When Camping don't forget the Utensils

Here is another tale from those 'dreadful' days in East Germany. We have now moved to 1955, it is summer school holidays and the boys are getting somewhat 'bored'. So, two friends and I cook up this plan to go camping. I had the use of my uncle's paddle boat, a two-seater that was plenty big enough for us three boys.
Everybody had to contribute to the 'expedition' as best they could. I supplied the boat and a rather large sausage knob of dried pea soup - courtesy of my Aunt Maria in Bavaria. These things were about a foot long and 4 - 5 inches in diameter and totally unheard of in East Germany.
My friend Siegfried, a little bit older than the rest of us, contributed the tent, a loaf of gluggy rye bread and a small tub of margarine. Michael, who lived next door, arrived with an amazing amount of Bock Wurst (German sausages) - well, his father was the local butcher and knew how to circumvent the rationing system in place in those days.

Everyone brought their own pillow and blankets, a few clean undies and presto - we were set. We lugged our goodies to the boathouse, retrieved the boat from the storage rack and launched it. Stowed everything and climbed aboard. Siegfried, being the oldest and tallest, got the front position to provide paddling power. Michael, being the youngest, perched in the middle. Me, being the boat's 'owner' and captain occupied the rear seat and controlled the rudder via foot pedals.
We went upriver, crossed a couple of lakes and proceeded a bit further  It took us quite a few hours, adults would have done the trip in two or three hours. We came upon a 'wild' camping place where there were already two tents pitched. We pulled up at the bank and asked the people if it was OK for us to join them. 'Of course, no problem, make yourself at home'.
Well, our first problem was to erect the tent. We struggled for about half an hour, the two couples camped there watching us with amusement. Finally, the two guys came over and said: "Need a hand boys?" Did we ever! They had the tent up in about two seconds flat, which you would expect from experienced campers.

We had a lovely afternoon cajoling about, swimming and exploring. When it came close to supper time, our stomachs were grumbling, we decided to do something about the food situation.
The two wives came over to see if they could lend a hand. How fortuitous! They asked us what we had, we showed them and their eyes just popped out of their heads when they saw the truckload of sausages! And then, the big hammer - what are you going to do with them and what are you going to cook them in.
We looked at each startled, realising we didn't pack any cooking or eating utensils - NOTHING.
Yes, you can eat Bock wurst cold, as it is, since the butcher has already cooked it and it only needs re-heating. BUT dried pea soup - it's a bit tough!
"Such a deal we have for you boys", the two women said. "You give us all your food and we'll keep you fed -  breakfast, Mittagessen (lunch) and Abendbrot (supper), and we'll do the dishes too". Did we have any choice, did we want any choice - NO. And what a bonus - no dishes!
There being no gas cookers or spirit stoves in them days, everything was done on an open camp fire. We sat around the fire in the evening to enjoy our supper and talk with the grown ups about camping life. When it was time the women shooed us off to bed: "Time for sleepies", they declared.
Next morning they served up boiled eggs (goodness knows where they got them from), gluggy rye bread and jam - absolutely delicious and far better than what we got at home.
Unfortunately, the two nights  we were allowed to stay away went by in a flash. We all had a great time, I'm sure our 'hosts' never had such an ample supply of Bock Wurst - BUT they never short changed us. We were fed and watered, and well looked after, the entire time we were there.

Simple pleasures - ain't they great!

To close, here is a picture of the intrepid captain himself (again apologies for the picture qualities - it's either the photographer, the film, the camera or the conditions in them days).

PS: I was an 'experienced' river captain by then, having earned my 'stripes'  in earlier adventures that will be subject to another blog in the future.