Aaaaarrggh Robbie Burns

That title was meant to be read in a Scottish accent, doesn't quite come through when you write it!

We went to the Robbie Burns festival at Camperdown over the weekend.   It was fun.  A little disjointed with the venues, and to be honest if you drove through Camperdown you would probably have kept driving, you wouldn't have known anything was on.  But it's an event to definitely be built on.

Now for those that don't know Robbie Burns, Wikipedia says:

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide.

And if you still aren't sure who he is, he actually wrote Auld Lang Syne.  In any case there were kilts flying for sure, and Camperdown definitely put on some Scottish weather over the weekend.

Saturday night we went to the Ceilidh.  The event organisers put it on for free, which was quite remarkable and it was so much fun, a packed house.  Everyone was up dancing all night, the caller did an amazing job teaching us the intracacies of movement.  I just went by the old adage if I kept moving it looked like I knew what I was doing.  I think I put a few knee caps out as well!  Mike's dad and partner came also and okay they put us to shame.  Mike's dad is in his 70's and he did not sit down for one dance.  We were knackered to put it bluntly and had to have a rest between dances.  Oh the shame, to be outdone by a 73 year old!

What a great work out though.

Then on the Sunday we went back and had a look through the market, I bought a secret booklet (to be put away from the menagerie to Mike for father's day) on the history of bagpipes.  We went to the council chambers and checked out the statute of the famous Robbie Burns that we were there to pay homage to.

And we climbed the clock tower which was actually pretty cool.  What a view from the top.  Wow.  What a climb too, on very narrow stairs.  The clock bells chimed the half hour while we were up there, which was quite neat.  Funny though, we decided it was easier to climb down the stairs backwards as if going down a ladder and there was quite a gathering at the bottom ready to make the climb up.   Mike was leading the way, and only when I yelled down below "hey Mike, look you've drawn a crowd, they're looking up your kilt" did he try to protect his modesty on the last flight of stairs and cover himself! ha.

Then the grand finale concert with the Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club and the Warrnambool Pipe Band.

A couple of photos of us from the weekend.   The rest will go into a scrap page.   I really don't know why I thought I should stand like a tea pot.   I will entitle this photograph "Shag on a Rock" !   Oh and those camera lovers amongst us may recognise my Ginger camera bag, a la ephiphanie.

And really, he does need to take lessons on how to sit in a kilt, doesn't he?  This will just never do.

So I'm just going to get through this week at work then I have two glorious weeks off, yahoooo!  Four more days to go.