After a delicious sausage bap in the Clubhouse I packed away - I’d hoped to get the tent down dry but that wasn’t going to happen so it will need to come out again soon. The footprint (under tent groundsheet) was very wet but served its purpose. The drive home was smooth and that just left me to unload and put away.
The weekend was partly intended to answer a few questions, which it did!
Could I manage with camping?
Yes, certainly for a festival with food onsite, I’d have to make some minor changes for general camping but they’d be manageable. In some respects the tent has advantages over the campervan - space mainly.
Would my sciatica cause problems?
Indirectly, yes. I didn’t have too many problems but the lack of walking recently was an issue. I could probably have done with taking the scooter but recharging wasn’t viable so I managed with walker and walking stick.
Would I enjoy it?
Absolutely yes! It was made even better by having friends there to share with.
Would everything go in the car?
I knew it would all fit one way or another but I managed to get all the smaller and more vulnerable bits in the boot with the parcel shelf on and the larger bits such as the tent went in the back seat.
Will I go again?
Almost certainly yes, but probably not for a few years. I’ve got some other festivals I fancy doing, some of which are at a similar time of year.
There are a few take-aways before I camp again:
I need to peg the tent further out, both the groundsheet and the guy lines, to get everything tighter.
I need a better answer for waste water - I need to check it but the lidded folding bucket I was using appeared to leak. I do have ideas, making use of a small caravan waste tank I happen to have in the shed.
Something I meant to get, from past Festival experience, was some waterproof shoes or short wellies, I needed them this morning packing up on the damp grass. The result of that omission was driving home with slightly damp shoes and socks.
I have a small 12v vacuum cleaner which I nearly took, next time it will go as it would have been handy for the tent floor before packing away.
Finally, apologies for the lack of photos - due to the app I normally use playing up I’ve had to post directly from the web and it doesn’t support images.
