Final Eurohash Trails...

After we disembarked the Marco Polo, we split up onto separate buses to take us to our final trails, which were spread out across the country. Jimmy and Ashlynn did the Ballbreaker in the Lammermuir Hills, southeast of Edinburgh...

...while Veronica and I did a walk in Penicuik, nine miles south of Edinburgh.

Our hash ended at a pub with soup for lunch. Veronica isn’t a fan of beer, but was a good sport when she get called up for a down-down. Afterwards, our buses took us west to Glasgow and dropped us off at the closing party venue. We grabbed taxis to the hotel to drop off our bags, got ready for the party and went to a pub for dinner.

Party Time at Eurohash...

Ready for dancing on Friday night...

...but first there was some very interesting entertainment. A group of modern-day Vikings, a Jarl Squad from Shetland, joined us.

It was very cool that we were allowed to pose with their handmade shields and axes for some photos. While those gentleman took a tender back to Shetland, a group of Shetland hashers joined us overnight. Ashlynn enjoyed having another young hasher to hang out with. 

The big party on Saturday night had a 90s theme, which was easy for the girls. Somehow we failed to get a photo of me and Jimmy, although our costumes weren’t too great anyways.

The girls had a lot more energy than me as they closed down the dance floor every night while I was usually in bed around midnight.

Here’s Ashlynn dancing with Cockatool, the organizer of the weekend...

...and here’s Jimmy leading a conga line around the dining room.

The chefs also came out to do a twirl around the room.

That evening Jimmy was in charge of calling Cockatool up on stage for a special ceremony...

...which led to some dancing. 

This list circulated after we disembarked showing how much booze 700 hashers can drink in three days. A great time was had by all!

Ring of Brodgar...

Since there was some time to spare before we needed to be back to the ship, the bus made a stop for us to visit the Ring of Brodgar, a Neolithic stone circle—the third largest in the British Isles.

This UNESCO World Heritage Site originally consisted of up to 60 stones, with 36 remaining. No proper scientific dating is available as it has never been excavated, but it is suspected to have been built between 2600 and 2400 BC.

The colors were great with the purples of the heather and the bright blue lake nearby.

We were happy to run into Ashlynn and Jimmy upon our return.

As we set sail on our final night on board, we passed a castle...

...and a lighthouse as we headed back to Rosyth.

Circling Up on Orkney...

After we finished trail, the bus took us to a community center. The weather was definitely much better for circle than the previous day when it was pouring. Too bad lunch wasn’t as good as in Shetland.

Veronica played around with her drone, but the winds were too strong and she didn’t get any usable footage.

This local girl was adorable in her viking costume. Guessing her mom had lots of explaining to do after down-downs were over. 

Veronica and I both were called up for a down-down.

I looked pretty goofy speaking into a toilet brush when I shared an accusation to give a hasher a down-down.

Hashing on Orkney Island...

Veronica and I took the hash bus to Birsay on the northwest coast of the island. Before trail started, we walked past St. Magnus Church. Originally dating back to 1064, the current building was built in 1760 and expanded in 1867.

Across the street were the ruins of Birsay Earl’s Palace, built in 1574 for Robert Stewart, the first Earl of Orkney and illegitimate son of King James V. Subsequent earls lived in the palace for less than 100 years. It’s incredible to realize that the palace was abandoned over 300 years ago and yet parts still remain. 

The first half of the trail was primarily slogging through farmland...

...while the second half was entirely on the coast, starting with going past a cliff where birds nest...

...before viewing the more rugged coast line.

We were thrilled that we were able to switch our run from the originally assigned city walk to this beautiful coastal trail.

There was such an interesting variety of cliffs.

This fisherman’s hut dates back to the 19th century.

By far the most fascinating spot we passed was the Brough of Birsay, an uninhabited coastal island accessible at low tide by the causeway that appears green in the water.

Too bad that the hash trail wasn’t designed to actually take us across to the island as it would have been worth getting wet for.

Ashlynn Becomes a Ballbreaker...

Overnight, our ship had cruised to Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands. Since our ship could pull into port, we could disembark and head straight to the bus taking us to our trail.

While dancing at about 3 a.m. on Saturday morning, Cockatool convinced Ashlynn to switch to the Ballbreaker run for that day. She was nervous about doing a 11.5-mile trail with no training, but not only could she easily keep up but was towards the front of the pack.

They took some time out of running to enter Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn, a Neolithic burial mound dating back at least 5,000 years.

The entrance was clearly small, but there was space for about a dozen inside.

Ashlynn stuck mostly with the pack, while Jimmy was at times far ahead and at times far off trail as he was never afraid to try solving checks.

There were a lot of amazing views.

While these photos are from flat sections, there were plenty of hilly sections as well. 

Ashlynn loved it and has declared herself officially a Ballbreaker.