Hippie Fest

I'm back from the land of dreadlocks, fires, and crazy dancing! Luminate Festival was a magical celebration way out in the middle of nowhere on a farmer's field. Most of our time was actually spent going to workshops all day. There were workshops on permaculture, biodynamics, how to start an ecovillage, food fermentation, fermentation in the garden, traditional foods, chakras, food resilience, qi gong, yoga...... One day we spent 6 hours straight in workshops! There was always music playing of some kind, whether it was african drums at the tribal tent, acoustic jazz or electronic at the other stages (which were aligned around the central karst fire pit in sacred geometry, of course. There was actually a workshop on sacred geometry that we had to miss because one musical act was so good). It was an alcohol-free event as well, which made for a great, non-yahoo vibe. (Although there were so many naked hippies running/dancing around, I think they would have overpowered any yahoos.)

There was music all night long, which I only stayed up late enough to appreciate twice because.... I got stung by a bee again! I really am lucky. I stepped on it one evening heading back to our tent. Fortunately it wasn't as bad as last week, probably because I overdosed on antihistamines. By the second night being able to dance I was getting quite frustrated, so I danced anyway and it seemed to make it better! I will now dance the swelling away every time I get stung! (mom: take note.)

There was a partially dried up riverbed over the hills from our campsite, and we went there to explore. I found a sheep skull in the riverbed! I wanted to take it back to Canada, but I thought it might be difficult with customs.... On several days we foraged for salad greens, and I also found a patch of stinging nettles in an (almost) cave by the river. We were quite the sight in our bathing suits, me with 2 pairs of socks on my hands picking nettles and handing them to Laura in a cave. I only got stung once! (if you don't count the time I got stung in my mouth because we didn't "cook" them properly. We tried to steam them by putting them in some tupperware with water for 2 days, but what really happened is the top leaves went black and the underwater leaves stayed green. No matter: after a stir and a few more hours they were mostly sting-free!)

A foraged salad with wild sheep sorrel, dandelion greens, and plantain. 

Eating "steamed" stinging nettles with a stick (pre sting). We had forks but I thought a stick was more appropriate on this occasion. 

The first few days were beautiful, but then it started to rain. It poured and poured and people that had camped in holes found their tents floating in puddles. On the first day, it wasn't enough to keep us away from our favourite presenter on traditional foods, but by the second day after a night of pounding rain and wind that squished our tent down on us we had to miss even the best of workshops: reflexology. We decided to leave a day early since all our stuff was slightly damp and we were cold all the time. It was definitely worth it though! We came away with notebooks full of information and minds full of inspiration for healthy and sustainable living! (there were also really yummy healthy, organic food trucks. And they had really good chai that was appreciated on the rainy days.)

Aam Shake (From Nelson, BC!) on DJ, someone else famous on didgeridoo and sitar and flute. This was in the Chill Lounge, which was a very welcome respite from all the rain! Although it did get quite crowded at times. 

Swirly clouds. 

Dreamcatchers were hung up on trees all around! 

Since we are so lucky, back in Nelson we had to camp again since all the hostels were full, but they had hot water bottles so we were happy! And we could do laundry, shower, use the hostel kitchen, etc. It was very quick getting rides back from the festival. We even made it back in time to get the free daily chocolate pudding and ice cream at this hostel! We are staying here for another day since it is supposed to be the sunniest place in New Zeland, and it seems similar to Nelson, BC in that there are lots of alternative lifestylers here (not that I have ever been to Nelson or know anything about it). Next we are off to Christchurch, then Queenstown, then Milford sound for kayaking around the fjords, and then back up to the north island. e