After the fair debacle that was day 1, I decided to embrace the concept of pacing. Mainly because, as you get older kids - and if you learn nothing from your old, uncle Tenny (and believe me, you'll learn nothing from your old, uncle Tenny) then learn this: as one gets older, ones ability to recover diminishes dramatically. So, while I wasn't what you'd consider 'hungover,' I wasn't all butterflies and moonbeams neither.
Water became my saviour this day. Both from the bottle and the sky. Because, yes we're in Victoria and yes, it's going to rain at some stage. It did not, however, piss down like it was threatening too. Just a few spatters here and there; enough to take the heat down but not enough to really care about.
So, after breakfast and a particularly awesome set by Graveyard Train; who played to a crowd of people dressed as mummies especially for their song, 'Move like a mummy;' Lady Hem and I retired to the tent for a bit of a read of the paper and a bit of rest out of the sun. That's when I realised that I hadn't heard any news for a couple of days and first read about the horrific earthquake/tsunami that hit Japan. It certainly brought a sober perspective on the morning, I can tell you. We read, we talked and finally, we heard stirrings from the tents beside us. Yes, the Irish boys were awake and almost ready to take on the morning. Almost. It seems that, during some time in the night, they'd managed to lock their keys in the car.
'Ah hah!' we thought. 'RACV is on site. We'll just get the boys to call them, they'll come and rescue them in a jiffy.' But they were having none of it. One of the boys borrowed a hammer from another camper and they set to work trying to prise the driver's side door open. Now, I don't know if you've ever tried to break into a car, but this - to me - seemed the least likely way to do it. But no, they assured us, we've done it before. They've done it before???!!!
Lady Hem and I were about ready to go back down to the stage area but, we couldn't force ourselves away from the spectacle. Neither could a few of the other campers around us. Believe me, it's quite a sight to see two arguing Irishmen attempt to prise a door open with a hammer, while one sticks his arm in the very small gap to try opening the lock and the other tries not to smash the window as he's pulling the door back on it's hinges. We couldn't watch anymore, so we left them to it. Later on, as it got colder, Lady Hem went back to get her hoodie and told me that they'd managed to get the car open and you could barely see where the door had been pulled. I didn't believe that for a minute but, when I went back to get a jacket for myself, she was right.
So, highlights (apart from that) of the rest of the day? Pulled apart by Horses - bratty, snotty, young boy punk at it's British finest (I think they're from Leeds); Best Coast - American/Californian 60's girl pop with grunt (it should've been sunny for them; oh well); our own Robert Forster - Go Betweens classics mixed with his own solo work (you haven't lived till you've seen Rob Forster live) and Imelda May - 50's rockabilly/soul/gospel/blues belter (best crowd singalongs of the day). Most boring, pointless and irrelevant band of the day (you realise this is just my opinion, right?)? Belle and Sebastian. Seriously, what is all the hoopla?
Anyway, a great weekend was had by all and, if you ever get the chance to come over here and you time it for either Meredith or Golden Plains, do yourself a favour and go. Meredith if you're young, Golden Plains if you're old.
And I'll leave you all to figure out the age brackets.
Showing posts with label weekends away. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weekends away. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Golden Plains
Just back from a weekend of camping in Meredith, for the Golden Plains music festival. First time for us at this particular festival, but not the first time. You see, Meredith Music Festival is held in the same place, but Golden Plains is the smaller one. And, usually, a much better line up of bands.
After dropping our dogs off to a kennel (only second time in their lives that we've had to do this. And they're both 13), we headed off to Meredith. It's only about twenty minutes or so from our house so, before we knew it, there we were. Now, to find the best spot to camp.
After driving around for a while, we decided on The South Pines. Close enough to the main amphitheatre, but far enough away to not be too disturbed come sleep time. Next job? Set up the tent.
We bought a new tent, especially for this weekend. We'd had a practice set up in our backyard but, unfortunately, we didn't have quite enough space, so this was the first time we could really get the whole thing up. And, while it wasn't quite a debacle, it wasn't pretty. Have you ever set a tent up in a howling gale? Then you'll know how we went. If not, imagine trying to read a newspaper in a hurricane, and you'll get the general idea. Not only was it a howling gale, it was about 27 degrees, so the wind was hot. In short, we sweated more than if we'd done a 10k run. Turns out, we also set the thing up backwards. It has an open back, that you can attach to your car. This is supposed to give you more room and make it easy to transfer things from the car to the tent and back again. We managed to do this but at the wrong end. Oh well, next time.
Once the first beer went down (for me, obviously Lady Hem isn't drinking), we headed on down to the stage. It seems there are a lot of 60's revival bands around. Certainly the first band we heard whilst setting up were doing this. But the first band we wanted to see were The Cosmic Psychos.
You'd have to be Australian to know who they are. I don't think they ever played overseas, though they may have toured with L7 in the 90's but I'm not entirely sure. Anyway, they're an old fashioned, Aussie rock 'n' roll band. What's that? Well; here are some song titles. Dead Roo, Nice day to go to the Pub, Fish and Chips, What are you lookin' at? and the list goes on. I've seen them a few times and it's always a bit of a treat. They play well, they don't take themselves too seriously and they don't outstay their welcome. What more could you ask to 3 in the afternoon?
Still hot, so more drinking was to be had. A lot more. Bad mistake. Mainly because I don't remember much of the rest of the afternoon. I was drinking Kilkenny, which I found out from our Irish neighbours (two boys who set up a tent next to us), is the Irish Fosters. IE: nobody in Ireland drinks the shit. But, I did, coz I like it. And it comes in big cans. So, after 5 of these, I decide to keep the buzz going and get two Pink Flamingos. The Pink Flamingo is the bar on the grounds of Meredith. A Pink Flamingo is Vodka and grapefruit juice and it ROCKS.
I had two in quick succession but the one thing I forgot to do (besides drink water) was eat. I'd had breakfast but that was about it. So, as the Clean took to the stage (a band I really wanted to see), I pretty much passed out on the ground. I remember hearing them, but I didn't see them at all. I also remember vomiting out my nose. Well, something ran out my nose and it tasted like vomit. Glad you've read this far, hey?
By the time I was ready to get back up, Joanna Newsom was playing. She was alright. But, I was fast falling down, so we decided to go back to the tent to have a little nanna nap. The Irish boys were up, so I spent a bit of time drunkenly talking to them, while my wife laughed her arse off. I didn't end up going to sleep, but I did end up drinking another couple of beers.
By around 10pm, I was feeling better, so we all went back down and watched The Hold Steady, who fuckin' cranked it. They've lost their keyboard player, so they've recruited another guitarist. At several points during their set, they had three guitars going. It was a sonic joy. But, enough of this.
We went back to the tent and went to bed. Now that I've riveted you with this tale, why not join me tomorrow for more scintillating descriptions of our weekend that just makes you feel like you were there. Why not indeed.
After dropping our dogs off to a kennel (only second time in their lives that we've had to do this. And they're both 13), we headed off to Meredith. It's only about twenty minutes or so from our house so, before we knew it, there we were. Now, to find the best spot to camp.
After driving around for a while, we decided on The South Pines. Close enough to the main amphitheatre, but far enough away to not be too disturbed come sleep time. Next job? Set up the tent.
We bought a new tent, especially for this weekend. We'd had a practice set up in our backyard but, unfortunately, we didn't have quite enough space, so this was the first time we could really get the whole thing up. And, while it wasn't quite a debacle, it wasn't pretty. Have you ever set a tent up in a howling gale? Then you'll know how we went. If not, imagine trying to read a newspaper in a hurricane, and you'll get the general idea. Not only was it a howling gale, it was about 27 degrees, so the wind was hot. In short, we sweated more than if we'd done a 10k run. Turns out, we also set the thing up backwards. It has an open back, that you can attach to your car. This is supposed to give you more room and make it easy to transfer things from the car to the tent and back again. We managed to do this but at the wrong end. Oh well, next time.
Once the first beer went down (for me, obviously Lady Hem isn't drinking), we headed on down to the stage. It seems there are a lot of 60's revival bands around. Certainly the first band we heard whilst setting up were doing this. But the first band we wanted to see were The Cosmic Psychos.
You'd have to be Australian to know who they are. I don't think they ever played overseas, though they may have toured with L7 in the 90's but I'm not entirely sure. Anyway, they're an old fashioned, Aussie rock 'n' roll band. What's that? Well; here are some song titles. Dead Roo, Nice day to go to the Pub, Fish and Chips, What are you lookin' at? and the list goes on. I've seen them a few times and it's always a bit of a treat. They play well, they don't take themselves too seriously and they don't outstay their welcome. What more could you ask to 3 in the afternoon?
Still hot, so more drinking was to be had. A lot more. Bad mistake. Mainly because I don't remember much of the rest of the afternoon. I was drinking Kilkenny, which I found out from our Irish neighbours (two boys who set up a tent next to us), is the Irish Fosters. IE: nobody in Ireland drinks the shit. But, I did, coz I like it. And it comes in big cans. So, after 5 of these, I decide to keep the buzz going and get two Pink Flamingos. The Pink Flamingo is the bar on the grounds of Meredith. A Pink Flamingo is Vodka and grapefruit juice and it ROCKS.
I had two in quick succession but the one thing I forgot to do (besides drink water) was eat. I'd had breakfast but that was about it. So, as the Clean took to the stage (a band I really wanted to see), I pretty much passed out on the ground. I remember hearing them, but I didn't see them at all. I also remember vomiting out my nose. Well, something ran out my nose and it tasted like vomit. Glad you've read this far, hey?
By the time I was ready to get back up, Joanna Newsom was playing. She was alright. But, I was fast falling down, so we decided to go back to the tent to have a little nanna nap. The Irish boys were up, so I spent a bit of time drunkenly talking to them, while my wife laughed her arse off. I didn't end up going to sleep, but I did end up drinking another couple of beers.
By around 10pm, I was feeling better, so we all went back down and watched The Hold Steady, who fuckin' cranked it. They've lost their keyboard player, so they've recruited another guitarist. At several points during their set, they had three guitars going. It was a sonic joy. But, enough of this.
We went back to the tent and went to bed. Now that I've riveted you with this tale, why not join me tomorrow for more scintillating descriptions of our weekend that just makes you feel like you were there. Why not indeed.
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