There was no Boxing Day sleep in for me as I was in the park at 7am to help put up fences. Then I returned in the evening to laboriously shift crates of alcohol from the stock room to a cooler about 50m away. The task was brutal on the forearms, but was perhaps tougher mentally than physically due to the smells of a nearby barbeque and my desire to consume the contents of the boxes I was carrying.
The festival opened at 12am on Friday and preparations that morning were hectic, but I found it all rather exciting: signs were being put up, sound checks were being performed, food was being cooked, bar staff were being prepped, and I had the most important job of all - making sure the customers had cold booze by shifting crates and kegs into coolers. Thankfully I now had a two wheel trolley, but what a physical test that morning turned out to be! Pushing and pulling heavy trolley loads was carnage on the legs as some serious momentum and sustained force were required to get the wheels through mud and up steep inclines. Meanwhile, plenty of tough lifting battered my already aching upper body. At 12.30, when things finally slowed down, I reflected on what a mighty non-stop workout the past five hours had been. I loved it of course.
Despite a lengthy evening stretch on the beach and subsequent ice bath of sorts in the sea, my legs felt heavy the next day. Fortunately, the morning was fairly light and by 2pm my work dried up so I left. I spent a relaxing afternoon reading the Alan Partridge book and swimming, then enjoyed a leisurely dinner and planned on cruising over to the festival to catch the last band of the day with one of the beverages I'd shifted so many of. But then, while I was brushing my teeth to dislodge some stubborn strands of orange, I got a call from the festival saying they needed me urgently. I swapped sandals for trainers and at 6.45 returned to a Gunnamatta Park that barely resembled the one I left earlier. The festival had previously been modestly attended, but now it was packed. Every spot on the main stage was taken and there were people everywhere. Furthermore, this Saturday evening crowd was thirsty and several of the bars were under huge strain. I was thrust straight into the action, delivering crates of alcohol to the bars, strenuously yet carefully weaving the trolley through the crowds. Meanwhile, we were under pressure to get kegs and crates into the coolers so they could chill in time for tomorrow. I shifted heavy trolley load after heavy trolley load, quickly being grateful I had just the one beer with dinner. It was two hours of power and when I dropped off my final five case load of Asahi I wanted to sink to my knees like I had just won a gruelling five set tennis match. Indeed, my arms ached far more than they did after any work out for tennis and I had to call upon all my mental strength to get those final loads across the field.
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| DJ Stage at the Endless Summer Festival |
The next morning I walked over to the festival with my muscles complaining "I thought Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest" to me. Thankfully, both my morning and evening shifts were light, although I did compete in a tiring Commonwealth v France football match in the afternoon on the majestic Cronulla cricket pitch. The French narrowly prevailed, but the difference could surely be attributed to their six-to-five man advantage. I finally got to enjoy the festival that evening, watching the final band with a couple of triumphantly cold Asahi's.
It wasn't over yet though, on Monday I returned to help clear out the remaining stock. I was exhausted in every way possible and the day was an absolute slog to get through.
Overall it was a great experience, even if the whole thing was more like boot camp than an Endless Summer Festival for me. It was fun to be a part of the event and interesting to see all that is involved in to putting on such a festival. In particular, the challenge of providing over 10,000 people a day with cold booze.
New Year's Eve tomorrow and more importantly a day off for my body! Happy New Year everybody.
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| Main Stage |
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