Aberdeen is Brigadeen!

Following the major piping festival that is Bundanoon Is Brigadoon (which I sadly missed) Ben took us to Aberdeen for the highland games for the weekend. We drove to a cottage in a small fishing resort just outside Aberdeen, which took about 5 hours (a short trip by Australian standards). We pulled out wine and whisky and chatted til bedtime, pretty early as the Saturday was a busy day.

Ben was up at 7.30, and Elissa and I left the house at 9ish, ready to watch the opening parade. It was great to hear the pipe bands coming down the road, and the games were impressive too. Five guys tried to lift the five stones onto the barrels, including one at 165kg, but five guys only managed the four stones. That last one is a killer for most people I think, even the pros. We watched the tug of war, with a pretty dodgy Army side (all their best rope-tuggers are in Iraq). And the three legged race was an open affair. So Ben and I entered. Here's how I remember it.

To our left were two pipers. To our right, two children. We'd been rehearsing beforehand, so not only were we honed and ready, but we'd put the fear into our opponents. When the whistle went, the pipers took off at tremendous speed, and we and they left the kids for dead. Ben and I were having none of this, so we picked up the pace and at the line, we'd just caught them. Our leg tie snapped at the last moment, but the tie fell just over the line, so it was called a dead heat. We'd won! And we were handed $10 to prove it!

The ceilidh in the evening was a splendid affair, frequented by Dawn Fraser (who I hadn't heard of but who is something of a national treasure apparently), and with excellent food, music and dancing. Breakfast on the barbecue the following morning was a perfect end to the weekend, and we drove back to Sydney exhausted but satisfied. Elissa even managed to pick up some olive soap, so she can now wash in her favourite foodstuff!