My mother began her list. What should we take with us? Not a lot, since it was going to be hot, very hot. Swimsuits, beach towels, flipflops, regular towels, toiletries, clothes, hats, but not sunscreen. Why not sunscreen?! Wasn’t sun protection vital for a beachside holiday? Yes, it probably was, but in those far-off days we didn’t know much about the dangers of the sun’s rays. We had never heard of the ozone layer, but my parents were still very strict about bringing us indoors during the hottest part of the day. “Only mad dogs and Englishman go out in the midday sun”, my father sometimes quoted to us. So, they insisted that our family came inside for several hours to lie on our beds, rest and read. We didn’t resist because we were used to this routine, and we all loved to read.
It took us some time to get the car and ourselves ready. The day before our departure, I knew that my father would be putting our two canvas waterbags into a tub of water for 24 hours. This was to prepare them for being filled with water just before we were to leave. He tied these bulging bags onto the car door handles outside. As we drove along, the draft created would cool the bags and keep the water inside cold and refreshing.
Finally, we had everything packed into the car and were ready to leave, at last! We children were super-excited. We didn’t depart instantly, though. We had to go to bed early first, because we would be leaving very early the next day to beat the worst of the heat. The heat was a huge problem, in fact. Cars did not have air-conditioning. I remember that we draped large towels over the car seats to stop ourselves from sticking to the vinyl. Leaving the car windows open was not always a perfect solution to the heat, either. To have the air blowing against your skin was much better than feeling enclosed in an oven and being baked alive. It was stifling, unbearable, oppressive, so the windows stayed open. The disadvantage of having the windows open was that the noise of the incoming draft air was wearing. It didn’t help that dust-covered us and that an occasional insect joined us inside, too. Then panic ensued, with much arm-waving and shouting from the five of us, to get out of the car whatever had just flown in.
At long last, our expedition was underway. My parents woke us up at 4am so that we could make an early start and beat the worst of the heat. We children were bleary-eyed and only half-awake, which at least meant that the three of us in the back seat didn’t squabble for the first hour or two. My mother always prepared sandwiches for us to eat on the way, and we had our waterbags ready. We were self-sufficient. Just as well, as there weren’t restaurants, cafés, and rest areas along the way.
