EARTHCORE 2006!

Friday morning a group of unsure, dorky losers prepared to take on the journey which would in turn, make them into super cool party animals! Here is photographic proof of how uncool Chox and I were at the morning of our roadtrip...


















So the roadtrip without air conditioning and lots of poor quality mix tapes began!

When we got there several hours later it was in the high 30's and lacking in shade, however there was still fun to be had. See below Chox "helping"


















Before all the strobing lights, crazy hats and psy-trance there was some genuine, old-school camping vibes. It was amazing how after just a few minutes at our camping site breathing in the dirt and unloading the car that the relaxation vibes sank in. You could almost see the stress of uni, work and long car trips melt off peoples faces. We swam in the river and assembled a tent, ate food from our eskys and shared bug spray. Everyone was so chilled out and I don't think there was any Valium going around at this stage either.

The first task I decided, after watching everybody else assemble the tents in the scorching heat, was to sample the Earthcore food delicacies. After all, I claimed that I would never ever eat anything on acid again, not after that burrito growled at me last year. It made sense to stuff our faces before getting off our faces.

The veggie burger: The pink sign read "put your mouth around the biggest and the best" Oh yeeeah we did.




































The next thing that had to be done straight was swimming in the river! It was muddy, it was cold, it had sharp, hidden logs that could take your virginity...
The best river game? Pretending the knee deep water is extremely deep by walking like a crab through it and yelling "Wow it's really deep here! Somebody should dive in!"
Note to Chox: Daring yourself to skinny dip is not the same as having someone else dare you.

Does taking this photo in black and white add any class to Chox's nudity? We don't think so.



Chris Cane and Sophie looking cool by the banks of the Goulburn trying to ignore the naked people.


























Anyway eventually the sun went down and Chox had to get dressed. You can see here just how dusty it was. The whole weekend's photos were speckled in dust marks...

I couldn't figure out why so many people were taking photos of all of us as we roamed through the crowd. Then I turned around and actually took a good look at the people I was with... A man in a shiny pirate-style masquerade mask, another in an elf hat and ninja mask, a boy with hair like an anime character and a plush animal around his neck, two boys with glittery makeup and a troop of girls in bizarre animal ears.






The best night game to play? A girl introduced this to us by doing it to Seb...
She thought that he looked really smashed (he was completely straight) and said to him
"Do you know where it is?
Seb replied sober as anything, "I'm sorry could you please explain?" At this point the girl realised her game was ruined. However if you go up to someone who actually is wasted on drugs its funny to ask them something like this, "Do you know where it is?"
They ask "what" then you say "You know, IT. Do you know where it is?" This can send their fried little mind into spirals!

Eventually the sun rose again and we resorted to more heat-induced delirium. Like drawing crayon on our faces, but then again that could've been the large amounts of GHB.

"I don't think it worked for me" claimed the ever skeptical Chox shortly before she had people licking melted marshmallow of her stomach and then proceeding to root a very lucky friend of ours in a nearby tent. No Choxy, I guess yours just didn't work.

Best daytime game? Lathering up a willing/high participant in Vaseline and then setting them onto innocent bystanders for hugs. Sorry about that Lindsay.
See here Chris and Stu testing the aura velocity of our campsite. The results? Very good! Also me eating bug spray and Chox doing something to me from behind.











As the sun began to set for the second time people switched to class As and more clothes.
And then proceeded to take clothes off again and lick each other.









Some found magic orbs, or at least thought that they did.






And then Chox got higher than, well... a very high thing on a ladder with stilts. I don't think she blinked for about half an hour.














But it was ok because we left her in a tent with some guy who she kept yelling at to bring her bugs.
Sophie was there too but not exactly "there" if you catch my drift.
Sophie's Choice (to believe or to not believe?)
A weird guy came up to Sophie and claimed that her knew her but she didn't recognise him. She thinks that this might have been because he was a hallucination. However I heard that Chox came over to Sophie as this was happening and began to poke the guy in the side thus proving that he was in fact real. The jury is still out as to whether Chox was actually there or not. Sophie believes Chox could've been another hallucination and Chox doesn't remember, but that's not surprising. See above: Chox sniffing for bugs while Sumera acts like she's not afraid.
And below you can see Sophie and an artistic interpretation of what she might be seeing.










By the time the sun came up on Sunday morning I felt like I had been trampled by a herd of camels and was hobbling around with a pink blanket over my shoulders and a jaw that was gnawing like it was about to go out of style. (For a glimpse of the final sunrise dance at the main stage, see the video in the post below.) Just as I was about to slump off to die, a guy tapped me on the shoulder. It was the same guy who I'd met last year at the same stage, roughly at about the same time too I think. His name was Benjamen (sorry if I spelled that wrong) and he was even in my last Earthcore entry (the last photograph) because I thought he was so cool. He was perhaps a little creeped out when I told him that I'd published him on the internet but I gave him the address so he can comment angrily if so:)
Here's another photo of him published without permission, just for old times sakes...








That pretty much covers everything I remember and some of what I don't. David made fun of quadriplegic ravers and Chris Vic projectile vomited while dancing and laughing. I fell over a tent peg on film (video not available) and also ate the best damn snowcone I've ever had, grape and bubblegum flavoured! To all you non-earthcore goers, I hope you enjoyed the trip without leaving your monitors. To all you peeps who were there, feel free to tell me what I've lied about, glossed over or plagiarised. Peace out and hippy dirt, Svetlana.