BIG BANG -

This was the first of the summer's events at Santa Pod and once again the troops where out in thier masses. There were Volkswagens of every type and age all over the campsite.

We set off from London late in the afternoon on the Saturday and arrive just after dark as we had to stop to let Giles (my car!) cool down at the side of the road.

All of the week before hand and even after I had the engine looked at, Giles had been conking out all week and it looked at one point as if we would not be able to bring him up for the show.

Lucky for me, a guy Dave (my boyfriend) knows replaced the carb which seems to have solved the problem. Although Giles was still 'pinking' a bit on the way up to Santa Pod. We also found out that our friends Andy & Carol had blown a valve in the cylinder head on thier yellow camper.

Once we had found the others and got our tents put up for the night, it was down to the entertainment area for some light refreshment and dancing. There was a fair sized beer tent with Live Bands performing and two large marquees, one playing Dance music and the other 70's Disco with the Carwash crowd.

There is a curfew at Santa Pod which means that all the organised entertainment cease at midnight but that didn't stop half the campsite from going back to thier tents/campers and turning up thier own music full blast. There were little parties breaking out everywhere as continued to stay up until four or five on Sunday morning.

It was a freezing night and as we lay falling asleep the noise and merriment continued. Sunday morning was bright and warmed up quickly so after a slow breakfast and a first walk around the stalls, we went up to sit along the quarter mile strip and watch the drag racing in the sunshine.

Andy had found a suitable engine for his camper and after haggling a reasonable price set about fitting his fresh purchase straight into it's new home for the journey home. Thier was quite a gathering most of the day as people checked on his progress as he and a team of volunteers dropped the old lump and swapped it. Tools where gathered from various locations and it was all fitted and ready to roll before dusk.

After th racing had finshed and we'd had our dinner we got changed for the next night of parties. Matt and Monica had to pack thier stuff up quite early as they had to be back in London the following day and so where set to leave late on the Sunday.

We where up half the night again but still managed to get some sleep on yet another cold night under canvas. Monday was the finals of the drag racing and also the show and shine where most of these pictures came from.

The show packed up around three and we all made for our cars and vans to form an enourmous queue of VWs stretching for miles as we all made our way home with thoughts of Run to the Sun in Newquay later in the month.