FESTIVAL

We pick up a hitch-hiker on the way to the festival, well it's probably about time we stop avoiding other travellers and get into the festival spirit eh?! Lovely chap can't remember his name, but can almost remember the smell of his feet resting on the seat behind my head. Quite hard to keep conversations about us-them, the man, love and oneness going whilst keeping at bay the incessant urge to strangle the smelly hippie and launch him from the vehicle along with the now infected cushion. Still, he did contribute to the fuel kitty, which should buy a few bottles of bleach!

Boom festival in Portugal was arid, this is post-apocalyptic, fallout wasteland! Dust blows in thick waves unearthed from vehicles misguided, confused and weary like overloaded camels blinded by a sandstorm and those who have abandoned their camels for foot and are shuffling at the roadside, clinching their maps and joining queues behind tens of others in-front of a man who has a high-vis jacket and a walkie talkie but wishes with every bone in his sun scorched and sweat sodden body that he didn't!

 

Ah beautiful chaos. We finally settle Vanny 'somewhere' amongst the madness and go about setting up for the week. Now one notably different and great thing about Australian festivals is that you can drive your vehicle right into the general camping and plonk it wherever you like and not be restricted to only the 'camper-van field' at the back end of the festival site. Which means, amongst other things that people go all-out on their campsites as they don't have to drag the entirety of their supplies and shelter through miles of knee deep mud, or any mud for that matter! Awesome to have your vehicle at a festival, let alone your home!

Awesome festival, did Jaimies injection a little early in the week so spent the first few days settling in and acclimatising / recovering. Nice though, when a festival's a week long it almost forces you to surrender the usual festival routine for an approach with a little more longevity and sustainability anyhow, especially given the heat in the days. Still however ended up being when most serious stomping was done!

 Dancing under the sprinklers, hooping and spinning, swimming in croc infested waters (which they advise you not to put your head under...) bush survival workshops with Koa (the man who claims survive for a couple of weeks on a hand full of ants), morning yoga, chi gong, meeting Alex Gray the famous visionary artist, making new friends, meeting old ones (Ro, a fantastic bloke I met at a festival two years ago and hadn't seen or spoke to since, turns out he now lives in Cairns as a GP which is hilarious if a little disconcerting) Poco Loco (the only bar at the festival where all drinks are FREE), insane fire performances, partying with loads of Japanese people! (lovely folk), hanging out with Tom Morris (Jaimies neighbour from the Gower who despite some misleading facebook reports is alive and well and hasn't been eaten by crocodiles!), adorning glow-stick genetalia, sitting on a huge flower sculpture watching the festival-world go by from above with some amusing French people, receiving skeena therapy, turning Vanny into a cocktail lounge!!!