Just last year I was dreading to go work down in Gisbourne for the Rhythm and Vines concert 2012/13. (I'm a security guard with Red Badge, and excellent security company just FYI.) I thought about all the young adults there that would be partying it up, guzzing down all their alcohol with no care in the world, and consuming drugs like it was aspirin, and to be quite honest, I was very afraid and wanted to back out so badly but knew it would look bad for me. So as the day came for me to travel with the rest of the team (I was still new there, like many of the others, so I didn't know anyone) I was confused a bit, as my heart didn't beat with fear and dread, but more like excitement and enthusiasm. I was pumped! It took us all of nine hours to get there, and on the drive down I seemed to have made friends with two guys about the same age as me. Chris and Josh were two awesome blokes that made the whole experience even better. We got to the motel which was quite pleasant. No two rooms were the same, which was quite surprising. Chris and Josh were paired up together and I was paired up with a 27 year old bloke named Mayank. He was, in lack of a better word, odd, but he didn't snore which was alright with me. That night we went out and bought our own munch, which is very expensive down the line. Then when Jenny, our supervisor, came and asked us whether or not we wanted to start work right away at the Baywatch stage because the other team was understaffed, we all said yes, along with another great bloke, Matthew. We all got separated at the location and I was puut on barrier, which was directly in front of the stage behind the metal barriers, blocking the crowd from trying to get through to the stage. And my was it frightening! All the drunk people screaming and shouting and cheering for the bands was so scary but also thrilling! I wanted nothing more than to take off my uniform and join them! That night was one of many great nights to come. The next days we worked 12 hour shifts, and I was always paired up with Chris, which made our jobs so much fun! Constantly roving around the campsites, talking to the young drunk campers and obtaining things that should not have been inside the campsite (such as glass, bongs, drugs, paraphernalia, etc) and taking them back to our security tent was so much fun and hard work as most of them tried to bribe us to look the other way (which was so tempting!!). But out of the day shift and night shift, night shift was the best, as we were joined by the Red Badge team from Hamilton. Chris, Josh, Matthew and I were the straddle shifts, which meant we worked with the day shift and the night shift on the same day, which was confusing at first but cruisy after the first night. New Years Eve came and my did the Bass camp get slammed with all the folks trying to get into the festival! It was such a shame that I didn't get my New Years kiss, but at least Chris came out on top and managed to snag a kiss from a female patron! What a laugh we had after that. When the time came for us to depart beautiful Gisbourne, my heart all but filled with dread and despair, as I wanted to stay down there with the rest of them for a while longer. Maybe two or three weeks. It was sad to say goodbye to them but it won't be long before we are back at work and ready to make new memories. I cannot wait to go back down to Gisbourne at the end of this year for another round of Rhythm and Vines. Thank you Gisbourne for the coolest memories, but a bis thanks to the cool as workmates I had the pleasure of working with. Awesome was that event and the people. Bring on 2013/14!!! Happy New Year.