Joy is…dancing under the stars!

The annual spring festival has wrapped for another year - and I’m still in recovery.

The fun kicked off on Friday evening, and we didn’t exactly ease into the festivities. Sharni and Johnny were mad keen to experience everything the three-day event had to offer, and I had the near-impossible job of pacing them just so I could keep up. At first, I didn’t do so well. It was like trying to slow down a runaway freight train. Or the speed of light.

Flashing lights, colourful signs and catchy sounds were everywhere, all vying for our attention - and our coins. The funfair rides were spinning almost as fast as Johnny’s eyeballs, and the food and drink stalls offered an exotic and endless array of temptations.

But we averted overwhelm - that night at least - thanks to a very happy distraction: the live music.

A nine-piece band played in what would otherwise be the middle of the footy field. A gentle sea breeze stirred our hair, cool grass brushed our feet, and the stars glittered above us.

It was wonderful.

And so we danced.

Sharni and Johnny pulled moves I’d never seen before. We danced to old favourites and songs less familiar. We even attempted the Nutbush, despite none of us knowing how.

I’m pretty sure Sharni and Johnny shouted the loudest for an encore. And then another. And another.

They danced and sang until the night wore thin - and so did I, until I could barely move a muscle.

Luckily, the beans slept like logs. But they didn’t sleep in. Gates opened at 8 am, and they didn’t want to miss a thing.

And as I watched them race ahead into another day of fun, I couldn’t help but smile. Joy, it seems, never needs a rest (even if we do).

- Sam