It was another packed day on the Peace Run today… The girls team left their amazing accommodation at the West Cape Howe Farm House just out of Mt Barker, kindly offered to us by our dear friends Rob and Adrienne Quenby. Sadly we had to leave at 7am. We really wanted to spend time exploring this massive property.
Meanwhile, the boys team met a new friend this morning in Mount Barker, Darren McDonald. Darren, a local marathoner, who works at the Mount Barker Recreation Centre had organised to run with us the previous day: he lined up someone to fill in at work for him but the sudden departure of another staff member meant he could not join us. After several phone calls it was nice to finally meet him.
Darren's desire to run with the Peace Run finally came to fruition this morning as he ran the torch out off Mount Barker accompanied by Bayarkhuu from Mongolia (Bayarkhuu was our only runner who had a hope of keeping up with Darren!).
Running to our first destination of Albany was divine, the weather perfect.
A total of 50 kms seemed to fly by, with the gentle warmth of the sun seeping into us all.
The running conditions were ideal this morning though we did notice more traffic on the road as we got nearer Albany.
There was a lot more traffic on the road to Albany so we got lots of encouragement from passing cars.
In Albany we visited Parklands Primary School. Chelsea Jackson was our contact at the school. The school grounds are immaculate and like other schools we have seen this time, they also have a very plentiful Stephanie Alexander Garden in the school where the children are taught how to plant, nuture, cultivate and cook with their produce.
The school has recently undergone stunning development of their oval and play areas and we were the first visitors to this area.
We had a lot of fun with the children during the Peace Run presentation, as always.
Here Zita and Holly are accepting the Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of Parklands Primary.
Passing the Peace Torch.
The school has been actively working on a book called: “My Peace Book” which they kindly shared with us. All the children have been making drawings representing what peace means to them... Here little Edmund writes: “I am peaceful when I play with Toby.”
We were super-honoured to be able to dedicate one of their young paperbark trees as a ‘Peace Tree’ in their brand new grounds.
Following our visit to Parkland Primary School, we set Rathin off running towards Denmark ...
... while Prabuddha and Amalendu went to the ABC Radio in Albany for an interview with Chris Edmondson. Michelle Stanley held the Peace Torch outside the Station with Amalendu prior to the interview.
Chris queried us about the Peace Run for nearly 10 minutes as a follow-on from his interview with us on Tuesday. Many motorists listen to his program: no doubt a reason for the increase in waves and toots as we ran.
After Albany we had another 53 km to cover to the delightful coastal town of Denmark.
The girl’s team visited Golden Hill Steiner School in Denmark.
Denmark Shire President, Ross Thornton very warmly welcomed us on behalf of the town along with the new acting Principal of the school, Barbara who was there on her FIRST day.
The children had been busy preparing some wonderful surprises for us.
Each year group sang for us ...
... and the school welcomed us with a beautiful sand and flower Peace Mandala that they made especially for our visit today.
Two of the incredibly inspiring students – Eden Hughes and Christopher McMullan – who are only 11 and 12 years old, had just finished a 330 km Footprints for Peace walk on the Walkajarra Walkabout from Wiluna to Leonara. They were covering 25 km a day!! Perfect candidates for the Peace Run Team in a few years.
We dedicated the school’s favourite tree in the school as a Peace Tree, which the children loved.
Then some of the older kids gave us a very entertaining tour of their stunning school grounds which frankly felt more like a wilderness holiday retreat than a school. They also provided us with the most scrumptious platters of food!
We were spoilt in every way by the beautiful students and staff of this amazing school.
Thank you Golden Hill! Keep up all your incredible work.
Our running completed for the day, across town the boys team were visiting ...
... the Spirit of Play Community School. This innovative school is growing each year and features interesting places for the students to learn and play, for example a Yurt-like tent. Ingrid made us feel very welcome and showed us around while the children completed their last rehearsal of the song they were preparing for the team.
The children, ranging in age from 5 to 8, had a number of instruments, and sang/played two songs about peace for us.
They had listened to the Peace Run song on the web site so we performed it as well as the World Harmony Run song – fortunately accompanied by Rathin on his ukulele and their music teacher on her recorder. The children did a marvellous job with the actions and singing.
Jhansi was selected to come up and receive the Certificate and Cassidy did the honours for the World Harmony Run poster presentation. Thanks to Ingrid's team consisting of Pat, Regi, and Jess we had a relay run with the Torch that included all the children and teachers.
We look forward to visiting again!
Our boys team's accommodation at Denmark Rivermouth Caravan Park was provided by Noel. The hot showers, great cooking facilities and soft grass for our tents to rest on make this a more comfortable camping experience than many we have had. It is such a beautiful place to visit by the Inlet. Thanks Noel.
Aleesha received the Certificate of Appreciation on Noel's behalf ...
... who we then managed to catch on camera later down by the river.
The girls’ accommodation this evening was at two locations. We are extremely grateful to the Denmark Waterfront Motel. Thank you Clare! ...
... and to Cherry and family for the other room at the Koorabup Motel. It’s paradise here!
