So once again we found ourselves at the airport, although at a new and strange time... no 5am flight! Woohoo! We flew in to Canberra (at night!) and were greeted by Sarah’s fantastic Grandad, and were instantly welcomed with some chicken soup (A Dorothy special made just for Mannie) and apple pie. What a welcome! Unfortunately it was a very quick stopover, as we had to be back at the airport the next day to await our bus to the snow.
We were surprisingly organised and arrived with plenty of time to spare (no comments please) so of course the bus was two hours late. After many coffees, and a great catch up with our good mate Enda Kenny (the people you find wandering around Canberra airport), we squashed onto the double-decker bus and were on our way. There was a brief lunch stop –and might I say the best impromptu deli picnic with Lindsay Martin and Enda, red wine, prosciutto, vintage Cheddar and all – then off we went. You could feel it getting colder as we got closer, and although we were separated on the bus, we were all nervously watching the time, as we were due on stage at 5pm and still seemed to be a long way off. We phoned ahead to say we were running a little late, to which Dave said ‘no problem’ and said we could just go on when we got there. A big thanks to Bruce Mathiske who took our place on stage and performed superbly as usual! We ran on stage at the Smiggins Hotel (to Sair and my horror with no make-up and wearing jeans!) but had a blast and a great start to the festival.
Rockstars that we are, we had a quick dinner and found our accommodation, ready to snuggle in to our warm beds for an early night (of course after Mannie dragged his mattress into a snore-proof chamber). We woke up early the next morning, a little disappointed to find that there was still no snow, and headed off to Perisher in search of breakfast, coffee and our first gig at the festival opening. We were greeted by Dave himself, arms full with a very welcome sight... a tray of butterscotch schnapps :) Yum! From this point on, we were hooked! The opening concert was great, very laid back and a glimpse at some of the entertainment still to come. We ducked off for a quick grocery shop and then straight off to our next gig at Basil's Bar. We had a schnapps-sponsored gig and had a great time! Sair and I were surprised to catch up with an old friend, Liam Dorney, who we had both met during our pre-folk years at the Brisbane Regional Youth Orchestra (apparently we were there at the same time and had no idea!). Liam was now playing with the uber-cool Gold Coast band, A French Butler Called Smith, who we caught up with numerous times through the rest of the festival.
That night (still with no snow –but a definite drop in the temperature) we ventured up to watch our good friends Humbug, who were sounding as good as ever. We had a great singalong and very brief catch up before heading back to our Smiggins Chalet for a gourmet delight ala Paul. I love travelling with someone who can cook! We give him a sweet potato and some chicken and he whipped up beautiful curry (accompanied of course by the requisite $13 bottle of butterscotch schnapps). Thanks Paul!
Ok... now for the good stuff... SNOW!
Mannie came running in to our room pointing at the window (at arse-O'clock I might add). What an amazing sight! It had just started snowing lightly. I sat, glued to the window for about an hour (having never seen it snow before) and then decided we couldn’t possibly sit inside while this was happening outside. We got ready as quickly as possible, and then the others proceeded to watch me run around and take photos with a giant smile on my face. Sairey was just as excited and was willing to pose in a million photos with me (the boys having grown up in snowy weather were slightly less impressed with being asked to wait for photos every 3 steps). The rest of the festival was a bit of a blur. We had some more great gigs, more snow photos, more schnapps, catch ups and pics with the amazing Davidson Brothers, more schnapps, battling snow-covered roads with our fearless transporter Barney, watched a beautiful concert with Enda and Lindsay... and of course more photos and schnapps.
I will take a moment to describe one of the funniest parts of a festival in the snow. Our beloved Mannie. He alternated between grumbling, shivering and complaining (quite a sight with his beanie pulled down low and his giant army coat – thanks Bernie)... and then pretending to ski (highly entertaining and surprisingly he didn’t fall once!) and making snow angels. And of course the boys had an ongoing snow-ball fight every moment we were outside.
This was a truly amazing festival and one I will never forget! Despite the bus having some dramas on the trip back, we were still buzzing when we made it back to Sarah’s Grandparents' place for a couple of hours sleep and then you guessed it... back at the airport at 4.30am.
