Camp Bestival Diary 2014 {Thursday}

You may have heard that I've been in a castle field down in Lulworth, Dorset for the last five days having an absolute ball at Camp Bestival. Such an event cannot pass without sharing it so prepare yourself for images and information galore as I present to you... Thursday at Camp Bestival!

Back in the day when we ventured down to our first Camp Bestival in 2010 there was no Thursday to go to, tent pitching and all the fun that entails had to be done on the first full day of the festival itself. Then the lovely folks at Camp Bestival HQ realised it would be a great idea to open up on the Thursday and year on year this first day has got a little bit bigger each time. So let's go back to Thursday 31st July 2014...

The car was fully laden and by 9:30 my plus one and her three lovely children had arrived and we were ready to set off in convoy down the A350 to Dorset. It is a lovely, if sometimes windy - as in twists and turns in the road not the weather - route and we only got held up by a camper van and a tank. Getting onto the site was straightforward again with well managed traffic control on the A352 and two hours and a bit after leaving home we were ready to unload the car for the fun walk to find a pitch. Now, for those of you that are unaware, the site is rather hilly but I try and see the positive in this and look at it as a damn good work out. I planned and packed well and we did the whole thing in two loads - it's amazing what a Phil & Teds pushchair and bungee cords can manage. We collected our array of wristbands and we were good to go!



We pitched in the valley on a relatively flat area with plenty of space around us - although the children still managed to roll either off their airbed or onto me but that's all part of the fun. A fellow camper across the way lent me her battery operated pump which saved my legs on the foot-pump and the children soon made friends with a boy from a neighbouring tent - happy campers all round! Once the tents, flag pole and bunting were up and hand decorations applied we went for a wander up the hill to the festival site.

On entry to the site we walked through the Soul Park, an area of relaxation, massage, yoga and campfires and on to the woodturning in the Spinney Hollow. A great place just to chill and unwind before exploring the bigger site.

This year they opened up more of the site on the Thursday than in previous years so we headed across the top of the Magic Meadow and along the front of the castle to the charity area next to the church. Here we found a small area of plate spinning and hula hooping. A local hospice, Julia's House, had hula hooping making and this was added to my list of things to do, particularly as I managed to actually hula hoop properly for the first time ever!

After all that physical exertion we decided to refuel back at the tent. The return journey was made a little easier by the first of many goes at hill rolling!

You can read about the Friday here, Saturday here and Sunday here!

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Disclaimer: I received family Camp Bestival 2014 tickets in return for previews and reviews of this year's festival. As always, views and opinions are my own.