The Splendour in the Grass shenanigans didn’t end when the music stopped. The very next morning we were faced with the dilemma of how to make it out of the camp grounds as quickly as possible. We woke up at 6am and were ready to go by about 7ish. Turns out a lot of other people were too. Being located deep in the campgrounds, and there being only one exit point (dumbest idea ever), we weren’t liking our chances. Traffic stalled at about 7.30am and over the course of the next two hours we moved about 20 metres, tops. During this time, we watched entire tents wake up, have breakfast, get packed, and then join the growing queue. Traffic was building up behind us, in front of us, and either side of us. We then got wind that it would be a reported 10 hours before the last car left the camp grounds. Things were looking dire. Then, all of a sudden, keys started turning in their ignitions and a sense of urgency filled the air. Apparently there was a way out after all. Slightly illegal, slightly stupid – but desperate times call for desperate measures…
6am start. Coldest morning we’d encountered the entire time. Not fun.
Apparently, some intrepid campers had found a way out. If we cut through a paddock, there was a road that would take us straight on to the highway. With only seconds to decide, we threw caution to the wind and decided to give it a go. Despite the fact that our car was probably not equipped to handle it.
Our excellent driver, Sam, showcasing her off-road driving skills. Her car is a brand new Honda Civic. Not an off-road car at all. It survived though, thank goodness. We would’ve been up shit creek if it had stalled. You can also see the convoy of cars in front of us, leading the charge. I’m not going to lie, for a while there it felt like the blind leading the blind.
Turns out the road that led to the highway cut through someone’s property. A farm. Full of horses. I think some got a bit of a fright at the line of cars driving past. Whoops.
This is me doing a celebratory ‘the car survived and we’ve made it out on to the highway’ dance. We then high-tailed it to Maccas, along with what seemed like the rest of the Splendour escapees, for a long awaited breakfast (which turned out to be more like lunch). This escapade was definitely one for the ages.
You can check out more photos from the weekend, that I may not have included here, over on my flickr.
