First timers from Melbourne,Australia...Question time!

[worla]

Howdy!

Me and my boyfriend are coming from Australia to attend Burning Man which means our supplies will be minimal. My question is where would you recommend getting things for our camp site ie: sleeping bags,shade and general camping gear like an esky. We have camped at festivals before but they have not been 1. overseas 2. requiring you to be so self reliant (they have food and stalls to purchase goods).
oh and one more question! i don't really want to be carrying my passport around the playa, would you guys accept my Australian licence as i.d for drinks?
I have looked at the regional site and there is not much action in the Australian/Asian section.
Any help would be appreciated and please let me know if i should be posting in a different section.

[trilobyte]

Don't just look at the site to give you all your answers, reach out and connect with the regional group and talk to other members. Every single member of the Aussie Burners faces the same kind of challenges, they may be able to give you countless tips and tricks. Similar is true for the city (or cities) you may be passing through to do your stocking up. Most of the bigger towns on the west coast have regional groups, and can probably help you figure out those logistics. The internet is also your friend - search for the item you're looking to buy and then the name of the city you want to buy it in, that may turn up some useful results. I believe the Reno burners put together a great local resource guide for fellow burners passing through their awesome town, but that doesn't usually get published until the summertime. But as you read the survival and first timer's guides as well as the boards, you can start making your lists now to figure out what you need to get, and then get an idea of the going rates through searching online. Good luck!

[worla]

Thanks,I'm just kind of freaking out the more i read but at the same time i am super excited! thanks for the tips. the idea of looking into passing towns is a great one.

[SnowBlind]

My question is where would you recommend getting things for our camp site ie: sleeping bags,shade and general camping gear like an esky.

I have no idea what an esky is, but I really want it to be the Australian word for an ice chest?

In terms of shopping, depending which city you fly into, you probably want to do your shopping in Reno or the San Francisco Bay Area. Walmart has cheap camping gear, if you don't mind feeding the evil corporate overlords. Target is another Walmart like store. REI has tons of good camping gear, but is somewhat pricey and probably too good quality to dump when you are flying back.

The Burning Man site has a page on shopping in Reno: http://www.burningman.com/preparation/t ... areas.html
This page has a lot of info http://www.cieux.com/bm/bmtoc.html and it leads you to this shopping page (for Reno) http://civilizedexplorer.pbworks.com/w/ ... noSupplies

i don't really want to be carrying my passport around the playa, would you guys accept my Australian licence as i.d for drinks?

It's up to each barkeeper, but I don't think that's going to be a problem. Especially if you have the accent to go with the license, and unless an Australian license looks like you printed it at home, my guess is it should work.

(Keep in mind that the People on running Bars on the Playa don't want to check licenses, but in the past bars have been ticketed when they accidentally served minors, so many bars are now careful)

[Dr. Pyro]

Even I know enough Australian to know that an esky is indeed an ice chest.

[phil]

Check out Louise's Reno shopping pages at http://civilizedexplorer.pbworks.com/w/ ... /CivExReno for tips, locations, and such to plan your shopping in Reno.

In the past, Twin Cities Surplus (http://www.twincitysurplus.com/) has had specials for out-of-country Burners -- for a price, they'll provide you all your camping gear ready for you to pick up in one place. Drop by their web site and email them to see if they're doing it again this year. This makes it easier, but I'm not sure how much input you have in what's picked for you.

Louise's pages give you information on food, water, gear, and more, and it's formatted in several different ways: by freeway exit so you can concentrate your shopping; by store; by gear. You'll spend more time in the car traveling, but you'll get what you want based on seeing and feeling the stuff you're buying.

I understand it's scary the first time, but hundreds, maybe thousands of foreigners come to Burning Man every year and they all manage just fine. Probably. I think. Maybe.

Or maybe not. Who can tell?

[theCryptofishist]

Even I know enough Australian to know that an esky is indeed an ice chest.

And I have enough of an intuitive feel for slang development to believe that it's derived from "eskimo".

[Drawingablank]

It's an Aussie cooler brand that has since been bought by coleman.