A Little Bit of Scotland in New Zealand

Competitors try to turn cabers at the Hororata Highland Games.
Photos by Erin Grigson

There were stones. There were cabers.

Kilts everywhere
Photo by Erin Grigson

There were so. many. kilts.

The Hororata Highland Games in Hororata (just a few minutes from where we live in Darfield) was full of events for everyone to "have a go" and then watch the competitors blow us away.

In the opening ceremonies, the pipe band paraded in. Following the band, there were Scottish clans represented by their family crests.

Some of those included, Cameron, Keith, Douglas, Johnston, Cochrane, Matheson, and MacLeod among others.

There were so many ways to be involved.

There were food stalls everywhere, both Scottish and normal. There were also people selling Scottish clothes, kiwi stuff and then there was just stuff. There was something for everyone.

There was even a running competition: the kilted mile. Runners had to wear their kilt (of course), run part of the mile, eat some shortbread, run some more, then eat a pie (probably a Hororata pie) and then run some more. Finally, they have to down a IronBrew beer and then finish the mile.

Also, any child who wanted to could participate in the porridge eating competition. It was cold porridge, but there was a lot of it and once finished, they had to turn their bowl upside down and put it on their heads.

Kids competed in the porridge eating competition,
then tipped the bowl on their head.
Photos by Erin Grigson

Honestly, some kids took one bite and were done. After all, there wasn't any brown sugar or cinnamon on their porridge and it was cold, but some pushed through and earned the bragging rights.

They also had a smaller version of the farmers walk, Hororata stones and cabers to have a go. There was a truck pull and wool spinning. Any Hunger Games fan could try out archery.

You could try playing the bagpipes. You could try driving an excavator. You could try on a kilt. You could pretty much try anything that the competitors would be doing later... just on a smaller scale.

One of the things that anybody could win was the tug o'war competition. And there were lots of teams. It seemed like quite a few gyms put together teams to come to the games and compete.

However, there were also groups of strangers that came together just through Facebook so they could try to win. One of our friends was in one of those Facebook teams. (Sorry I didn't get a photo, Andy!)

No matter which teams they were, they went all out.

Then we saw the Gough CAT Oceania Heavyweight Championship events.

There were male and female amateur teams, but only a male competition for the professionals. Still, many of the female amateurs were amazing!

These games are like what Scottish people had to do in their daily life.

But the games were all kindof similar to track and field events. Since I helped coach last year, I can see this like the high jump and the discus. But on a much heavier/more difficult scale.

Competitors tried to get the wheat sheaf over the bar.
Photos by Erin Grigson

The first competition we saw was the wheat sheaf. I'd call it a sack toss over a rugby goal with the goal getting higher as the game progresses.

The wheat sheaf competition consisted of heaving (I believe) 18 kilo bags over their head and over the bar. They got three attempts to do it and then they moved it higher. This continued until only one person could get it over the bar. (This is kindof like high jump.)

Next was the cabers. I didn't know that was what it was called until the announcer said that.

Jono MacFarland (I think that's how it's spelled) made a complete 12 o'clock turn on his caber. Later, he tried to turn the longest caber in New Zealand, one that had never been turned... He was unsuccessful, but it was exciting.
Photos by Erin Grigson

Cabers look like you're trying to move a tree trunk, tipping it from one end to the other. It's judged by the direction the trunk falls. If it's tossed at 6 o'clock and lands at 12 o'clock, it is a perfect turn. But if it turns and kindof goes sideways, it's still a turn, just not perfect. It could land at 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock and still be a turn, but the idea is that it turns as close to 12 as possible. You're looking for a 180 degree angle from where you toss to where the end you tossed lands. I wish I had taken a video, because it's so much easier to explain once you see it.

Then came the farmers' walk. This walk is based on the days in Scotland when farmers had to walk to the end of their road and pick up the churns of cream and carry them back to their house.

You can see the concentration on their faces as they carried their 200 kilos of logs down the field.
Photos by Erin Grigson

The farmers' walk in the competition consisted of carrying two 100 kilo logs while "sprinting" a few meters down the field and back. I put sprinting in quotes because they were trying to do a brisk walk, but it was definitely a shuffle, trying not to bruise their legs. As you can see in the photos, the farmers' walk was not easy. It's also timed.

Finally, the Hororata Stones were the decider of the heavyweight competition. This was also the event everyone had been waiting for.



Heavyweight competitors tried to move the stones the fastest in the Hororata Stones event.
Photos by Erin Grigson

There were 5 stones. The first stone weighed 100 kilos. The second weighed 110 kilos. The third was 120, the fourth was 130 and the fifth was 145. They had to lift the stone up and put it on the top of the barrel, roughly a meter and a half off the ground. Not an easy task. Like the farmers' walk, it was timed. But there was also a stipulation that if you had to put the stone down, you could, but it added a 2-second penalty.

It was so exciting. I believe the winner did all 5 stones in 22 seconds!

Besides the heavyweight championship, they also had a highland dancing competition, solo piping and drumming competition, Highland garment spinning competition, and more.

Overall, it was a really fun experience. I'm glad we went... Maybe next time, we actually go to Scotland!