaking into small patches of woodland that were fenced/gated off. Aside from the stress of the possibility of discovery I realised that these areas were in fact used for breeding game fowl, so lots of tubs of grain and lots of parasites around, itchy nights both and very early mornings to get out of there. One was actually the day before shooting season started so that added another element of excitement!

Another crap camp was holed up in some urban woods on the outskirts of Worcester, again ran out of daylight and waiting for shouting teenagers to leave before I pitched to avoid hassle.
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