By the time we had made it through the entrance, it was heading for dawn already. Despite Dire Warnings it was pretty easy to find the Burner Hostel area. We parked up, and I started into rum with coffee to keep the cold out (it wasn't really very cold at all). The first interesting site was a very nice couple with a tricycle that incorporated a harp. Which the girl was playing, rather sweetly.
Soon sun rose over the desert and the BRIBH:
It was time to pitch camp. The tent having been beach tested, it went up relatively easily. The shade structure took a bit more cursing - having tested it in the cool of my Auckland office, I hadn't allowed for it expanding in the desert sun. However I eventually got the thing built - and it stood up through duststorms for the whole week:
Britcamp had also to be finished, so we bolted and tied that together. By the evening we were pretty much sorted. The BRIBH bar was also ready...
I'm not sure what the correct ratio of rum to coke in a rum and coke is. Probably the first ones that Emma made were about right - by about 9ish, it was about a pint of rum with a dash of coke.
Having partaken of That Drink, I then decided unilaterally to go for a wander around the city. There was after all, that exciting total lunar eclipse to see that evening..
Despite it being the first night, numerous bars and dancy places had opened. I found most of them. At some stage I noticed that the moon looked wierd - I wasn't really sure as to quite why. Eventually, I lighted upon a pub that brewed English-style beer - what a great concept!
By that stage, my Cup With A Lid (which one had been instructed to Always Carry) had been left on a bar somewhere. No problem, since I had a convenient Nalgene water bottle that was now empty of water. The people in the pub nicely filled this with beer, so I was sorted!
There follows a blurry interlude. Apparently at some point around this time The Man was burnt. Early. There also should have been a lunar eclipse, but apart from the abovementioned wierdness I can't really recall noticing. I guess I somehow made it home. (I have an instinct for this, usually)
The next morning, I realised that the shade structure was good for about 0900. Not any later and certainly not noon like I'd hoped. The only shade structure that works for that is an RV with aircon and plenty of diesel. I was thirsty as fuck. I reached for my water bottle, which contained the dregs of the (by now very) warm, flat, English beer from the night before...
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