Easter is the best time of year to go camping. It usually has the nicest weather with its cool mornings and nights a welcome reprieve after the scorching heat of summer.

Easter is such a great time to be outdoors that a lot of the more popular fishing/camping destinations are booked out over the four day break or on the weekends. While we all like to go camping at one of these popular destinations to get away from it all, there reality is that there will be neighbours near by there as well. Take the time to introduce yourself and you might make some new friends.

It’s always nice to stay at a friendly camp site where other campers are happy to lend a hand if you need to set up in a hurry. Just remember to off your assistance to your fellow campers.

For first time campers, a bit of help never goes astray. If it’s obvious that the people nearby haven’t much experience when it comes to setting up camp or are struggling in some bad weather a polite offer to help will usually be accepted, and it can be the start of a great friendship.

When setting up your own camp take a look at your neighbour’s set up first. You don’t want them looking straight into your tent or camper, and I’m sure they feel the same way. If you need to have tent pegs stuck into the ground close to where the neighbours have to travel to access facilities tie a plastic bag on the end of each peg to make them more visible.

If it looks like rain check to see where the channelled rainwater will end up. You don’t really want to move all the run-off water from the fly into the neighbour’s living area do you? Make sure that you look to see where your trench ends up as well.

There are lots of really powerful camping lights on the market today from 12v to LP gas. Some of these are strong enough to illuminate a whole lot more than the camp site where they are doing service. The idea is to set up your light for your use only – not everyone wants to lay in bed and read QFM by the spare light from next door. My advice is to take a good look at the lighting set up and keep it in house.

At many different locations up and down the coast or at freshwater impoundments there will have a core of old hands who know the area backwards. They will know all the traps and pit falls of the fishing in differing weather conditions or tide. Their input into fishing and camping can be invaluable so don’t be backward in coming forwards, take the opportunity to make new friends and reap the benefits to follow.