It looks as if we has restarted our at least monthly family camping trips after a hiatus of a couple of months. Most of the time, we go to Ho`omaluhia in the foot hills of the Ko`olau Mountain Range. This time was no different. We camped at Kahua Nui, which is the camp site with its parking lot closest to the camp grounds. Yeah, I like this site for not having to slog stuff too far.

Here is a picture of the Ko`olau range.




And in the distance is Mt. Olomana, which is a great hike with spectacular views from any of the three peaks.




It was really windy with the winds regularly at 15 - 30 mph with 50 mph gusts. Setting up our two 20x20 dining flies was the first order of business. And with only two guys, the wind made it exciting. The entire canopy took off on us with a strong gust and was grounded by one guy holding on with one hand. So we positioned one of the corner poles of each fly next to a pole sunk into the ground reinforced with concrete. They were held in place with a lashing and neither fly went anywhere in the wind. In the past, we have had flies lift up off the ground even after we guys them down with ratchet straps. With the corner poles lashed down, that didn't happen this time. But the wind was strong enough to bend one of the 1" steel pipes.

Here's the lashing.




To give you an idea of the wind, the tarp I set up for the kids was billowing like a sail almost the entire time we were there.




And the flames from our camp fire was going every which way with the swirling winds.




Despite the wind, we had great fun as usual. We were graced with our newest camper, barely one month old. This is actually an almost normal initiation as we tend to take the kids camping from an early age.






more to follow...

Hey, the kid has boxing gloves on in your 7th picture, and he has that determined "Rocky" look

More pics...


As usual, we eat a lot and very well. No exception this time.

Our meals included chicken long rice, kalua pig (cooked in our fire pit), fried rice, char siu, Chinese veggies, guava chicken, fish and sausages cooked hobo style, eggs, sausages, bagels, fruits, and snacks and desserts galore including pastries, malasada, pies...

And that's just the stuff I can remember.

Here are some eating and cooking pictures.








The kids just loved the "alter." They ate on it, played on it, danced on it...



The same can be said about the back of my truck.




More cooking...




And a way cool antique stove one of the guys found and purchased.




And yet more to come...

more kids at play...






















...

final batch...finally!

We let the kids make and maintain their own fire. They had to gather their own tinder, kindling and fire wood. They kept it going for most of the day until it was time for bed. The parents let it burn down as a companion to our campfire.




The kids were kids and explored and gathered stuff.




The guys did what guys do.




Some of the critters we saw were chicken. And the kids found a clutch of eggs. We left both the chicken and the eggs alone and ate what we brought.




The kids find all kinds of stuff to play with and to learn from, like this caterpillar.




My daughter gave this to my wife.




There were trees that would have been great to climb (if it wasn't in a botanical garden).




And some not so good to climb.




And trees that were just downright stinky.




And once again, a tiny little grasshopper hung out on my tent pole to wish us good bye.




Thanks for looking. We are going to try to make it out again for Spring Break.

He gets that from my buddy, his dad. Our one month old camper. The other little ones you see were camping with us at about one month old too.

Most excellent! I especially like that you let the kids have their own fire.

-Blast

Knew I shouldn't have looked. Your photos have just tripled my cabin fever. Can't wait 'till the snow melts here. Tired of bundling up outside.

Lovely pictures! Looks like you all had a great time together.

Thanks for your comments. We have been letting the kids have their own fire for quite some time now. The first 2-3 camping trips, they rubbed sticks for hours! And they gathered wood for quite some time too. What a great way to keep them busy. That showed me they were serious, so then I showed them how to actually start it. They get lots of whitish powder from rubbing the sticks the wrong way. I told them they need a darker powder from friction. Then I let them use a ferro rod. They LOVE that!

Then they learn to keep their fire going even if they let it burn down a bit by fanning the coals.

That's a steva stove. They don't come any better than that.

[quote=Leigh_Ratcliffe]That's a steva stove. They don't come any better than that. [/quote


The stove fires like a blow torch and sounds like a jet engine. Waaay cool! I want one too now.

the stove is a Svea 123 --and if you can pronounce Svea you are one up on me--see-va??svay??..anyway if you only want one stove get this one..looks like a great time Aloha,you live in a wonderful place.

Now I want one of those Svea 123's. Any ideas of what I should expect to pay for one?

S-veah-ah. At least that's the best I can think of.

Hey Aloha,

Nice family camping pictures, makes me look forward to spring as we still have 3 feet of snow on the ground here!

I bought a couple of Svea 123 stoves off e-Bay about a year ago. There is considerable collector interest in them but you can get a decent one for around $50.00. New ones are available from e-Bay retailers for about $100.00 but I think they are now made in Asia intead of Sweden. There are a couple of companies selling them on the internet like The Great Outdoors Depot. and A and H Enterprises .

Some reviews from "The Backpacker" can be found here .

I did a post last summer about Svea stoves that generated some comment from out ETS group, it can be found here .

I have both the Svea 123 stove and the Optimus Hunter 8R, both are of a similar design, but the Hunter has the burner off the tank in a horizontal manner and it fits in a compact metal case. I also did a brief write-up on using the Hunter 8R found here .

I prefer the Svea 123 to the 8R design, as I find the tank heats up better therefore generating more pressure and a hotter flame.

Svea 123's came in a few versions but the biggest difference was that the Svea 123R's had a built-in cleaning needle that is handy. I have both a 123 and a 123R, I find the original 123 has better simmer adjustment but both versions work well.

When you light this type of stove it usually "freaks-out" the people around you as flame surrounds the outside of the tank to heat it up and generate pressure. After you use it for a while it becomes easy to do.

I recommend one of these old design stoves and I keep one in my work truck to heat my bush meals with. It is not as easy to use as a modern cannister or propane stove, but cheaper to operate and fun to play with.

Mike