Where to begin (besides the beginning)? What an amazing holiday away. It's been a while since my last attempt at the blog; no doubt those of you who check it daily would have given up hope (haha...). But, never fear, I've returned and am going to try to relate the events of the last week.
Getting ready on Wednesday was a hurried journey, getting everything ready for Garvo and I to follow Brent and Tawna up the coast. At the last minute, Alec decided that he needed a holiday and joined us for the cruise. We pulled out through Sydney traffic and drove for about an hour and half or so before calling in for the first Maccas stop at "F3 Northbound McDonalds" (all class). The beginning of the abuse hurled at locals began while we were still in greater Sydney, which is never a good sign, but full marks go to Will for allowing Garvo and Al to sit in the back watching DVDs on his latop, while he drove 4 hours straight! But, having reached a place that none of us could pronounce (and being the only beemer for about 120 kms - yuck!), we changed over and proceeded to Coffs Harbour for the night. The motel was reasonable enough, but there was a distinct lack of restaurants that did not fall into the fast food category. After driving for ages, including some improptu off-roading, we found a nice Indian restuarant and snapped up some much-needed food then. After, we snuck down to the local, only to find the Wallabies celebrating one of their players' birthday. Lote, Jeremy Paul, George Gregan, Matt Giteau and Mark Gerrard were all there. Very cool. After Garvo nearly started a small biff with Jeremy Paul, we decided to head home and get ready for the remainder of the drive north lined up for the next day.
We set off nice and early with a freshly charged laptop/DVD player and cruised north with no dilemas. We picked up Dalts and Tones in Ballina and found Shivs and AP when we arrived in Lennox Head (where we were staying). To our surprise, the houses were fantastic. Huge, great layout with nice balconies, perfect for Circle of Death, poker and Dickhead. After Garvo and I finished a shop for our house (Danny and Meals, Alec and Garvo and me - with Bec & Sandon and Brad to come later), we sat and began drinking. Parallel imported cases of Becks for $40 meant a shitload of beers and good times. Checking my Flickr account will show you how many beers we drank in 2 nights, between about 5 guys. Not a bad effort. The only real debacle was losing Circle of Death and having to skull a coffee plunger with 3/4 beer, 1/4 red wine (a soft skull by most accounts). But the night was enjoyable and we still had plenty left to do.
The next day, Garvo, Brent and I headed off fishing, but we lasted almost no time - incliment weather and boredom set in, so we headed back. Much cards and footy passing gave way to a trip to Nimbin. We drove for almost an hour to get there, but it was a freaky place. Everyone was stoned as, people were lighting up in the street and dealing openly. One of our party (not mentioning any names, DEALER) purchased some weed, but it we actually got a fair bit more than we were expecting - a solid bargain. We headed home and got stuck back into the beers and pot. Another very interesting night, and the first night represented in the photos I have.
The next day, Alec took me on a date for breakfast and we just lounged around until about 1pm. Then we all tried to get into gear to head to Byron and generally were in a massive shambles. Just as we were about to get on the bus, Shivs decided to check if I had the tickets. Which I didn't. So a mad dash and a change of plans meant that driving was in order.
After all the buggering around, we arrived at the festival. First port of call was Youthgroup, then Death Cab for Cutie, Mos Def, TV on the Radio, rest (with Something for Kate in the background), Grinspoon and DJ Shadow. All were fantastic, but TV on the Radio were outstanding live and Shadow was brilliant. I was so happy that I got to see him, and although the others thought he was a little too intense, I was pumped up. Grinspoon were also surprisingly tight, playing a lot of singles - meaning that we could all sing along.
Sunday was always going to be the bigger day. Better prepared and definitely no driving stood me in good stead for a massive night. Seeing as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah had pulled out, no one had to be there til 4 to see Snow Patrol, but Shivs and I had been tussling who was in the country and could fill the ???? spot (a blank set at 3pm). At the merest hint that it could be Arctic Monkeys, we decided it was definitely worth heading in for. As it turned out, it was someone a lot more exciting. The Vines had made a comeback (since the lead singer was diagnosed with Asbergers Syndromw, i.e. autism, he wasn't supposed to play live). That was pretty wicked, seeing as the Vines could have headlined the entire festival. Snow Patrol, a bit of You Am I, Jose Gonzales (though SO many people were there, we could barely hear and couldn't get in), Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a bit of Wolfmother...
Then Alec decided that we should try and meet his mate who is part of Bang Gang. While we thought we would be able to chill of the side of the stage, we got to stand with the DJs, in front of 8,000 people, dancing and acting like idiots. Necking vodka from one of their bottles (possibly laced with some coke or acid - we both started feeling a little weird later) we had an awesome time, then got to sit in the best position for Scissor Sisters. We then headed back for Brian Wilson, who had about 15,000 people doing the twist to Surfing USA. A long walk home, involving Dalts trying to steal a police cruiser and the best kebab ever, we managed to hijack a bus to take us back to Lennox.
The next two days were spent driving home, stopping for the night in Port Macquarie, where a power failure meant that one of my DVDs got stuck in the player. All in all, an amazing trip and definitely one that (hopefully) will be replicated in later years!
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
