Return to Landcruiser park- Quantum Relic 2008
We had reached a level of organisation superior to anything we had ever even imagined, from the days when we first started attending bush doofs, some 7 years ago. Coming from a base camp setup consisting of an air matress thrown onto the ground, a blanket and large waterbottle for re-filling; we had now packed the van with 2 bicycles, a futon couch, large tent and 10M x 11M roof tarp, multiple eskies filled with dry ice as well as a pantry setup & dining table, powerful speakers various lights and a generator powerful enough to turn our camp into a fully independant community for the 13 strong to share the weekend together.
Setting up early to ensure a prime piece of realestate secured only metres away from our old camp location from the most memorable Earthcore 2006 festival in Landcruiser Park, we were off to a good start for the wild weekend to come. Volunteering some extra hands in the setup of marquees and shade sails, Sharon and I spent the next day hammering car axles into the ground before I had a worrying injury when attempting to catch a frisbee on my lunchbreak. Having never experienced anything quite like it before, I was devastated when my ankle bent on an unadvisable angle with double clicking sound effects to compliment injury- I spent the rest of the day in severe pain with ice on and off whilst I worried for my mobility for the duration of the event, which hadn’t even began yet.
The first official night resembled a toned down version of the second night, even though morale was high and a few were prepared to go hard both nights, playing the cards a little too safely in keeping it quiet so as not to ruin any mojo for the big one… Strapping up the two bikes with green and blue battery operated fairy lights, along with the light of a full moon beaming down across the valley made for ideal night riding excursions. I accompanied Mepz on a ride through camp and through the party from the green stage along the hillside to the main stage, riding into the amazing nest constructed from branches and sticks, under a large tree. Meeting a cute girl whos name I had forgot, she requested a ride and invited us to watch here gymnastics performance the next morning, and received a demo of her flexibility before wishing her a good night and taking a fast and colourful ride down the sloping hills and back to base camp.
We had luckily saved most of the beers so that the next morning, and through the day we kept ourselves some sort of comfort in drinking chilled beers on a very hot day. Trying to escape the heat we had to shift around the camp to find the best spot of shade. Noticing a police car driving through the campgrounds, I watched it drive down to the far corner of camp sites, where we witnessed the strange sight of all doors opening at the same time and a group of girls dressed in full hippy attire burst forth from the vehicle, splitting up into the mess of tents. Just another wacky, unexplainable incident perhaps?
The second night fell on a very excited crew, ready for (almost) anything thrown in our smiling faces. Pirching the beanbags just out the front of our camp, we felt like kings sitting atop of our hill, which we had all to ourselves. Over the two main nights it was not uncommon to have randoms wander up to camp, thinking it was another stage thanks to the advanced lighting setup and four colourful flags Liz had whipped up to apply as the icing. Unexpectedly, we found more doom and gloom on this the second night than frivolous fun as anticipated. Watching the sky light up in whisking clouds of red and yellow similar to the northern lights as someone had a red flare was one of the highlights of sitting at camp for most of the night, whilst waiting to find my groove later on the dancefloor.
Eventually in true fashion, we slung the beanbags over our shoulders and headed up to the mainstage. Expecting to munt out, Id soon regret taking the beanbags when I found my groove in the beats that were pumping out of one of the greatest speaker setups we had seen. Instantly taxed by those around us, a girl had managed to swipe a bag and drag it down the hill, where she fell into a deep sleep for the rest of he morning. The rest of the crew had disappeared back to the safety of camp after I had finally gathered myself to make the journey up to the stage, leaving only myself and Sharon, Bec, Holly & Josh to bring in the morning with an XXL stomp to compensate for those not present. Ripping it up in practically the same spot as that of 2006, it all came back to me in waves, with the exception of Raja Ram and his stashbag of ridiculously awesome beats…
The next day was just as hot as the one preceding, and we found very little comfort in much of anything. Watching some tall & colourful people with very long legs (stilts) walk down a hill was a highlight along with the construction of a crude launching ramp into the dam to aid in the flight of a bicycle with doofer attached. It was time to restock our ice supplies, and journeys were to be made up to the “general store” on the adjacent hill. Utilizing both the element of surprise, and the satchet of catfood purchased earlier, Rob bargained some extra ice from the very confused yet accepting storeman. Proving once again, Bec- that you should ALWAYS carry catfood on you, wherever you go! Two interesting characters who had camped with us, Ben & Rob2 wearing black, grabbed a 1.25L waterbottle and, in the middle of the blistering day, bid us a thankyou and farewell, and began walking the dusty road- headed back to Brisbane. On foot. I still haven’t heard any news of them since.
Starting to get dark early, the majority of campers had left before Sunday night fell. We watched a menacing storm cell roll in, the appearance of which resembled a large shock wave travelling right towards us, and something I had never quite seen before. After waving off warnings of Rob to capture this beast of camera, I soon realised just how fast it was approaching when we got hit by what we would later discover to be the worst storm Brisbane had seen in 6 years. The gust of wind burst into camp, ripping guide ropes off and bending tent poles accordingly as our 10M x 11M tarp became airborn only to be stopped by the lightning reflexes of those around the tarp, clutching onto the edges as Sharon and I joined in to try and hold it down. Feeling almost weightless if not about to become airborn ourselves, we resorted to pegging the tarp directly down to the ground which helped in limiting the torrential downpour accompanying the winds and extreme lightning surrounding our now demolished camp. Undiscouraged by the destruction, we reformed what we could of our cave, and Rob proceeded to mix an unbelievable psy set into the night.
The next day we began the task of a large clean up and pack up before returning triumphant with mixed feelings of the event. All in all a magickal adventure, even if it did cost me a few thousand dollars… Spent with an amazing array of unique friends, I was glad to spend time forming stronger bonds with those I didn’t get the opportunity to hang out with often enough.
Kudos to everyone who made this possible, sorry this post has not risen to the surface earlier…
Been a bit of a delay in this post also, but thats the joys ive grown used to with dial up...