Mara's Musings

Only 7 more sleeps and I will be wending my way onsite at Glastonbury Festival for my stint in the backstage passes office on the Theatre and Circus field.  The angst is already starting to permeate...I am talking 5 people on site this year with all their stuff plus rucksacks and tents belonging to 4 other people.  I think Genevieve is going to be a rather snug fit on the way on.

Lots of questions about stuff to bring which can only be answered by reproducing a list that was facebooked by an extremely efficient and experienced camping friend of mine:

Camping Kit
Tent – practice putting it up before leaving if you’ve not done it before
Roll mats
Torch (preferably wind-up, preferably small as you might need to carry it all evening before you actually need to use it to get back in your tent!)
Sleeping bag
Water bottle
Blanket
Hat & gloves for cold nights
Hot water bottle (!) (only if there is a source of hot water on site)
Some empty carrier bags / bin bags
Personal Kit
Waterproof jacket
At least 2 pairs of footwear – walking boots, wellies, sandals/crocks (I will defend my crocks: waking at 3am desperate for a piss still drunk in the dark is no time to be prattling about trying to put wellies on)
Medication (+ a written note of it’s name and dose in case it gets lost and you need replacements)
Shower gel
Scissors
Shampoo – Lush do lovely solid shampoo – no chance of leaking
Soap
Hand sanitizer
Sunscreen
Baby wipes
Day bag
Clothes – include layers

So there's a start anyway


In the meantime I have been nagging people to get tents and rucksacks to me by Saturday noon at the latest so I can play VW Tetris and get it all loaded.  The plan being to chill out Saturday night with Richard and the kids, cook a full English breakfast for everyone and then head off to be there by 2, help put up people's tents and head off to my first shift at 4pm.  That's the plan. 

The weather is appalling but on the plus side I do have a heater on board so I wont be suffering from the cold, Richard has invested in some thermal window pads which will keep us cool if its hot and snug if its cold.  I also have a chemical loo in case my dreaded IBS decides to kick in like it has most years.  And in the light of recent leak problems I also managed to purchase a waterproof tarp to sling over the skylight in the roof in case of emergency!

I am both looking forward to it and dreading it in equal measure.  It is the same every year but I always love it when I am there.  Bring it on!