Day 6: Hasselt
Welcome
Yesterday we drove inland to Hasselt to play at Pukkelpop festival, and afterwards played a game of cricket to celebrate Jono's birthday.
I started the day with a sensible breakfast of cured meats, cheese, bread, scrambled eggs, and pain au chocolat.
We drove for just over an hour to get to Pukkelpop where we were stopped at the entry checkpoint. There we were given a parking pass and drove 100m to the parking lot. Then we handed the parking pass to the parking manager who pointed us toward a parking assistant who directed us to our parking space. From there we walked 20m to a parking lot shuttle which drove us 100m to the artist reception. After receiving our accreditation we took another shuttle to our stage, although this one took a lot longer as we had to wait for the grumpy digger driver (that's what our shuttle driver called him) to finish loading his trailer.
We had an stress-free soundcheck and were left with a luxurious twenty minute break before our set. Unbeknownst to us Liz had secretly organised for Jon's brother Chrissy P and his other half Garyun to come and visit for Jon's birthday, and they showed up backstage to surprise him.
We had a good time playing the first set of the day on the Club Stage to a small polite audience that included a man holding a New Zealand flag. Near the end of the set we sang an awkward rendition of happy birthday onstage, but I'm not sure if anyone joined in.
After the set we had lunch and gave Jonathan his birthday cake, and since we were in the artist lounge we sang very quiet rendition of Happy Birthday.
Late in the afternoon we left Pukkelpop and drove to a cricket ground that Tristan had scouted out where we enjoyed the rare chance to play on a pitch, and with an adequate number of fielders. Highlights of the game included Chrissy P's precision pace bowling, Jono's drives into Cow Corner, Tristan's medium-fast Yorker, Liz's sweep shots over the leg gully, Garyun's sweep shots past square leg, and my uninspiring leg spinners with unsuccessful variations.
Ultra-wide monitor users here is a panoramic treat for you.📸 Liz Stokes
Liz found a good kebab shop after the game and we ate dinner and complained about our sore overused bodies.
Beth of the day goes to Tristan for getting me a towel from reception because our hotel room only had one, and for finding a cricket field. Thanks Tristan, you turned a good day into a great day.