Womadelaide.. UPDATED!

last few paragraphs are the updated sections

Well I didn't think I'd be blogging again any time soon! But then my mum bought me a ticket to Womad.. and here I am, blogging! There's a lot I could say about Womadelaide, and knowing me I'll forget to mention some of it. Basically Womad blew my mind, it is soooo good!! There's not 1 single thing which is better than something else, instead everything culminates to an amazing experience. Having said that there are actually a few things which stand out, detached from the music, culture and culinary delights. It seems like in order to attend Womad you need to do one of the following; sit or lay down for a while and get up with a grassy bum (I did this one on purpose), walk around bare foot to get 'womad feet' (..again, on purpose), wear Thai fisherman pants (even though you probably havn't been to Thailand and don't wear them any other time) and wear something on your head which at any other time would be fairly unsuitable.


I wish I had gone to previous years at Womad, I had always been interest but never said anything about it. And since I wont be here for some time I accepted my mum's offer. I was overwhelmed at first when walking through the huge decorative Angus Watt Flags (http://www.anguswatt.net/), I walked around for a bit and sat down to drink some chai and soak everything in. It was great; you could be a full on raging weirdo and no one would care, furthermore.. you'd fit right in!


I met up with my mum for dinner and had some funky Moroccan food which I had to eat with a wooden spork. I gracefully left her and her friends and meandered my way through the crowds and arty installations and ended up at stage 3 watching Beirut (awesome band) until around 8:20pm and then left to see the John Butler Trio. I sat through 2 songs and felt the need to keep walking, which I'm very glad I did as I ended up watching the La Compagnie Carabosse (a French ensemble creating spectacular flaming sculptures made up of hundreds of candle pots) light all of the candles, very surreal and amazing!


The only downside of Womad is the amount of dust in the air, you have no option but to breathe it in and after a while you'll have breathing problems. Those with asthma will know exactly what I mean. Anyway, I bumped into my friend Harry at the Holy Cow Chai Tent, we relaxed there and then watched this DJ's from the UK, got bored, and ended up at the Zoo Stage. I left Harry and bumped into my friend David, and then the 2 of us went back to the Zoo Stage to watch Watussi, this amazing funky band. I find it strange how I only bumped into people I knew once the sun had gone down, when visibility was at its lowest. Watussi's vibe was so good I ended up dancing somewhat, taking comfort in seeing much much older people also getting their groove on. I guess.. when in Rome!

I feel so lucky having been able to go to Womad on the Friday, but going for a second time on Sunday (the last day) made me feel even luckier. I was more organised on the Sunday and soon as I got through the gates I went straght to the Moreton Bay stage to enjoy Mojo Webb's energy-packed blues/roots music. This stage is shaded by the huge Moreton Bay trees, creating the feeling of a secluded forest clearing with a tiny stage. One moment Mojo Webb was rocking out on stage with his band, and the next he was running through the crowd (still playing a guitar). I ended up standing and dancing as everyone around me did it too. I found out quickly that letting loose is mandatory at Womadelaide!

About half-way through Mojo Webb's set I left met up with my good friend Shaun & his girlfriend Laura at Stage 3 to watch The Beautiful Girls, was pretty cool. Shortly after this Shaun and I went to the food area to kill some time and get some cider, then by chance my friend David walked past and stopped right in front of us! David, his gf, and their friends sat down with us and we all relaxed there on the grass. Around 8;30 we left there to see Sharon and the Dap Kings at stage 3, without knowing they moved to Stage 1, so we accidentally saw Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra instead, woops :)

Next on the list was Mista Savona (roots reggae meets dancehall music) at the Zoo Stage. Everyone was up and dancing, the vibe was amazing!! David put me on his shoulders and for a while I was up there groovin' and recording the band + crowd on my camera (video is on facebook). This was really the last band I watched, and was the last band at that stage. By now it was around 11:30, and we all went to the Holy Cow Chai Tent to chill out on the rugs and drink some iced chai. My friend Harry met up with us in there soon after and that was pretty sweet too. Overall I had a very good weekend, Womadelaide is amazing and I'm going to miss being here for it next year, although.. Womad is world-wide and is also held in England so perhaps I'll attend over there! :)

For more pictures make sure you check out my Picasa gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/melodywoop
Photos:

1. Moreton Bay stage
2. Angus Wat Flags
3. La Compagnie Carabosse
4. Mojo Webb
5. Shaun and I at Beautiful Girls
6. Shaun and I getting cider
7. Mista Savona
   

Getting ready to.. get ready..

entry number 2.

Hey hey so I thought it was about time I update this thing; tell everyone what's going on and what plans I'm making etc.. all that information people need to know. So a couple of weeks ago I was reading a book called A Fortune Teller Told Me, it's based on a journalist travelling through south-east Asia, having to take any mode of transport apart from planes + helicopters. Anyway, the combination of that book and Lee + Paul's itinerary of their journey through Asia really got to me and I was slightly unhappy on missing out on that pocket of the world on my trip to Europe. Then perfectly timed, my friend Jasmin asked me if i'd go to Thailand with her.. without 2 seconds thought I said "yes" and the next evening we had our tickets booked for 7 days in Phuket!! This is by far the best on-a-whim decision I've ever made, the price of the return trip also had a big part to play; there's no way I'd pass $560 return tickets to Thailand, especially since I didn't know when I'd get the chance to go there some other time.


I got my Australian Passport in January which is great because without it I wouldn't have been able to get tickets to Thailand. So what's next? Well I have a whole sheet of paper with bits and pieces which need to be bought for both of my trips. It's amazing how much you really can fit into a travel-pack, knowing that you're going to be living from it for an unknown amount of time, but on the other hand it sure is exciting!! I'm still yet to get my injections for Thailand (there aren't that many to get). I've heard a lot about the impact of tourism on certain parts of Thailand, such as Phi Phi island, and I have no interest in such unsustainable tourism.. so don't expect any crazy island photos, but do expect some photos of me riding elephants and eating amazing Thai cuisine!!!


Now It's only a short 10 weeks until I go to Thailand, and when I get back there's only 4 weeks until I leave for California + England! I'm going to Cali with my friend Robert, and we've been making some plans already. Looks like when we land in LAX we'll most probably catch another flight out to San Francisco, spending 4 nights there (remembering that 4th July is Independence Day). So far it looks like we'll give couch-surfing a go in SF, but hostels are still a possibility. Our itinerary so far includes a day-trip to Yosemite National Park, ride the famous trams, possibly cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge, check out Alcatraz, and many other things. The rest of our time will be in Los Angeles, I have no set plans for LA as I want to take it at my own pace. No I won't be going to Disney Land, and yes I will buy an over-sized cup of coffee like the over-indulging Americans are well known for.


No one really knows much about my plans for UK + Europe for when I arrive on the 11th of July, so now Is a good time to tell. I need to finalise my bank account soon as Rob and I arrive in London, and I also need to get a phone sim-card sorted out. The 11th is a Friday and we'll stay in London for that weekend. Sometime very shortly after that weekend I'll be catching up with Lee where ever she had ended up to work. This leaves about 4 weeks of time to work until Lee and I leave the UK for The Netherlands for the 3-day alternative music festival called Lowlands. This will be my 1st festival EVER and I seriously can't wait!! Lowlands runs from the 15th-17th of August and chances are I'll go travelling with Lee straight after, and end up in Munich, Germany for the Oktoberfest starting on the 20th of September. After this
event I'll need to get a job, and this will occur somewhere in 1 of the countries in the UK, though most probably Scotland. I'm interested in going to France for my birthday in October, but apart from that I don't have many more plans until Christmas and New Years. So this information will have to suffice for now yeah :)


Keep checking back every few weeks for updates, until I leave for both trips I won't be doing weekly blogs. Bookmark this, and even check out the links on the right of my blog!! Stay tuned for more tremendously exciting blog updates from the one and only Travelling Tobias.

Au revoir!!