Embrace sunscreen
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Sunscreen is like the friend who is a bit annoying but always there for you when you need them the most. Sure it makes the dust stick to you, but with that ozone layer hole leaking UV rays like Crystal Palace's defence leaks goals, you need it big time. Best of all, if you forget to pack your own there's normally people handing it out for free, so you've really got no excuse. Embrace it!
Don't waste your time in queues
If you're the kind of person who hates waiting in queues (read: 99 per cent of Tasmanians), do yourself a favour and avoid them. Getting up early is the key here, and it's the key because no-one else wants to do it. If you expect to get up at 9.30am and have a shower without sitting through a 90-minute wait you need to take a long, hard look at yourself. Get up at 6am, walk straight into a cubicle and then go back to bed. Similarly on New Year's Day, get up and get out of there before the traffic piles up. You can sleep in when you get home!
Plan your day out
Plan your food trips and general down-time for when there's bands on you don't care about. Don't put yourself in a situation where you have to choose between a rollicking Ball Park Music set and the unerring lemongrassy goodness of Owen's Noodles. I've been there and it's a dark place.
The beach is good
Go to the beach if you can! It's nice and let's be honest what else are you going to do in the morning? Get around ‘dem summer vibes.
Keep your event guide handy
Not only does this A6-sized paperback beauty contain who's playing where at what times, but it tells you when you can go to the beach, when the general store is open and where to get your wristband. Plus if conversation points get a bit low, it contains lots of juicy facts about the bands you can annoy your friends with. Did you know Alison Wonderland’s real name is Alex Sholler? You do now!
Bring your ID
You've just turned up to the wristbanding station and you want to get into the festival vibes as soon as possible but what's that? You've left your ID at your campsite, you massive turkey. Bring it with you just this once and then lock it away in your car.
You don't need that extra box of Barbecue Shapes
The tried and tested equation for how much food you need at Falls is how much food you think you need minus one box of Shapes. You don't need them and your friends don't want them either. Save yourself $2 and thank me later.
Freeze your water
Killing two birds with one stone is always fun, providing both the birds and the stone are metaphorical. Freeze a bunch of water bottles, put them in your esky instead of ice and you've got yourself cool-ish water for the next day and a way of keeping your food cold. What a joy.
Don't get into wee wars
If a person wees on your car tyre, don't go back and wee on theirs. They'll break into your tent when you're out enjoying the dulcet tones of London Grammar and wee on your sleeping bag and clothes. No-one wins a wee war!
Consider your parking strategy
Maximising campsite space is the aim of the game here. Not only can you save yourself the moral dilemma of having to choose between running over someone's tent to get out of the campgrounds and waiting for hours until they get their stuff out of the way, but you can also net yourself and your mates a spacy communal retreat. Making sure you leave decent gaps between your cars is the best way of doing this, providing festival staff let you get away with it.
Always bring glow sticks
Admit it, you love them. You see people wearing glow stick crowns at night time and you wish you were that person. They might only be plastic tubes filled with pretty chemicals but your inner magpie just can’t resist them. Bring them and share them with people who wish they’d brought them.
Be safe and have fun!
The last place you want to spend New Year's Eve is in the ambulance tent so look after yourself and your friends! Plus the ambulance guys will love you for it!
