August 10 - Ballater Highland Games (Scotland Part 2)

We were up quite early (around 5am local time). We packed up what we needed for overnight and I went down to the corner store to get some milk and croissants for breakfast. After throwing stuff into the car, we set off. The end destination was Ballater, how we got there was going to be a mystery. We had maps and guidance, but what fun is that when you can just take random roads instead?

David and Louise had left maps and suggested things to see on the way. Unfortunately it was still too early to see a lot of stuff, so we saw the countryside instead. I took a random road and saw a bit of farmland. After deciding to put the navigation back on, and not wanting to go up the East Coast (as I had planned to come back that way), we passed the same spot twice.

After navigating quite successfully to Glenshee Ski Fields, we stopped to have some breakfast. The chair lift had just started operation for the day so we thought why not. For future reference, my question for chair8 lifts will be ‘why???’. It got quite cold going up the top thanks to the wind. Ros’s question for me also was interesting – am I afraid of chair lifts? Not at the start when I thought about it, but about halfway up and I was cold, then yes I was.

We got up the top and had a look around at the countryside. Up there we did run into a family and their question for us was ‘are you from Australia?’. After answering yes, their next question was ‘Brisbane?’. Yes again. He said he thought so, as you can spot an Aussie anywhere. They are the ones wearing shorts and a jumper. He said the only thing I was missing was my thongs. I had boat shoes on, so I was close. They were rugged up, had jeans on and hiking boots. We decided to head back down and continue to Ballater. When we got to the car, there were a lot of motorcycles parked on either side of the car. All we could think of was the movie ‘Wild Hogs’.

The countryside was very pretty so we did stop a few times to take photos. On the way to Ballater was Balmoral Castle. It wasn’t open as the Queen was in residence, but the shop was open so we stopped and had a look anyway. We again continued, with the help of Siri, to the address for the games I had found on the website. Oh how they were wrong. Luckily there was a local there who was just advising tourists where to go.

We finally found our way to the games and found where to park on-site.

The atmosphere was fantastic. There were rides and games, stalls and then the main events in the ring. In July I had purchased patrons tickets. These got us into a separate section as well as a few drinks. After going the long way to get in, we found some seats and started to watch the games. There were all sorts of games, including ‘tossing the caber’, ‘stone toss’, ‘tug-o-war’ and ‘hammer throw’. Along with that they also had the dancing and bands. One of the main events is the Hill Race. They do a few laps of the oval before heading out onto the road and up a hill. It’s hard to describe how high up they had to go, but I for one would not want to do it.

One thing we needed to get used to was the difference between Australia and everywhere else when it came to smoking. People just light up wherever they want, whenever they want. Needless to say I appreciate the laws in Australia even more now.

Part-way through the games, the Chieftain of the games arrived. It was his 69th year as Chieftain (he was 98 years old). His entourage was there too (his wife, sons and distant relatives). After quite a while they ended up going into the hospitality tent and proceed to drink … and drink … and drink. Towards the end of Tossing the Caber, we decided to make a move for it. We checked into our accommodation for the night before heading to the restaurant to get some dinner. After dinner we had an early night again and crashed out.