This morning with the ocean so close, you wanted to set your alarm a little early to wander down to the beach to watch the sun rise ...
... with the soothing sound of the waves and the first signs of the new dawn, sitting alone on this magical beach filled you with a deep love of this country.
After spending so long on the road, you feel such a connection with Australia that I know will never leave ...
... I may have been born in another country, but feel that Australia and I are now part of each other forever.
With every step that you take, you are connecting with this great country.
While awaiting the first rays of the sun, a song of Sri Chinmoy's came to me, a song about Australia. One of the lines is:
“You take a drop and give the ocean, you take a ray and give the sun.”
It is such a beautiful song and has a haunting melody that stayed with me for most of the morning.
Throughout the day, each time this song came to me from within, I thought of Elizabeth Beach and those moments by myself, reflecting on this journey we have taken and in some small way trying to offer a drop into this vast ocean which is Australia ...
This superb location is not only a stone's throw from the ocean and a gorgeous beach: on the other side is a series of stupendous lakes ...
... ideal for a morning stroll ...
We are surrounded here by Nature ...
The morning proceeds as each other morning on the Peace Run, with lunch preparation ...
... Ion prepares the Torches and fuel for the day ...
... Steve plots a route ahead ...
... while Drishalu downloads Steve's findings into the GPS (which may explain why we got so hopelessly lost later in the day) ...
I was the first to start our kilometres for the girls team ...
... it was a downhill race with myself by Smiths Lake. The road was fairly quiet with only a few passersby. Mostly I was left to myself and my own thoughts ...
We had only 8km to complete ...
... before our first visit of the day with the Brumwahl Public School.
This is a small school, only 35 students ...
... but wonderfully colourful and with a lot of heart!
The room full of young people immediately silenced when our team came through the door, but they warmed up quickly.
We watched the Peace Run DVD together ...
... introduced our team members ...
... and sang the World Harmony Run song together.
Our two Mongolian girls, Avanayaha and Uugantsetseg, have started singing a traditional children’s song from Mongolia which is holding our school audiences fascinated. It’s really cute and there are some actions which accompany the song. It doesn’t seem to help in guessing where they are from, though. We usually have to give some serious clues before somebody can guess where they are from! It’s not too surprising, I suppose ...
... most people rarely come across Mongolians in their daily life – visas are difficult and the cost of travel for Mongolians outside Mongolia is usually prohibitive. The fact that we have four on our team is little short of a miracle and is also testament to their self-sacrifice and commitment to the cause of Peace. They are all valued members of our team and personally, I feel privileged to have met and run with them.
Jack Devine and Shawn Prasenti received the Certificate of Appreciation from the team on behalf of the school. They were very gracious. Jack said, “On behalf of the Brumwahl School, we would like to thank you for coming and teaching us about what you are doing.”
Then we headed outside to pass the Peace Torch amongst all the teachers and kids ...
After each person held the Torch and made their wish for peace, we were given a running tour of the school yard, Torch in hand ...
The school was surrounded by forest and birds were in the trees. We can only imagine what they sing about but I’m sure it’s also songs of peace ...
When it was time to say our farewells, the kids stood by the front gate of the school and waved us goodbye. It made us feel so welcome and also difficult to leave ...
... thank you to Felice, Jo and the other teachers for allowing us to visit Brumwahl’s wonderful students!
The girls then began our second set of kms for the day, an additional 40 to bring our daily total up to 58 ...
... it was perfect running weather. Each runner enjoyed the chance to carry the Torch.
After making our way through a section of road works ...
... our two Mongolian teammates set out on their separate legs. We found a wide area next to a row of mailboxes to wait for Avanayaha to complete her leg of the run ...
... while waiting, a vehicle arrived and a woman stepped out to gather her mail ...
... we immediately struck up a conversation and found out that she was none other than Meredith Ray, sister of Jo who had welcomed us into her classroom only a few hours earlier. She was happy to hear about the Peace Run and gave us the details of her recent tennis match with her sister Jo. What a small world it is!
We were in Heaven running through such lush bushland today towards Bulahdelah ...
Further along, our boys were having their own adventures ...
At Nelson Bay, we met Peter Dennis from Everton Park in Queensland, who is in these parts on holidays. Peter has competed in the Sri Chinmoy Triathlon in Canberra. He told us these events give him an especially joyful experience, although a health complaint and a change of address to Queensland mean that for the moment, these are just fond memories ...
Some of our running today was along busy highways ...
... and other times, to avoid such traffic, we head off-road.
I was told last night of a bit of a tricky run this morning. Sukhajata and Purevdorj are running through the bush along a track known as "10 Mile Road" and I shall have to navigate back to the Pacific Highway and find my way to their finishing point along a road that meets up with the other side of 10 Mile Road ...
... however, I am confident as I wait, for as I waited for Odgiiv to meet me and the van after his 5km run, they were easily found.
The wattle is in bloom.
The logistics of having three teams on the road at the same time, all covering ground and often up to 70km apart, means that a common appointment at a school may involve one – or all(!) the teams racing to be there on time ...
... that is what happened today as we arrived for our next school ...
... Wirreanda Public School, without half of our team who were still on the road somewhere ...
... and our team of four boys started our presentation to 600 students in the knowledge that our team-mates were at least 15km away.
As always on the Peace Run, there is always a way to navigate through any unexpected challenges and the presentation went very well. It was even enhanced as the girls’ team received thunderous applause when they arrived ten minutes into the presentation!
We were honoured to have the Mayor of Port Stephens, Bruce Mackenzie at the ceremony to wish us well ...
... the Mayor was keen to know our route and he was especially pleased to know we’d just been through Forster and Gloucester as he has a farm in one and business interests in the other.
The Circle of Peace – where everyone stands in a huge circle and we pass the Torch around – was the biggest I had seen and we had all our Torches out so everyone could contribute their Wish for Peace. When we got back to the vans, the other runners commented on just how sincerely the children had made their wishes. We will happily and proudly be taking all their wishes forward to share and combine with everyone we meet from both our past and future. If you ask any of the runners from the Peace Run in whatever part of the world, they will all tell you that that the Torch carries a tangible energy of change. My belief is that it is the wishes of people we meet that we can feel, and we are truly blessed to be responsible for carrying them forward ...
Next stop was a visit to "The Lock-Up" Cultural Centre Arts Health Institute in Newcastle.
Founder and CEO, Maggie Haertsch, has had a significant impact on her community through arts and the blending of art professionals and health professionals in an effort to serve people with dementia and their families. She received the Peace Run Torch-Bearer Award for her service.
We were happy to be present for the event and to thank her for her most valuable work.
The Institute is housed in an old prison ...
... and was and is an example of how something like a prison can be transformed into an institution with such a positive and lasting impact.
Ross, Steph, and Frank regaled us with a most beautiful rendition of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’; then ‘You are my Sunshine’ and ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’.
Steph has a most beautiful voice and we were so thankful she chose to share it with us.
Tonight we are staying at the wonderful Melaleuca YHA in Anna Bay, run by Mick and Michelle. We will tell you more about this wonderful place in tomorrow's report, so stay tuned ...
