Christmas in Winter ....

Camp Cooking

Frankton, July 2002

We set off early Friday afternoon, good weather, its been awhile since we were there and we did wonder if we remembered how to get there, we did with a few hours of light left. We parked the car and then went for a walk around.

We, that is sister Eve, Cliff, myself were in awe at the improvements, a wood stove, we immediately set about getting wood, a fire was soon lit getting the shed warm. We sat there warming our toes, while the kettle boiled - in the wood heater; we were soon enjoying a cuppa. We were getting peckish so put on some beans, Cliff found the toasting fork, this made Eve think of our childhood as she did the toast.

It was getting dark now and while we were thinking we would be the only ones there till morning, low and behold we saw headlights coming our way. The first belonged to new comers Jocelyn and Iggy. We introduced ourselves and the next car to pull up also belong to new comers Sharon & Graham, they had been promised a barbecue, so they waited for Bill & Carol to arrive.

More members arrived with them. There was plenty of gear to unload, all the ingredients for the Xmas dinner, plus more.

While we had been waiting for everyone to arrive we had noticed the electrical wiring. Bill soon unlocked the cover, threw a switch and presto light. What more could we want. The cover was uncovered from the fire pit and the BBQ was started.

We sat around the fire for the rest of the evening, eating, drinking, and listening to all the stories until tiredness & the cold started to break up the group.

Early next morning we awoke to talking, laughter and Bill going about planning where the trees were to be planted, organising those who were up even before we were out of bed. We soon joined them.

How great it is to have a flushing toilet, even if we do have to put a bucket of water in the cistern.

More members began to arrive, by morning teatime we had been given our recipe book to chose what dish we wanted to cook. Bill and Tony or was it Lee were busy with the bread dough, which turned into delicious bread. Eve and Jocelyn decided they would make the Welsh Cakes for morning tea, with cream and Jam they were definitely moorish.

After lunch it was all hands on deck to prepare the dishes we had chosen, thirteen different dishes, starting with Tony's soup, even roast lamb & roast beef and two desserts. I must say here, Carol deserves all our praise for working for working out all the ingredients needed, shopping for then and then handing them out to all of us for our different dishes. Everything went so smoothly. Thanks Carol & Bill.

It was our first effort at camp cooking and like most set actions it was far easier than imagined. When it came to eating this culinary feast at 5:30pm, it tasted better than we had imagined - thanks to Carol's driving force, cheerfulness, patience and rescuing us from some sticky moments. Not forgetting Bill who went about quietly!!! seeing everything moved along smoothly. It was difficult to get a serve of everything on ones plate, not forgetting the roast potatoes and corn; some I believe went back for seconds - where did they put it. The desserts were delicious also.

To help the meal along a few bottles of red were appreciated, and then a few more!! The wind was cold by then so we all rugged up, some more than others - JC for example, he has a new line of what every camper needs to keep out the cold.

Everyone's spirits were high, lots of stories and much laughter. As the evening wore on the food, drink, company and warmth from the camp fire got to a few of us and we drifted off to our camps for sleep, helped along by the sounds coming from the campfire.

Sunday morning, cooking bacon, eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes for breakfast is there anything more typical but how delicious.

Bill organised some of the men into tree planting, putting protection around them, watering them well, the rest of us helped Carol sort out the camp ovens, I must say here what a great idea the metal numbered tags was - thanks again the Bill. The camp ovens were washed, oiled, put away, the shed tidied, it was then time for some of the men to go driving around the track.

A few of us ladies sat around the fire talking women's talk, a couple of brave ladies brought out their needlework. I went with Nicky to her tent to look at her new mattress, very impressed I was too. Eve called me to look at Carol's & Bills camper trailer. Some of you might know what a clever couple they are. We were talking about the canvas work; we just couldn't believe Carol had sewed it all. We were in awe of her, I stood there shaking my head, Eve said to me, I amazed at the imagination and dexterity of the couples ingenuity. That was said as we were informed Bill had built the trailer. Makes our struggle with cross-stitch pale into insignificance.

Just then the men started to come back to camp, Bill leading, we watched as he came down the creek bed and up and out, followed by Paul I think, then I wished I didn't have to see the next car, Cliff, he came down, but just couldn't make it up and out. No worries Bill and his winch came to the rescue, but hey, whose car started to move - not Cliff's - so Paul to the rescue, he put his car behind Bills and slowly Cliff's car came up and out.

Just as we were all gasping about that, a little story was going around, that Bill's car had lost forward motion and Lee had to get him out. Don't know anymore than that perhaps we had better ask Bill!!!. All good times come to an end and it was time to pack up and go home. I must say how enjoyable the company of all was, heres to the next time.

Jean, Eve & Cliff

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