Day 76 – David’s Ceilidh – not to be confused with Kylie
A Ceilidh (pronounced "Kay-lay", emphasis on 1st syllable) is many things. It derives from the Gaelic word meaning a visit and originally meant just that (and still does in Gaelic). It can also mean a house party, a concert or more usually an evening of informal Scottish traditional dancing to informal music.
What a carry-on on Saturday night. David very kindly invited the Gaffer and I to his Ceilidh.He gave us a map how to get there – no probs as it was only about 3 miles away from Dunroamin.Hah – after driving for about 45 minutes up & down two private single track roads we could not find the turn off. The Gaffer uses my mobile to call D at base camp. Just as we were getting to the first right, second left stuff the old mobile’s battery chucks it and we are left in complete darkness in the middle of nowhere. To add to the fun the reversing light on the 307 is knackered so every time we tried a three point turn ‘we’ nearly ended up in the 6 foot ditches at the side of the road.D gave us a further clue and said that we had to look out for the bonfire. Seeing a large fire halfway up the nearest mountain the Gaffer let rip and blasted the 307 up the hillside. The Gopher skillfully leapt in and out of the car to open & close all of the gates and fight off the sheep. Finally arrived at the top of the mountain only to discover that there was nowhere to park and that we were blocking a Range Rover trying to get through. Needles to say spent another anxious 30 minutes reversing the 307 back down the hill. The fact that the Gaffer was not sure of her ‘Left Hand Down/Right Hand Down’ added to the fun. I quickly leapt out of the car - carryout in hand - into complete darkness. You couldn’t see your hand in front of you and me & the Gaffer proceeded to walk up the two parallel ditches on either side of the road – killed the high heels. Finally made the party by running after another 4WD blasting up the hill. The party was great. About a dozen of us holed up in a caravan at the top of the mountain hitting the old cheese & wine and the odd beer. One of the boys at the party farms oysters so we all tucked into a couple of grilled oysters with cheese & cream. To get back to the car we had to do the 500m downhill race – chasing a friendly 4WD with big lights. Apart from that all quiet – happy days.