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Becoming A Man In LLanwrtyd Wells
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- Created on Wednesday, 02 March 2011 16:52
- Written by Adam
Rebellion. Some might call it an evil process which needs to be stamped out. For me it was a necessary journey to becoming a man.
It all started on a camping trip to Llanwrtyd Wells with my good friend Dave and my two uncles Pete and Perry. I was 16 and full of innocence. I'd never drunk a drop of alcohol before or done anything slightly unusual or illegal.
Me and Dave were really excited about the trip, we would be sleeping in our own tents and my uncles were taking their caravan with them, called the 'Focker'. We assumed it was made by a company with a bit of a sense of humour but more than likely it was German. It was a battered old thing they'd picked up on the cheap with dated cupboards and faded paintwork throughout. We didn't care though, for us it was the beginning of a new adventure and we couldn't have been more right.
We arrived in Llanwrtyd feeling confident and pumped up about this camping trip. None of us had been camping before in this caravan. Me and Dave put our seats down to lie back and get the most out of the ford sierra's crappy speaker system. The Shamen were on the cassette playing Omega Omiga. We parked up the car and went in the local shop to get some supplies. Me and Dave had persuaded Pete and Pablo to get us some beers so they picked us up some cans of 'Kilkenny'.
We arrived at the campsite shortly after which was little more than a picnic spot we found next to the river. We set up and soon settled down to a game of cheat using playing cards. Me and Dave tucked into our Kilkenny which tasted pretty foul. It was a type of bitter and something we were totally not used to. I knew right then why I'd never drunk before.
The four of us started to get pretty drunk and me and Dave were arguing about something. It was something pretty silly. Pete and Perry egged us on and we decided the best way to sort it out was to have a bit of a fight in the car park outside. There was a bit of pushing and shoving and Dave shoved me over a fence. We both started laughing about it straight away and made up. Pete got the video camera out and we had a bit of a pushing and shoving match consisting of 4 rounds with sips of Tiger Milk wine in between. It turned into a bit of a blur after that, but one thing was for sure I was hooked on this drinking stuff.
The following day I felt rough as a dog. It must have been about 11am before anybody got up that morning. As soon as Perry got up he started cooking himself breakfast which was 6 eggs in a frying pan. I had bought myself a more all round breakfast which was all day breakfast in a can. I felt so rough though that I couldn't face it. I doubt I'd be able to face it even now because looking back that breakfast in a can stuff is disgusting. There we were camped out in the picnic spot cooking breakfast. Cars came in, saw us and drove straight back out. I couldn't blame them, the four of us there holding our heads in pain and Perry tucking into 6 fried eggs.
We decided on a trip into the village to get some supplies. I managed to drink most of a full pint of milk on the way down in the car which I thought would do me good. We parked up the car and started walking through the village square towards the Red Kite pub to see if they were showing the formula 1 race. I felt a little sick and slowed down behind the 3 of them. Next thing I know there is a white fountain flying from my mouth and nose. A few passers by looked a little concerned but didn't say anything.
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