Student 'pretty rapt' after four full-on days
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Manjula Kumar was taking her tent down this morning after four days of hard partying and little sleep, at Gathering 2001.
"It was just so intense," she says, of the spectacular Takaka dance festival.
New Year's Eve was the highlight, when she stayed up all night dancing to trance and techno music, and finally crashed about 5.00pm the next day, after watching a favourite band in the afternoon.
Aside from the music and dancing, she enjoyed sifting through the clothes and jewellery for sale in the stalls, trying out the different food stalls, catching up with old friends and making new ones.
"I've met loads of interesting, really amazing people, who told me interesting stories about travelling and stuff."
Mud from the on-again off-again rain meant her favourite pair of trousers and her new trainers got dirty, but apart from that, there were few dramas for the 18-year-old university student from Motueka.
Despite her best intentions, she once again forgot to bring a rain jacket, but lots of woolly jerseys kept her warm.
"The worst thing you can do is get cold at the Gathering," she says. Cold means lack of energy, and that means less time on the dance floor.
All in all, Ms Kumar says she's "pretty rapt" about this year's Gathering.
"The music, the atmosphere, was just amazing."
Now she's off home to wash her clothes and have a well-deserved shower and long sleep. And to look forward to doing it again next year.