stalwarts are back to enjoy the last few days of the holidays.

Those driving along South Road after the hurricane were amazed to see green and blue tents still standing.

Director of Agriculture and Fisheries Mr. John Barnes said he believed some campers had opted to stay through Felix.

"They paid for their place so I guess they wanted to get their money's worth,'' he said.

Last year more than 1,000 people registered to camp on almost 800 sites but fewer than in 1991 and 1992 which were big years for camping.

"It is very much a family event,'' said Mr. Barnes. "There are families that have done it for many years. It is one of Bermuda's less known traditions.'' Campers at Horseshoe Bay enjoying a sausage and mash lunch yesterday admitted they went home for the hurricane but came back on Wednesday.

They pegged tarpaulin over their possessions, tied their gas stove to a tree and returned to find everything damp but intact.

"People must have been surprised that people are still camping,'' said fireman Mr. Wendall Simmons. "But we didn't lose anything at all and neither did our neighbours.'' Mr. Simmons is one of about six families that have been camping together for the past 18 years.

"We are a bunch of friends that have been camping together for years. As we get married and have children the group extends,'' said Mrs. Donelle Brangman.

"Camping is the best stress reliever,'' she said. "We like being outside and away from civilisation.'' All of them, she said, had high stress jobs. She herself is a corporate administrator at the Bermuda Commercial Bank which is why she finds it amusing that some tourists assume they are "tent people'' living permanently in rustic comfort by the sea. Because of the hurricane, most people had packed up, she said, but the diehards had stayed on an extra week. The families sleep, eat and shower at camp with a special "solar bag'' that heats water during the day.

"This is when we come and just let loose. It's very relaxing. We rediscover ourselves,'' she said. "It is very good for the family. We keep in touch with each other and the bond is still there.'' BACK TO NATURE -- From left, Wendra Simmons, 7, Lucrecia Simmons, 9, and Daniel Brangman, 5, enjoy their last carefree days camping out at Horseshoe Bay before returning to civilisation next week.