WOW, has it really been seven weeks since Download???
Last time I posted on here was the day before and I was
getting really excited. Now, that seems
like a very distant memory.
So, how was it?
Well, it was a bit of a mixed bag if I am honest, This time round we had warm sunshine,
torrential rain and mud…lots of mud! Oh,
and I caught a stomach bug :(
Those of you who follow me on Facebook will have no doubt seen my photos but I also wanted to share our escapades as well. So over the next week or so, I am going to post my journal of what we got up to -- warts and all!
Sit back ... it's going to be a bumpy ride!!!
Wednesday 10th
June 2015
I didn't sleep well the night before, and I packed and
un-packed my large back pack several times before I was completely
satisfied! I had expected to be more
organised about stuff this year as having done it before, I knew what I should
and shouldn't take. It didn't make the
packing any easier though!
This year, I was going again with my brother (Chris), his
friend (also called Chris), and my brother in law "BIL" (Simon). Again, I would be the only girl in our group,
but that didn't bother me.
My brother in law was going to collect me en-route to my
brother's house. He called round early,
I was still in my PJ's as I hadn't showered yet. He decide to leave me to it and headed into
town to get a few more bits.
He came back an hour later and off we went.
After packing (and re-packing) the car several times, it was
about 12.30pm when we finally got on the road.
We had a pit-stop at the local supermarket to stock up on last minute
supplies and I wanted to buy the latest edition of "Kerrang" for it's
Download review:
Download Festival is held annually at Donington
Park , next to East Midlands
Airport
After taking the wrong turn off a roundabout (and having to
go round a second time), we finally got parked up at about 2.30pm! As we had so much stuff, we had decided that
we would make two trips to the car. The
first trip would just be the essentials … camping stuff and the booze!!!
Last time we did Download, we didn't queue all that long to
get into the campsite, but this time, the queue was humongous! When we started queuing, it was about
3pm. I suppose we should have been
thankful on that first day that the weather was hot and sunny because if it had
been raining, the queuing would not have been fun.
The queue moved at a snails pace too. We'd move for a little bit, then we'd be
stopped for about 10-15 minutes. Every
time the queue moved forward, there'd be this mad surge of bodies, tents, and
trolley's all pushing forward! It was a
bit bonkers!
We cracked open a few cans of Strongbow to share whilst we
queued.
Eventually, at about 5pm, we reached the entrance to the
campsite (huzzah). We managed to dodge
the bag inspection, and collected our wristbands. This year they were introducing a
"cashless" system which worked off an RFID tag attached to the
wristband:
It was a strange system to use (imagine scanning a barcode
at a supermarket checkout), but it worked well for us and was better than
having lots of cash on us, although we did have some cash -- just in case!
So we're here, and we're finally in the campsite … WOOP WOOP!!!
Now all we had to do was find somewhere to pitch our
tents!!!
Last time we camped in the "white" campsite which
was quite easy to get to. We headed off
that way again, but it didn't look like we would have much joy there this time
round! Even though the music doesn't
start for another two days, the campsite was already heaving! We traipsed through the "blue"
camp, and saw nothing, so we stopped at the edge of the "red"
camp. My brother and "BIL",
decided to go off and look for somewhere to accommodate four tents. I was left to guard the booze:
So I settled in for a long wait. I watched them do a lap of the
"red" camp before they indicated they were going to look further a
field. I took the opportunity to text my
other half and let him know we'd arrived, listened to a bit of Slipknot and
cracked open a cider :)
Eventually, my brother rang me to say they'd found
somewhere. He said they'd get the tents
pitched and come and get me. "Don't
be too long," I replied, "I need a pee!"
They were gone ages (well over half an hour), so I continued
to people watch. I watched these two
lads half-pitch a tent and then get told off by the camp-site security for
pitching in the wrong place! Of course,
I could have gone and told them they couldn't camp there before the security
came along, but it was more fun waiting to watch what happened (Oo, aren't I
nasty)!
Finally, I was rescued as the lads returned! We were pitched up in the "pink"
campsite, but it was still a walk to get there, past the outdoor cinema, the
inflatable church and wrestling ring and through the "black" camp,
which would lead to the "pink" camp (which you entered down a rather
steep hill). It was a bit precarious
with over-ladened trolley's which constantly spilled their contents (mainly
cider) or tipped over completely (in the case of my "BIL's" trolley -
which he named "Indy").
It was a bit comical, but eventually we got to the
tents. It was a good spot too! Having said that, they had only just opened
the camp site up and it was only Wednesday! By Friday, it would be heaving with
tents and gazebos!
This time round we were all having our own tent as last time
we had shared, and my brother didn't want to do that again. I was happy to do that as it meant I had more
space and more privacy (something I would be thankful of later on), although,
my tent had the biggest porch and so I was lumbered with all the food and drink
supplies!
With the airbed up, and stuff sorted, it was time to tackle
my first trip to the portaloos!
Portaloos are not much fun at the best of times and last
time it had been a bit of a faff trying to un-do layers of clothing whilst
trying not to have an accident! It had
all been a bit traumatic last time, and so this time round I invested in a
Shewee, which I had been reassured would make things a lot easier.
They do say you are supposed to "practice" before
hand and, I didn't. As a result, the
aforementioned "accident" occurred, and I walked back to the tent
feeling rather damp!
Not a good start -- the shewee was banished to the tent for
the rest of the festival!
So after a wardrobe change, I joined the others for a few
tins of cider whilst we waited to hear from my brother's friend, who'd had to
work that day and wouldn't be able to get to us until after 6pm. I think it was gone 7pm when he finally
joined us -- after he'd had to ring my brother for directions to our campsite.
After we'd given him time to settle in (and had a few more
tins), we all headed back to our car to get the rest of our stuff, and
tonight's supper! It was quite a trek there
and back!
En-route back to the campsite, we stopped off in the
campsite village to collect our portable phone chargers, and buying the
official programme and lanyard, was a good opportunity to see how the cashless
system worked!
It was gone 10pm when we got back to the campsite and we
didn't chow down on barbeque sausage and burgers until after 11pm. My "BIL" had brought along an
excellent 10-litre box of home-brew cider which, (despite a leak), we managed
to devour between us in just over an hour!
By midnight I was pretty much done in. I think my brother would have liked to stay
up longer, but I was tired (and cold) and ready to crawl into my sleeping
bag.
Which is what I did, and so ended day one…
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