My darling daughter (28) informed me last week that she’d booked us a berth at a bloody hippie festival on the NSW north coast for next weekend. No Refunds. :eek:
So the plan is, we (that is Pip, her bewdiful babe Zen and myself) will be embarking upon a 1400km (2800km round trip) to go see some bloody hippies drumming and singing weird stuff and prolly eating brown rice and lentils too, just to add insult to injury.
On one hand, I’m really chuffed that we’ll get that Mum and Daughter time together that has been compromised over the last few years.
On the other though, I’m shitting myself that we’ll KILL each other (and the baby) before we even get there through sheer frustration. That’s a helluva long way to travel for a long weekend…even with both of us driving.
But I will suck it up and go with the flow…off to drag out my old tie-dye tshirts and cheesecloth skirts for the occasion. My Birks are a bit worn out, but I’m sure they’ll fit right in with the mud and shit up there.
Oh, and just to make things worse, we’re camping…in a tent…with a baby…and all of that stuff.
Good gawd, I thought when I’d done all that shit with MY kids that my penance was done. Seems like I’ve got to go another round to pay for past sins or summat.
You’ll love it once you get there, I’m sure… Try to think about the beautiful baby, rather than the oozing mud. Maybe you’ll be lucky and it will be sunny; that will help!
(On the other hand, being stuck in a tent in the mud with your daughter and a baby with pissing rain all around you while hippies drum - well, it’ll be an experience you won’t forget in a hurry. Think positively!)
I had to convert kilometers to miles (870 miles one-way. Good lord!) and then use Google Maps to see where I’d end up if I drove that far.
You are a brave woman. Were I in your position, I think I would tell my daughter that I love her too much to attend the festival. Then I’d offer to reimburse her for the money she spent on it and find something else to do together.
Do let us know how (and if) you survived it when it’s all overwith!
Camping with baby tip: bring a box of gallon sized zip-top plastic bags. Soiled diapers (whether cloth or disposable) go right into the bag, along with wipes, etc. Then seal the bag, and your tent won’t smell of, well, y’know. Soiled clothing from diaper 'splosions, likewise.
Make sure they bring some knit hats and lots of socks for the wee ones. They sleep so much better with their heads and toes warm and dry.
Most babies looooooove the drumming. Got a sling or baby wrap? Get ready for a wonderful night of Dance With The Baby. Heck, one of my hippie friends practically raised her daughter at the drum circle. She put her inside (yes, inside) her drum bag laid on its side and stuck her under her chair and she’d snooze the night away while Mama drummed. I remember when the daughter turned 5, and Mama upgraded to a larger djembe because the little one had outgrown the last drum bag!
The first night we were camping with our youngest (she was six months old, but it was about 6 weeks after her due date, so she was more or less a “newborn”), she just couldn’t sleep at all. Turned out it was too quiet for our city lass. As soon as a thunderstorm whipped up, she snuggled right up to me and started snoozing. The next day we moved our tent to be closer to the drums, and the rumbling sounds kept her asleep for the next two weeks!
Listen, chump, you come from a land down under, where the hippies romp and the drums thunder. Can’t you hear, can’t you hear that thunder? Ya better run, chump, ya better take cover.
(I’ve been waiting a long time for an appropriate situation…
Just think. After a hard day listening hippies (I wondered where they had gone) playing music you’ll get to sleep on the hard ground, pee in a port-a-potty and chase insects from the baby. It sounds like fun to me. Don’t forget your sun screen.
Is it 1400 Km as the crow flies? Or 1400 Km on the road? That’s not so far, I bet you can do it in 12 hours. That’s only 6 hours of driving each. Leave at 6 AM and you’re there by supper time!
I live in Queensland (north of the OP) and my friends once took me to a “doof”, which is a similar thing to what kambuckta describes except with more beat-driven music but just as many hippies.
I actually fell asleep in the tent just after we got there.
But then I woke up, and it was okay! I would rate the doof six out of ten.
However, in the morning right before it ended, everybody got into a giant circle and had some sort of mass group hug, which is a nice thought but I was conveniently loading the car at that point.
