His was a family of mosquitoes, he thought, a buzzing swarm, and love was their itchy bite.

As much as a three-day fest in short shorts sounds like heaven, the unsightly itchy bites at the end of the day are a nightmare.

The 30-year-old first found himself covered with itchy bites after working in a shed in which the previous owner had bred budgerigars.

We talked more to each other over the next four days, as we pottered around that tiny space inspecting our sore knees and itchy bites, than we'd ever done.