Sheafs, cabers and tartan on show at Turakina Highland Games

Tartan, bagpipes, sheafs and cabers were out in force at the Turakina Highland Games, billed as New Zealand's oldest continuously running highland games. 

Dressed in six yards of Scottish tartan "to try and keep the wind away", Callum Carn cuts a dash as he waits his turn in the A Grade piping competition.

The tradie from Wellington first played here as a boy in 2008 and hasn't missed a year since. 

The event, billed as New Zealand's oldest continuously running Highland games, was held this year on a cool, windy day in January.

Now in its 160th year, it is a not-to-be-missed mark on the calendar for many - including Bruce Cawood, who's been coming since 1955.

"It's home for me," he told Country Life.

Cawood is a descendant of one of the district's Scottish pioneering families, who bought their land sight unseen while they were still in Scotland.

"It's the oldest continuous Highland gathering in New Zealand. It's not the first one that started but it's always gone on." 

Tartan embellishes the welcome sign to Turakina, a small settlement of historic weatherboard buildings at a crossroads south of Whanganui.

Up behind the main street, at the Domain, you can see a kiltmaker at work and learn about the different tartans from clan representatives like Ian Dickson of clan Keith, who is serving up kedgeree in a marquee.

He's there to answer questions about genealogy, clan history and tell stories - "some of which may be true".

Three of his grandparents were Keiths, "so I was kind of born into it."

"I was kind of curious about grasping for the 'Y' chromosome - where have I come from - and took on this role as the convenor for the clan in 2012."

Back in the day, there used to be an event like this on every provincial anniversary - "huge and filled with bicycle races and waka races, a lot of drinking, a lot of story telling", he says.

Over at the Women's Institute tent, Gillian Butcher and other local members are selling freshly baked scones and homemade jams.

The games are a chance to boost the group's profile and pick up a few members.

Butcher has also been coming since she was a child, and feels interest in the games is growing as people want to understand more about their heritage.

And "you can't beat strong men in skirts," she says with a chuckle.

The "strongman" events are not just for men. Whole families from the district turn out and keep alive long-running competition between clans.

The crowd builds for the final round of the sheaf toss, which involves pitchforking a sack of chaff as high as possible

Competitors in Highland dress are ready for the showdown as the crowd gasps and cheers.

Techniques vary, according to "Haynesy", a well-seasoned sheaf tosser. His is a straightforward approach: "Biff it over the pole." 

Among the spectators is Ceilidh Johnston, who recently migrated from Scotland with her children.

She said they had come to New Zealand mainly for sporting opportunities for their children and had fallen in love with the place.

As for the games, it was great to see different faces, different accents, and people with a bit of a connection to Scotland, she said.

It was incredible to fly around the world, taking four planes to get to New Zealand "and now we've come to a place where everyone has a connection".

"There's stories about Scotland, there's masses and masses of bagpipes, so, yep, thoroughly enjoying it."