update

Still feeling the Abbeylove, but I figured it'd last a while because I had such a great time!
I'm in the process of uploading most of my photos to my Flickr account, which can be found here
I would also like to thank the Abbey people for giving my blog a lovely plug on their facebook page. I just discovered the previous post alone has been viewed over two hundred times, which is all sorts of amazing, so thank you Abbey! I'm more than happy to spread the Abbeylove because I had such a great time!
Going to spend the rest of the week getting my internship report finished (*groan*) and preparing to go back to uni next week for what will (possibly/hopefully) be my last semester before venturing out into the "real world" of employment and all its associated responsibilities (yay?)... I wonder if the Abbey people would be willing to keep the festival going all year 'round so I could just go live there instead?

medieval awesomeness

Still on a massive high after a fabulous weekend at the Abbey Medieval Festival in Queensland, their reputation as the biggest and best in the southern hemisphere is well deserved!

My week of frantically sewing enough Medieval garb for three people (myself, my sister-in-law and her son) paid off on Saturday when, looking pretty swanky, we set off for the Festival (about an hours drive, with a stop for petrol and coffee, that drew many a strange look from people who didn’t know there was a Medieval festival on hehehe).

We arrived just after the gates opened at 9am, so the carpark was pretty packed and the line pretty long. We were advised to buy our tickets for the joust as soon as possible because it usually sold out pretty quick, good thing we were warned because the line for tickets was massive (and it was indeed sold out by about lunch time). We opted to see the last joust of the day so we could do all our walking around and then sit for a bit later on in the day.

First event of the day was the opening ceremony and parade, which took place outside the castle and was commentated by the Abbey Herald (one seriously amusing dude… or should I say lord?). At this point my camera died, luckily my sister-in-law had one and I had a backup for the next day.

I must say I love the reenactors, I’m a massive stickler for authenticity and its good to know I’m not the only one! Heaps of groups participated (not sure the exact number), including the Society for Creative Anachronism (yay! my group!)

After the parade we did a bit of wandering to familiarise ourselves with all the different camps (grouped by time period mostly) and then came back to the castle to watch the Birds of Prey demonstration, followed by an archery competition and then Fire Power (different types of cannon, including a smaller hand-held precursor to the musket, very cool!), then it was off to hear a lecture on Prince Dracula (the historical figure on whom the vampire was based on) and finally the joust (which was awesome!).

An early night and a long sleep later and it was back to the Festival for day two, which was definitely more relaxing since we didn’t have to keep checking that we hadn’t misplaced my nephew (as much as I love the boy, his attention span is shorter than mine!). Breakfast was coffee and churros, oh my gosh, so good! Everyone should try churros!

My backup camera, borrowed from my dad, lasted through the second opening ceremony (which I wanted to see again since I missed getting pictures of the first time because of my crappy camera), but decided to error shortly after, so we were back to one camera for the day… I currently hate cameras.

After the parade we went back to the jousting field to see the Warriors of the Steppe who were putting on a demonstration of horseback archery and combat, it was amazing! We had a lovely chat with the riders (and their horses) afterwards too.

We then wandered into University Hall for a lecture on Medieval Feminine Hygiene. I figured immediately it would be about periods and so on, but apparently a large number of men thought it was going to be about washing, perfumes and cosmetics and so on. The mass exodus from the tent once they’d been set straight by the lecturer was quite amusing, as was the actual lecture! Ahhh the things you learn!

After a good giggle it was onto the Turkish Oil Wrestling, which was exactly as awesome as it sounds! Definitely a more novel use for olive oil!

This was followed by a demonstration of Morris Dancing (I blame Pratchett for my desire to see this, unfortunately, they didn’t do the stick and bucket dance). My sister-in-law now wants to give Morris Dancing a try. You go girl!

Hours of perusing the various camps and the market stalls followed. We had a lovely long chat with the Vikings who had their own village a few suburbs away, my sister-in-law and I were even invited to join the village because they were short on fair maidens. Ah flattery, I love it! I bought a lovely copper cloak pin from them which I love, been after one for ages!

I also got a lovely cross decorated with Celtic knots, although I can’t decide whether to put it on a necklace or a rosary. Hmm.

I was sad to leave the festival because it was so much fun. Definitely going back next year! in the meantime I will be shamelessly plugging it to anyone and everyone I come across… By the way, their website is Abbey Tournament and they can also be found on Facebook here

Check it out because its so so awesome!

Abbeystowe Castle

Weapons of the High Middle Ages

Inside a Shuvani Romani tent

Campsite of the Cottereaux (Company of the Dagger)

Outside the Jannissary Barracks

Sir Justyn's wedge-tail eagle

Archery competition

Jousting

Jousting

Turkish Oil Wrestling

airport blogging

blogging from newcastle airport, on my way to brisbane to party medieval-style at the Abbey Festival with my sister-in-law after a week of sewing garb like a mad woman, should be fabulous! ^_^