Campingninja Blog

‘‘On your marks, get set, go!’’ they shouted, as I set off from one of the Camping at the Games Olympic campsites.  It was a race against time you see; as my cousin Fifi was about to dart off on a camping trip to deepest Cornwall. 

While she’d been busy over the last couple of weeks packing up her camping kit, I had been enjoying all the action at the Camping at the Games sites, and what an electric atmosphere there had been.  And it was then that I got the call on the ninjabile from a panicking Fifi.  She’d borrowed one of my tents to take away with her and all the pegs were missing.  Where could they have got to we wondered? 

Of course when I opened up the boot of the ninja wagon to have a look for them, there were the missing pegs, right in front of me.  Really we needed the help of an Olympian to race the pegs over to Fifi, because her train down to Cornwall was departing in just 20 minutes! 

Then I had a brainwave.  It just so happens that I’d cooked myself some chicken nuggets on the camping stove for my breakfast that morning, which was just as well as my plan involved some Bolt fast running to relay the pegs over to Fifi in time. 

So I got on the ninjabile and called Fifi back.  Did she have time to meet me somewhere by the station to collect the pegs?  Yes.  Excellent news.  And was she ready to be part of the Team Ninja peg relay?  Affirmative. 

We hung up our phones, and then it was Team Ninja, go, go, go!!

Our relay meeting point was by Mandeville, where I handed over the pegs to Fifi.  There was just enough time to capture our sporting moment with a few pictures.  Fifi clicked away on the camera, snapping a few shots of me and my new best friend Mandeville, the Olympic mascot. 

We had a lot in common, as Fifi was quick to point out - our similar cartoonish build apparently, although I like to think of it as more of our athletic build.  Mandeville wore an ‘I Love London’ t-shirt, while I wore my ‘I Love Camping’ t-shirt.  He had only one eye, and I winked for the camera with one eye closed.  It was to be another great photo memory of a fantastic time Camping at the Games.

When a ninja’s got to go, a ninja’s got to go.  Thanks to a few late evening drinks, I couldn’t get to sleep in my tent without one last trip to the bathroom.  So I unzipped the tent and with my shiny bright torch light leading the way through the pitch black darkness of the night, I caved into nature’s calls and left my nice warm bed for the fresh night time air, and sleepy-eyed, wondered across to the bathroom. 

Much to my surprise, a crowd of people lined the field along the edge of the campsite.  There were some old people and some young people, and some people in between, and some who looked like it must have been way past their bedtime.  But it was clear that something had made them all come out and gather together for some kind of special occasion, and it was one which I was yet to find out about.

As I made my way across the field of the campsite with my little torch lighting the way along the windy path, they all began cheering.  I was only on my way to the bathroom.  There really was no need for all the attention.  In fact, on my way to the toilet in the middle of the night, to be honest I didn’t really want all the extra attention!  And I was puzzled to think what all the fuss could be about. 

Then I remembered - the Olympic torch relay.  Oh…

So I thought that in the spirit of the Olympics, I’d better start to run.  So I ran fast, like a true ninja, all the way over to the bathroom block. 

The onlookers began cheering even louder and clapped along with my every footstep.  I could feel the buzz of excitement in the air, although it was a little disconcerting that people were making all this fuss over my trip to the toilets.  Probably there had been some kind of misunderstanding as quite often happens, that I’d managed to get myself mixed up in.  But I wasn’t going to stop running, as I kind of needed to go to the bathroom! 

A few strides later I reached the bathroom block and switched my torch off ready to go inside.  ‘‘Booooooooo!!!’’ the crowd of people sighed.   

‘‘False alarm!’’ I called out to them, as I flickered my little torch on and off in a somewhat Morse code-esque fashion, trying to muster something along the lines of ‘‘don’t worry!  I’m not an official torchbearer!’’ out in code.  For it wasn’t the real Olympic torch I was holding like everyone in the crowd had thought.  It was merely my ever ready little ninja camping torch.  A well-used, trusty little torch, but whether or not it truly deserved all the fame and attention, now that is debatable!

It was very much time to put the FTSE 100 to bed.  The weekend was here and this game of numbers was more about choosing some hopefully lucky lottery numbers, and the Ninja 500 – a Camping Ninja’s 500 tell-tale signs that the Spring/Summer 2012 camping season is well under way.

So here we go for the Ninja 500…

101 Dalmatians (or any breed of dog, in any quantity) allowed at Campingninja’s dog friendly campsites. 
 
117 days to go until the start of the Olympics and the party of happy campers Camping at the Games.

1 campsite available to book in beautiful Italy for anyone looking to escape Olympic fever in the UK this summer.
 
44 Spring daffodils brightening up the back garden.

More than 9 consecutive sunny days in a row in the Monkton Avenue area over the last couple of weeks and plenty of degrees warm enough for comfortable camping.

1 great Real Campers Meet Real Campsites campaign launched for keep it real campers.

5 whole more months left of every ninjas favourite, Spring/Summer camping season.

7 individual space raiders left in the bag for me to munch on while diarising the Ninja 500.

2 free days off work for the Easter weekend coming up.

4 spaces taken up with passengers in the ninja wagon, and 4 friends coming on this weekend’s camping trip.

8 precious centimetres of breathing space between each passenger with camping baggage squashed along the back seat of the ninja wagon.

10 minutes estimated until they all get slightly claustrophobic and annoyed!

A 12 track mixtape to listen to in the ninja wagon on our journey to the campsite – because for camping weekends away, it’s not just about where you’re going, but the fun you have on the way to getting there too.

3 pitches booked at the campsite and 173 miles of scenic driving to take in en-route.     

A quick adding up on my solar powered camping calculator (because doesn’t everyone always take one of those camping with them?) totals an almost perfect 501.  That means 1 more space raider to eat, yummy!  Then the Ninja 500 is complete.  Magic!