Last week I taped a travel show because hubby and I are considering where we might visit next and some of the destinations looked interesting.
Singleton in Australia is one of the places they visited. It’s in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales and is known for the wife carrying competition.
Wife carrying originated in Finland. The sport is thought to originate from two historic tales. The first is a 19th century legend has it that men stole wives from neighboring villages. In a second tale, an outlaw named Rosvo-Ronkainen made potential soldiers prove themselves in a race where they carried heavy sacks. The result is the wife carrying contest.
The rules are fairly simple: everyone involved must have fun. Competitors don’t have to carry their own wives. Rules state that a participant may carry his own wife, his neighbor’s wife or someone he found “farther afield.” The only stipulation is that the wife must be more than 17 years of age and weigh a minimum of 108 pounds (49 kg). If the wife weighs less than that, she must carry a weighted rucksack to make up the difference. The official length of the track is 831 feet (253.5 meters). The surface of the track includes sections of sand, grass and gravel. There are two obstacles to climb over, as well as a 1-meter- (3.2-feet-) deep water obstacle to wade through.
Last year, Anthony Partridge and Angela Moore, both from Singleton, came fifth in the World Championship with a time of 70 seconds. The world record stands at 55.5 seconds and is held by a couple from Tallinn in Estonia.
There are three methods of carrying a wife – the traditional piggy back, the fireman’s lift and the Estonia lift, which is shown in the video.
Hubby took one took at the screen, he looked at me and then said, “I hope you realize I’d never lift you.”
I said, “I’d never let you carry me around like that.” We looked at each other, grinned and settled back to watch TV. Neither of us have any desire to try the sport.
Would you like to try wife carrying?
I can barely carry my handbag and walk without tripping. Another human being would just be flirting with disaster!
Oh my, that was funny! I’ve never heard of that before. Have a great day, Shelley–It’s been so busy, I haven’t had a chance to visit all my favourite blogs lately!
Uh no. Not at my current … no. I would be terrified my DH would drop me. He’s taller than me and used to slinging hay bales, but no.
Lol, there’s nothing weird enough that not some people would come up with it. :mrgreen:
Am I the only one thinking that this would be freaking hilarious to watch? I wish we had a wife carrying competition in Canada.
I wonder how many divorces occur after it finshes though :lol:
Cheryl – hubby and I cracked up while watching the travel show. Here’s the link to the actual clip we saw. (close the movie pop up and the singleton clip comes up)
http://getaway.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=640290
My hubby came straight out and told me he’d never be able to carry me – cheeky sod!!
The way he said it made me laugh, and I definitely assured him he’d have to catch me first. No way would I let him attempt to carry me!
I’m supposed to be on a diet but I’m so lazy. I ‘m just tired my body aches just thinking about it. :cry:
Tameka – my husband drags me out of bed at 6:30 every morning to go for a walk. My body aches after that!
LOL! Sorry, I don’t think my husband and I have any interest in trying this ;) It IS probably pretty funny or awful to watch, depending!
Fedora – it looked hysterical on TV, but I bet hubby would drop me on my head or something worse. :mrgreen: