Another hot sunny day dawned at 31 degrees accompanied by a fairly strong wind, but we set off to explore the town by bike and see how far the field where the Highland Games are taking place is from the hotel. Anticipating heavy traffic later in the day and tomorrow, we did not really want to have to drive to Columbus Field for the events. The cycle took us through this quaint town and we saw many preparations underway as the town prepared for the crowds of visitors that the games would attract. Beautiful baskets of colourful flowers were being hung along the bridge and sidewalk. We passed a beautiful university campus and then cycled along the sea inlet past beautiful sea grasses and expanses of water.
Curtain raiser events were held in the afternoon, so we headed off to the games on our bikes which became our transport for our entire time in Antigonish. We watched 13 to 18 year old boys competing in traditional events like tossing the stone (weighing 7kg); throwing the hammer (weighing 13kg) and tossing the caber (a 19ft pole weighing about 40kg). I could not believe how strong and tall some of these young boys were. They are all provincial athletes competing in the Canadian Championships and there was a 13 year old competing who is 6.1 ft tall! I have never seen any of these sports before, so it was fascinating and confirmed my beliefs that the Scots are mad!
These events were followed by the Farmers Walk. International strong men run 100ft race carrying two weights totaling 180kg. The fastest time was 10.22 seconds. I was amazed at their strength. Liam and I could not even lift one of these weights, nevermind carry it anywhere!
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