The 25th January is not only Australia Day eve, but it also happens to be Robert Burns' birthday.
Robert Burns is a very famous Scottish poet, and his poems written in the Scots dialect are damn near unreadable. Wiki has this to say:
" Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a light Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland "
Here is a snipit of his poem 'Address to a Haggis":
But mark the Rustic, haggis fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his wallie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whistle;
An' legs an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thristle.
So on the 25th of January, Scotland (and funnily enough New Zealand too) celebrate Burns Night. Burns Night is all about eating haggis (after a bagpiper serenades it, naturally), men giving a 'Toast to the Lassies' (a funny speech saying how great us women are and then trying to be funny) and then the 'Reply to the Toast to the Lassies' given by the women (which of course is generally funnier and puts the boot into the men more than a little), and then drinking and singing and a little hand holding (everyone holds hands and sings...this was the most off-putting part of the evening for us).
The local community hall down the road held the supper, with volunteers making all the food and organising the speakers, musicians, raffle etc. The speaker made a point of singling us out at the start of the night as tourists and had everyone give us a little clap. We felt so spethal. But was a great night; we met the only other Aussie in the room who lives up the hill from our hotel, and I had a lovely chat to a Welsh photographer. As we left to walk home, everyone was offering us a lift. 'No no, this is the first time we have been outside in weeks!". "Stupid Aussies" I'm sure is what they were all thinking.
The weather was mercifully off getting pished that night, so there was no wind and the night sky was clear. The stars revealed themselves and the Northern Lights made an appearance...it was awesome! We weren't expecting to see the Lights, so we were walking along at midnight in the dark using our phones for lighting (as there are no street lights or anything and we were basically in the middle of a paddock), and behind a big hill was all this glowing stuff. 'What's that? There isn't a big settlement behind the hill...where is all that light coming from?' We asked each other stupidly. "I think it's the Northern Lights..." "Nah...no way" "Yeah, no I think it is.."
So we stood in the dark watching it for about 15 mins while we tried to decide what exactly it was. The Lights were kind of fluid, moving around and becoming lighter and darker...yep, definitely the Northern Lights. Of course I kept thinking of that Simpsons episode where Skinner sets his kitchen on fire with Superintendent Chalmers. You know the one:
Superintendant Chalmers: Good Lord, what is happening in there?
Principal Skinner: The Aurora Borealis?
Superintendant Chalmers: The Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?
Principal Skinner: Yes.
Superintendant Chalmers: May I see it?
Principal Skinner: No.
We rushed back to tell anyone we could find still awake at the hotel as everyone has been waiting months and months to get a glimpse of the Lights...but we couldn't find anyone. True story.
