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There is nothing better than waking up to sun streaming through your window, providing you don't have a hangover or have overslept an important meeting. Birds singing outside, green trees, duvet cover minus a duvet. The fan that's as close to your head as possible, is shunting at maximum speed and you sit up and talk into and have a quiet laugh at yourself and your kiff robot voice.

Its seven AM and sweat is already forming in the folds of your elbows and behind your knees, and you stumble out of bed towards the kitchen for a session in front of the open fridge. On the way you whack on some Jack Johnson and nod your head to it, in that reggae/ska-beat kind of way.

Summer is in the air, it's in your body and it makes you stoked. No matter how hung or tired you are, you are still dripping with happiness. No matter how much your clothes are sticking to your body or how many mosquitoes have chowed your ears and ankles the night before, you are still cruising your pad with a silly grin on your face. You chow some fruit, coz its summer time and you can be healthy, and mission outside to scope out the wind factor before making plans for the day.

You step into the sun and feel it raking your skin. Like a camel protecting its eyes with its lashes you look around and take everything in. What an awesome day and to top it off it's a Saturday and you have the whole weekend to soak up the rays, surf and jam like it's the Christmas weekend. You're air strumming to Jack and you think about Hawaii and how insane it would be to live there. You yearn to leave your day job and head out into the horizon on a wooden boat with a group of your friends, boards and beers. You yearn for that tropical paradise, that dream, that life…

After about twenty minutes of daydreaming and throwing random rocks at an empty coke can, you have a revelation. Why not make a mission to your own tropical paradise for the weekend. Why dream about it when you can just get in your car and do it. Ok so it might not be actual Hawaii, but it's certainly not your home or local yokal break.

From personal experience, I can honestly say you don't have to go far and it doesn't have to be expensive. You can drive thirty minutes to an arb campsite, set up for the weekend and feel a hundred miles away. There are a couple of things that would be handy for adventures like this, like a tent, but otherwise it's pretty easy and painless. Before simply jumping in your automobile though, you do need to pack a couple of crucial goods to guarantee a good weekend away. So whether you use this as a guide or a checklist, use it and get yourself and your connections away for the weekend.

First things first, you need to hook up a couple of mates. It's safer, its way more entertaining and you can split costs and make the vakansie cheaper. Try and organise a tent or two before heading. This is simply because in South Africa you can never really tell when it is going to rain, so rather be prepared for it than having soggy sleeping bags. Once you have borrowed your sister's boyfriend's parent's old tent, you need to round up some food and utensils.

As far as food goes you need to be simple and cost effective. And you do need food in case the place you end up at doesn't have any shops nearby. The best thing to do is to organise something for each meal. It sounds like admin but it's not really. Go to the cupboard or closest Pick N Pay and buy some cereal for breakfasts. Get a bunch or rolls or bread depending on the amount of stragglers going with you for lunches, supper and emergency binge sessions.

Tinned food is always good, just make sure you take a tin opener or a MacGyver knife, and always take some fruit to prevent scurvy and to fight off colds and bugs. Finally buy a hoard of braai meat. Anything you can cook on a fire is the easiest and usually the tastiest. Don't forget to get some chips and biscuits, and maybe some jam or peanut butter. Also, before leaving, full up a couple of two litre coke bottles with water. You never know when this'll come in handy. With food sorted you need some tools and weapons.

Take a sharp knife of sorts, and even if its just one, take a set including a knife, a fork and a spoon (The more the better though, as you can have group meals instead of watching each other eat while you are waiting for a spoon or fork). Pack paper plates and cups and take a tin opener and a bottle opener. If you forget the bottle opener, don't panic- you'll just have to learn the bottle on bottle trick? Take toilet paper. Always take toilet paper. If you need a reason for that, then you have never been on a long road trip or camping, and you will learn quickly. Because it's summer, try organising some Tabard or mozzie repellent and don't forget sunscreen.

Torches are always handy, and braai tongs are a luxury. Organise some wood or charcoal to. Most importantly, don't forget the entertainment. This department covers the musical instruments and the booze. If you are planning a lot of drinking and hula dancing, take some coke or cream soda for the morning after. Once all of this is organised, which should take maximum one hour, put everything into a cooler box with lots of ice, tie the boards to the roof of the holiday car and throw some boardies, a towel and maybe a long-sleeved shirt into a bag. Pack a sarong too, you'd be surprised how much a sarong works for these weekends and you are ready to head.

Wherever you are in South Africa, I can almost guarantee there will be a cool destination within an hour's drive. And if you feel like going further, no ones stopping you. You don't even need a map book, just stick to the coast and look for a campsite with a good break and stop. Obviously take some money for the camp; most places are around R30 bucks. Take some good tunes for the trip and just mission. There are of course other items that could improve your stay, like mattresses, chairs, a beer keg and a camping light. These are mere luxuries and one can do without them though.

The key to these weekend getaways is to be positive and adventurous. You need to use initiative where your packing skills have failed you and you need to be able to chill out and relax. Using this checklist, your mates, a car and your kit, you are set for the ultimate weekend away, no more excuses. South Africa is one of the most beautiful countries in the world and boasts an even more insane coastline and most of us don't even know it.

So with summer here its time to make a mission and check out our very own tropical paradise, jolling, bonding with mates and getting some good surf all on the same ride. Enjoy.

Dos and Don'ts

Do's

• Stay in a legal campsite (the whole staying in a random spot has been tried and tested and doesn't work) plus campsites have ablutions, fireplaces and water.
• Be friendly to fellow campers and try to keep a peaceful environment (even if they are a bunch of doos's)
• Make sure you have some emergency cash (doesn't have to be a thousand bucks), but odds are you are going to a remote destination where ATM machines are still screened on Beyond 2000 at the local village.
• Be safe and cautious. The only reason something lame like this is on the list is because it's realistic. In this day and age you have to look out for yourself, as well as your kit and equipment. So lock expensive and sentimental stuff up, make sure your cooler box is baboon and child proof, etc-you get the vibe.
• Keep all your rubbish in bags or bins. Don't be a litterbug.
• Take lots of pics… lots.

Don'ts

• Don't be weird and start random bush fires. Keep them safe and in designated areas.
• No destruction or vandalism of nature. Shouldn't be a request, should just not be done.
• Don't take sweets and other goodies from strangers…
• Don't poach! That means don't pick mussels, dive for crays or anything like that unless you have a licence. It doesn't matter how hungry you are, respect your ocean.
• Don't be a dick and sit at a chilled campsite with techno crap blaring out of your car boot.
• Don't ever challenge large Afrikaans farmers in the campsite next to you. If they are driving Isuzu's and Hilux', odds are they can drink you under the table and *$#k you up quite properly.
• Don't be a kook and drop in on the locals.
• Don't eat the foliage.

Camping Checklist

Extreme Survival Gear

• Tent/s
• Sleeping bags
• Coke
• Mates (the kiff type)
• Boards
• Towels
• Sharp MacGyver knife -and forks, spoons etc
• Tin opener
• Paper plates (make sure you chuck them)
• Drinking vessels
• Bread board
• Toilet paper
• Mozzie repellent
• Braai tongs
• Sunscreen
• Wood/charcoal and firelighters
• matches
• Cooler box filled with the food
• Cooler box filled with ice and beer
• Random musical instrument
• Sarong
• Boardies
• Fishing rod (for the type that want to catch there dinner)
• Emergency blanket and cash
• First aid stuff, like plasters, scalpels and Methyalate
• More beer
• Sunglasses

Food Stuff:

• Cereal plus long life milk
• Rolls and bread
• Marg
• Peanut butter/jam
• Chips
• Tinned food (can range from tuna to bake beans to pineapple)
• Fruit
• Biscuits
• Water
• Braai meat (main source of food)
• Cheese (for the adventurous)
• Tomato sauce
• Beer-booze and ice.

Stuff that would make you stay 5 star