Camping Pics

[Dodie]

Well what can i say?

I only got to stay saturday night down at the camp site but I had such a good time, it was really to good to meet you guys!

I didnt get to say goodbye to many ppl cause everyone was in Nimbin when i left

But here's a few pics of scenery i took...

[-YT-]

Awesome pics Dods! Looking forward to the scenery not long now

[Gollum]

I am pretty sure i recognise this place. If it is the where i am thinking, me and my cousin camped there just before xmas and it has been a favorite camp ground with my family for years.

Nice location.

[Dodie]

Thanks YT, your going to have a ball dude. :D

Def go down Gollum, even if its just for a day, you wont regret it

I might post a few more pics soon..

Have fun guys

[Benzito]

Looks like Andy picked a friggin awesome spot for you guys!

You should be very pleased.

Hope you're all having a great time, and not getting too much rain.

[Rev]

well i got home yesterday and had old friends stay over a night

today was a wipeout

im soo mentally exhausted from the last few weeks. i think i need a few days to reintgrate into 2006 now i feel im in it proper

it started in a flurry of excited activity and it hasnt stopped till now

it was awesome catching up and putting names to faces. the site was beautiful as always and those fungi were amazing - in the pics are stuff i dont recognise but also luminescent fungi and the tuber oyster - Pleurotus tuber regium that ill attempt to clone tomorrow evening

it ended up being a great trip, but i knew it would

great site great people - what can we expect?

more of the same i hope

i think it needs to be at least an annual event. i could go twice a year. I think it suceeded in my judgemnet because we recreated the ambience of former EB nights, in particular the camaraderie that went on on the steps of the dormitories

if theres any debriefing to be put forward ill just say that i think andy did a great job with getting it together and if anyone wants to add id suggest coming up with a solution to the need for tunes without needing to drain car batteries

A more coordinated approach to camping fees and communal inputs ie firewood and citronelle lamp oil i think would also make it much more hassle free for any organiser/s

i didnt take many pictures and none of people

its a shame but really some things are better entrusted to memory only

Edited January 18, 2006 by Rev

[Torsten]

I am glad I popped in on saturday - if ever so brief. On sunday I was on my way there and saw Rev at the local shop who told me everyone was at Nimbin, so I skipped it, planning to go on tuesday anyway. Tuesday I had a really bad headache from playing with my new flamethrower all night And then today I was on my way there from the Gold Coast when I got absolutely drenched.

Been watching the rain radar all night - looks like they won't be very happy campers.... however those who stick around will probably be generously rewarded by the local mycoflora in the next day or two

[gomaos]

saturday night was my favourite...

a rich experience I will cherish for a long time...

I wouldn't mind this sort of meeting 2-4 times a year...

this area is magic...

[Dodie]

I would def be in for a couple times a year..

I went for a few walks by myself and just took pics so thats probably why you dont recognise the pics Rev.

Heres a couple more..

Native Psychotria

[apothecary]

Hey everyone!

It's been an awesome week, very very awesome.

As Rev said, great site, great people, and I'd like to add my thanks to both Rev and Andy for organising everything so well.

It was so great to meet everyone (yeah, all of you :D) for the first time, and for a few, the second or third time. Never ever have I met such a bunch of genuine, modest, knowledgeable, interesting, kind, generous, beautiful people!

folias and Being dropped in, but unfortunately we were out sightseeing. We got your gifts, thankyou very much guys, it is a shame we did not get to meet face to face.

I can't think of a single moment in the week where I wasn't content and smiling.

planthelper, you are a character I will never forget, and one I hope to meet again as soon as possible.

Amultes caramel slice and poppyseed cake were literally unforgettable.

Gom, you and your son are amazing, I can't believe how soundly he can sleep, thankyou for your company and letting us hang out at your stall on Sunday!

For those who left early, I'd like to fill you in on the rest of the week.

Tuesday night was truly magical, an experience that managed to convince me to quit smoking tobacco and cannabis in only 3 or 4 minutes. Rev, we did our best to keep the party going, and I think we succeeded ^_^

Wednesday was a quiet one, basking in the beautiful quiet presence of the surrounding mountains and relaxing.

Last night was a bit intense, I woke up to the rain leaking through every possible point in my tent, and noticed one of the support poles had cracked

I managed to get all my stuff back into bags and trudged down into the nearest "shelter" which was also flooded, and passed out, drenched to the bone for about four hours. Amultes tent flooded shortly after and he joined me passed out on the table until sunrise.

Sometime in the morning (I've been living timeless for the whole week hehe) we packed the camp up, cleaned our mess up and paid the manager for the nights we had stayed.

We headed off for another day of fresh adventuring, including sampling some local baked goods (no I really mean we went to the bakery ), and unfortunately on the way back we had a car accident. It was raining rather heavily and we came around a corner badly, spun out and crashed Andys car into a barrier.

Everyone is ok, Amulte got banged up a little bit and ended up going to hospital (morphine and oxycodone the lucky bugger), but is well now!

We hung out at the car, and one of the locals picked us up and drove us down to town. We almost had a second crash then, head on with a four wheel drive!

But everyone is high and dry now, and things are winding down.

Right now I'm at Andys, just hanging out because the campsite is pretty much completely flooded out and uninhabitable, otherwise wild horses wouldn't have been able to drag me away.

What an adventure, just perfect I think. Everyone attending got to see the finest this community has to offer.

Once again I'd like to thank Andy for his unending dedication to the whole thing, always had an eye out for everyone and everything, and just the most beautiful person.

I love you all

[Rev]

shit!

so happy and yet so sad to hear all that

so everyones ok still?

how about the car?

[Legba]

Its good to hear that all of you are ok. Excellent post apo.

[AndyAmine.]

Hi everyone! WOW, what a week! totally unforgettable in SO many ways. honestly I dont think I have had such a good time in over 7 or 8yrs, have never meet such beautiful , genuine people before, had many "meetings of minds" and a real reawakening on Tuesday night, I feel like a new man, although the accident has me feeling pretty down and guilty more than anything.

I have lots to write about the week but am truly buggered right now so look forward to doing it tomorrow but will fill you in on the crash right now because its all I can think about ATM and Im sure some of you would like to know how bad it was and if were OK.,

Got in about an hour or 2 ago and am feeling a little sore and sorry for myself, have a bit of trouble breathing, think I may have a fractured rib/sternum or something?

The accident was pretty bad (my car is a write off) but was close to being a lot worse, coming down Kyogle Rd towards Uki with 5 people in the car (I have only ever driven with 3 people in my car before and with out luggage so I think that also had a lot to do with it), after flooding and during heavy rain, the car jst started sliding and even though I tried pumping the brakes it did absolutely nothing, after a ping of air pin ball I went straight into the metal barrier on the side of a bridge stopping sideways across both lanes. After checking the RD it seems as though there was some kind of oil, or cleaning agent on there plus lots of loose gravel.

The entire drivers side of my car smashing into the barrier but the front drivers side got the worst of it, the front panel was ripped off exposing the engine bay and pulling out a few parts, the drivers side foot well came to about 1cm from my leg, and the door smashed in and couldn't be opened plus smashed my front window. Worst of all Amulte was resting his head against the window frame at the time and came against the door with so much force that the arm rest had been pushed into the door cavity and the seats had been pulled apart.

Sina asked if everyone was ok and we all took check and answered but Amulte didn't which worried us all, he was very dazed and had a sore neck and leg and was a bit too quiet for my liking however I myself was also in a lot of pain after slamming my face into the steering wheel, the seat belt badly hurting my chest and was jst about hysterical from the shock and guilt.

Ohh, Dodie303, Im so sorry but your cacti was lunched into the air from El Duderino's lap and among other things whacked YT in the leg and me in neck and dirt over everyone.. Ill nurse them tho, dont worry about that.. you are a very generous man and I truly appreciated it. Luckily other than that Sina, YT anbd El Duderino were relatively unscathed other than a damaged psyche.

After blocking about 10 cars a guy in a 4-wheeler winched us to the side of the Rd and called for an ambulance which shortly arrived and took Amulte off to the Hospital in M'bah wiuth El Duderino in toe (thanks man that was very kind of you) while Sina, YT and myself waited behind for the cops. they never showed up so we got a lit into town with this really lovely lady (Thanks Sally!) although about 1/2 way there she ended up in the opposite lane a hares breath away from a 4-wheel drive's bullbar and I ended up almost shitting myself and bracing like I was in an plane. LOL I must admit tho, this made me feel a little better about things knowing that I wasn't the only one and even better when I found out 3 other people had crashed so far that day along Kyogle Rd.

Amulte got out of hospital after a few hours and came back to the hotel with El Duderino and seemd to be a lot better than before, Im sure all those opiates had somehting to do with it, LOL..

My brother came down and picked Sina, YT and myself up and I left Amulte and Duderino with a hotel room so that he could catch his train home the following morning however unfortunatly the flooding made Amulte wait another day to get home to his loving lady's waiting arms. (Sorry C', I owe you one for all that stress) and El Duderino generously went some of the way With Amulte althought Im not too sure whewre he is right now.. Can you call me please Mate?

What a screwup... Im am eternally sorry my friends, I dont think Ill ever really forgive myself.

[occidentalis]

Shit, sounds full on

Great to hear that everyone's alive and fairly ok. How's Amulte now?

But nice to hear the week was so fantastic, I'm sorry I couldn't make it

Hopefully I can join you all another time... unless anyone feels like a south west adventure ;) ?

[strangebrew]

Unfuckingbelievable!

What an end to a great week! After all that crap you went thru to get your car fixed too Andy, my commiserations. It's so easy to do on a wet bend, especially after it's been dry and the roads get greasy, I've done it myself numerous times. At least everyone seems OK, that's the main thing.

Tuesday night was truly magical, an experience that managed to convince me to quit smoking tobacco and cannabis in only 3 or 4 minutes.

Sounds good Apo, I hope you'll give more details on another site perhaps.

[gomaos]

sorry to hear about the accident, folks... next time DRIVE SLOW!

I smashed my rear window closing the backdoor cos i didn't see that box....

hopefully it'll be fixed soon...

I thought some of you were gonna drop in here...

well probably not now because of the accident...

too bad...

[Rev]

Shit, sounds full on

Great to hear that everyone's alive and fairly ok. How's Amulte now?

But nice to hear the week was so fantastic, I'm sorry I couldn't make it

Hopefully I can join you all another time... unless anyone feels like a south west adventure ;) ?

hell yeah

in spring?

i like visiting perth that time of year

no shrooms but everything else is at its best

What a screwup... Im am eternally sorry my friends, I dont think Ill ever really forgive myself.

shit happens bro. I know if id been in the smashup with you id not hold it against you.

alls well that ends well hey!

andy i also have recieved some late paymnets for camping fees and ill drop them in in the next day or 2

were they ok with everything- hope u arent out of pocket

email me if you need to discuss in any detail

r

Edited January 20, 2006 by Rev

[Happy Cadaver]

That section can be a bitch if you haven't driven it loads of times, plus when wet its a shocker, hope everyone's ok.

[Happy Cadaver]

ps. i hope Dodie's cactus wasn't a peruvianus ^_^ , sounds painful.

[Darklight]

That section can be a bitch if you haven't driven it loads of times, plus when wet its a shocker

Can't stress care enough on that road, my partner drives it a few times a week and reckons most of the carnage is because there are so many more people on it- she's noticed significant increases in the last year. Last week a young local died on it, she ran down an embankment, I think her passengers were OK.

Just got back from a ride to Murwillmbah in this weather and there was a car halfway up an embankment smashed into a tree and facing the wrong way- that I'm sure wasn't there 20 minutes earlier when I was driving in. Took a bit of talent I must say. Obviously a tourist car- you can't keep a car like that immaculate if you live here. Late last year we had to stay with a distressd mother and kid who totally failed to take the most gentle of corners in the wet in some hulking 4WD, and at least once a week you can see evidence of a recent serious accident- not counting the burned out husks of stolen rustbuckets on the Nimbin turnoff at Blue Knob.

The locals and emergency services must be well sick of hauling people out of wrecks along this stretch, and it means we end up with shitloads more coppers annoying us. Pissed off coppers too, they know there's trouble on that road better than anyone except maybe the ambos.

For those of you planning a visit on that road, have some respect please. Take all the time in the world when it's raining, and pull over if you can't keep up. The last thing I want to see is the terrified face of yet another driver sliding towards me in the full knowledge that that last corner was taken just a smidge too fast. The road may be shit, but its been like that for years. In fact its better than it ever was, even though its still shit. They never should have finished the tarring IMO, its given too many people the notion that its driveable.

nag nag nag, sorry...

I'm glad as hell you're all ok tho.

[Rev]

i dont mean this in anyway as a disrespect to andy as with the oil and gravel and rain and all that i can see why it happenned but i see crashes there all the time in the DRY!

i do wonder WTF is going on. i drive it all the time and never come close to losing it

To lose it in the dry you must be either stoned, drunk, asleep or speeding

aint nothing wrong with that road in the dry if you pay attention

speaking of paying attention that motherfucking lookout at the entry to the caldera has nearly got me in the dark and wet twice

ive heard its got others whove slid down the precipice

Edited January 20, 2006 by Rev

[Amulte]

Well im home now. just a fair sore with some trippy brusing slowly coming on. Got x-rayed and such and nothing was broken. im just too happy too be home now so im gonna post more prolly tomorrow after i have had a quiet night with my sweet one.

but i will say i bare no grudge. could have been worse but if it was not for the glorious council placing those barricades, but still ive learnt in life that some shit happens. some could call it fate or whatever. but spiritual philosphy aside, i KNOW that Andy DID NOT EVER WANT THIS TO HAPPEN. i saw how, sorry andy, fucked up he was because i saw a bit concussed. Andy has to be one of the most surprisingly wonderful people i have EVER had the sincere pleasure to know and call a close friend

ill dribble more tomorrow but ill just end now in saying thanks for everyones concern. and i DO seriously love all of you i had the pleasure meet face to face, and those i plan to meet in the future most likely. you guys and your familys are absolutely amazing! i had almost lost faith in mankind untill that last week. you guys are awesome and truely inspiring!im proud to know you. i am so looking forward to seeing all of you again and would like to encourage any of yu if you may be in the area to drop me a line

i think all the negative things that happened were worth it to me. besides, i got those nice opiates too as a free mellow come down in the end

Peace

[Being]

.

Edited October 26, 2006 by Being

[Rev]

It was great after four years to go back to the EB2 site.. so many memories.. that land is really special, on the saturday night of EB2 the mountains were singing to me and a deep aboriginal voice came through me from the land.. magical.

funny you say so

this was topic brought up at several occassions during late night discussions

many of us have had similar experiences and senses of this place

the aboriginal prescence i felt was particularly alien to me as i am more familiar , as are most people, with the aboriginal culture of the south and west not the rainforest. to me it seemed to emenate of what i would have associated with PNG but the faces were more aboriginal. i was also confronted during the peak of my mushrom journey at EB1 by a gigantic and pissed off rainbow phosphene python - like a wonambi

a group of giant snakes that became extinct sometime in the last 50 000 years and probably the inspiration for the rainbow serpent

http://www.naracoortecaves.sa.gov.au/wonambi/wonambi.html

check out the snake - human size comparison

http://www.naracoortecaves.sa.gov.au/images/flinwe10.gif

mine was a fair bit bigger than this naracoorte one

http://www.geocities.com/ozraptor4/wonambi.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...1&dopt=Abstract

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s95915.htm

[AndyAmine.]

CREACH

Shit, sounds full on

Great to hear that everyone's alive and fairly ok. How's Amulte now?

But nice to hear the week was so fantastic, I'm sorry I couldn't make it

Hopefully I can join you all another time... unless anyone feels like a south west adventure ;)

Thanks mate, unfortunately it looks like I've got a cracked/broken Sternum, its absolutely killing me.

I believe Amulte is feeling a lot better than he was however after jst getting home to his lovely lady Im sure he's feeling

MUCH better... LOL

I may be up for that, when were you thinking of, how long are you down there for?

REV

shit happens bro. I know if id been in the smashup with you id not hold it against you.

alls well that ends well hey!

andy i also have received some late paymnets for camping fees and ill drop them in in the next day or 2

were they ok with everything- hope u arent out of pocket

email me if you need to discuss in any detail

do wonder WTF is going on. i drive it all the time and never come close to losing it

To lose it in the dry you must be either stoned, drunk, asleep or speeding

Thanks Rev, that means a lot mate, even after all the pain of the crash I still wouldn't trade it for the week I had, well,

I would trade it for Dave and the others but for myself it was jst incredible, Its like my depression from the last 3 years has finally started to lift, it was all thanks to the time I spent wiht everyone and especialy Tuesday night and in great part to that gift you left with my bro ;)

I know what you mean about the Road though, I have driven that road at least 200 times and have never come close to fully loosing it, even in the wet however I also see people standing next to wrecks on the side of the rd all too often. I think its a mix of the kind of people driving on the roads, un roadworthy cars and a lack of respect and care. ohh, plus all the weed and smack.. have you been for a drive down those roads the week after the Mardigrass or a big doof, they are littered with smashed and burned out car bodys.

Something interesting that the lady who picked is up mentioned was that there are quite a lot of accidents on and around that spot in particular and there is a commune or group of people that live close by and often come down to pillage the cars while the owners are gone, then burn them out over night. she even went as far as to suggest that maybe they setup things like this on purpose... Ill take it with a grain of salt tho.

I so enjoyed our talks over the trip (albeit not enough of them:)) and am really looking forward to meeting you again soon Rev. Your real top shelf material mate.

Your right about "Shit happens" in fact I think Ill chance my sig to "Such is life"... LOL.

Strangbrew

What an end to a great week! After all that crap you went thru to get your car fixed too Andy, my commiserations. It's so easy to do on a wet bend, especially after it's been dry and the roads get greasy, I've done it myself numerous times. At least everyone seems OK, that's the main thing.

Thanks Mate.

LOL, yes, Ive thought about that a few times SB, pretty funny really, I was going slow over the dirt rd's and putting down matts for everyone to sit on. in fact after the crash I started to clean up the dirt all over the car then caught myself and laughed because its a bloody write-off.. LOL

DARCY

That section can be a bitch if you haven't driven it loads of times, plus when wet its a shocker, hope everyone's ok.

ps. i hope Dodie's cactus wasn't a peruvianus happy.gif , sounds painful.

Thanks for the kind words Darcy, that's the thing tho, I have driven that stretch of road literally hundreds of times before in all kinds of conditions.. jst one of those things I guess.

The Cacti that I copped in the neck was a Spachinaus and the one that whacked YT and the others was a Echinocereus Blankii, thankfully the Turbinicarpus Rev kindly gifted me was only little and didn't do anyone any mischief.,

DARKLIGHT

Can't stress care enough on that road, my partner drives it a few times a week and reckons most of the carnage is because there are so many more people on it- she's noticed significant increases in the last year. Last week a young local died on it, she ran down an embankment, I think her passengers were OK.

Yes Ill agree with that, its been getting busier and busier ever since I got up here 4yrs ago and people seem to be going faster and faster in general.

I think it has a lot to do with lots of tourists driving on roads and in rental cars they are unfamiliar with, the whole holiday mentality and the "Drive to suit prevailing conditions" signs they have there, the young and foolish think that says "Go As Fast As You Can!"

DARKLIGHT

The locals and emergency services must be well sick of hauling people out of wrecks along this stretch, and it means we end up with shitloads more coppers annoying us. Pissed off coppers too, they know there's trouble on that road better than anyone except maybe the ambos.

No doubt, I dont blame them either, I often see people behind the wheel on that stretch that are obviously stoned off their tree's and people pulling over the the side of the road to smoke a joint and then get going again, iretty silly and very disrespectful to other drivers.

The people that stopped for us (because my car was blocking the road) really didn't seem to like the look of us and even tho they were relatively pleasant you could see in their eyes that they had already judged us.. Another car full of damn hippies,, dreads, sarongs, that bloody repetitive music and what's that bloody cactus doing everywhere... plus the police officer that attended the sceen wants me to meet him tomorrow morning to make a report and he didn't sound like he was too friendly. I think he assumes I tried to do a runner which wasn't that case, we jst didn't think they were coming.

DARKLIGHT

For those of you planning a visit on that road, have some respect please. Take all the time in the world when it's raining, and pull over if you can't keep up. The last thing I want to see is the terrified face of yet another driver sliding towards me in the full knowledge that that last corner was taken just a smidge too fast. The road may be shut its been like that for years. In fact its better than it ever was, even though its still shit. They never should have finished the tarring IMO, its given too many people the notion that its drivable.

I agree with all DL says and doubly warn you.. its so very deceptive and you can never be sure of the person coming the other direction, they could be some total stoner that jst got their first car and could wipe you out in the blink of an eye.

DARKLIGHT

nag nag nag, sorry...

Ahh, I love your nagging it gives me good motherly vibes

DARKLIGHT

I'm glad as hell you're all ok tho. smile.gif

Thanks DL.. its a shame you couldn't make it this time, fingers crossed maybe we will get to meet on the next trip or some other gathering.

GOMAOS

sorry to hear about the accident, folks... next time DRIVE SLOW!

I smashed my rear window closing the backdoor cos i didn't see that box....

hopefully it'll be fixed soon...

I thought some of you were gonna drop in here...

well probably not now because of the accident...

too bad...

Thanks Gomaos, I appreciate your words. I hope your window doesn't cost you too much to repair.. unfortunately my car is a write off,

Yeah, we were going to drop by but that's not an option anymore however I believe El Duderino may be stopping by in the next couple of days? I will def be coming to the next Briz meet tho, Im really looking forward to seeing you all again.

While Im talking to you, I think I have some of your camping gear, maybe a foldable chair and or some other stuff, in fact I tink I may have picked up a few things that people left behind so Ill start up a lost and found thread soon once Ive gone through it all.

I covered everyone's camping fee's for the week so if anyone didn't pay can they please contact me ASAP to arrange something.

I will start up a new thread in a couple of days where I was hoping everyone would share their experiences from the week and let me in on any constructive criticisms of ideas for next time.,

Thanks for reading

Andyamine.,