As we prepared for the day inside our very comfortable accommodations we could hear the gentle, and sometimes not so gentle, patter of rain on our tin roof. Hearing that makes you slightly reluctant to embark on the day's journey.
Fortunately by the time we started running the clouds had parted and the sun was shining through.
Antara-Prabhat, Bayarkhuu and Ion did all of the running for our team this morning, so it was only fair that they also did almost all of the eating ...
Ion from Moldova, was the Captain for Boys Team A today and he ran such a tight ship that we arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule to our first engagement – after only 2 hours on the road!
Our first port of call was Poonindie Primary School. They gave us a great welcome. Poonindie is a small rural town with a primary school populated by 87 enthusiastic and inspired students.
They presented us with some very beautiful artwork and sang a lovely Indonesian song.
There were some interesting questions and answers.
... and a chance for everyone to hold the Peace Torch ...
When we pass the torch to the children we invite them to make a wish or prayer ...
... Some of the children at the school made their wishes out loud, and one young girl, who had made one of the paper peace birds they presented us with, said “I pray that all the peace birds will come to life and spread the message of peace around the whole world”.
The school captains accepted the Peace Run Certificate of Appreciation.
We then went for a run around the school yard – in the end we did three laps and there was a lot of excellent running potential at this school.
We had to leave quite quickly as our next engagement in Port Lincoln was 16 km away and we only had 20 minutes to get there. Fortunately another team had already run those kms.
That team was the Boys Team B ... After a rainy night in Tumby Bay we were delighted to be greeted with some fine weather as we drove to Poonindie to commence running towards Port Lincoln.
Our van captain Steve set the order and we made fast progress into Port Lincoln where we were due at St Joseph's School.
The arrival of lunch – which one team assigned to the task will deliver at some point along the way – is always an eagerly awaited highlight of every day.
The ceremony at St Joseph's School in Port Lincoln, led by Grahak, was warmly received by more than 200 students.
They asked intelligent questions ...
... went deep within their hearts to feel real peace ...
.. loved singing the song ...
... and demonstrated some of their works of art on Peace.
The children then participated in an energetic lap or two of the oval passing the torch between them.
Then it was time for our team to run on ...
As Boys Team B ran out of Port Lincoln, Boys Team A arrived, just around the corener ... At Port Lincoln Primary we were greeted by some excited Year 7's who escorted us into the gym. The course was very thoughtfully marked out with peace flags created in honour of our arrival.
As we entered into the gym the school choir, which seemed to be about 70 strong, sang a truly remarkable school song for us. The song entitled, Port Lincoln Primary School Song, was composed by Robyn Habel and the Kids from Port Lincoln Primary School.
We would like to share with you verse #2
"This is where we go to school
It's a place where me and you
Learn to care and be kind
And grow and shine, grow and shine"
We loved the song and returned the favour by singing our Peace Run song.
We also presented the students with artwork from our "Travelling Art Exhibition" exchange program, which we had collected earlier this morning in Poonindie, and later collected some of the extraordinary artwork which the students had prepared for our visit, which was displayed around the walls of the gymnasium.
The artwork even included a whole series of "Peace Dolls".
Principal Gabb very eloquently concluded the program and shared with us an exquisite painting which a number of teachers and collaborated on.
Billie from Port Lincoln Standard gets a photograph of the Year 7's and the Team.
After some final goodbyes, autographs and photos we headed out to finish our running for the day.
BTW (Thx to all those students from Port Lincoln Primary School for liking @thepeacerun on instagram)
Before leaving Port Lincoln, there was time for a brief stroll along the foreshore. These will be our final glimpses of Spencer Gulf.
Boys Team B had run out of Port Lincoln and had an unexpected long steep hill, followed by a lovely stretch of tree lined road stretching into the distance.
Adrien once again surprised us with a sterling effort of 15km finishing our day with a final 3km surge.
Meanwhile, after attending the school visit in Poonindie, the girls team ran some long straight roads from a small town called Coulta heading towards Elliston.
Once again we had the wind behind us, so at times it really felt like we were flying!
After their 2 school visits, Boys Team A were now also back on the road.
For Bayarkhuu, an appropriate sign!
Unfortunately someone got their head in the way of today's (faint) rainbow ...
Boys Team B's drive into Elliston was rewarded by a beautiful vista of the windswept bay.
Steve made his way out to the headland to photograph the pounding waves and rock formations ...
... and Adrien picked up a few snacks for good measure.
The girls were running the final section into Elliston, our stopping point for the night.
As we came closer to Elliston, the roadside fauna dropped away and we had beautiful expansive views over low laying estuary wetlands and the glistening waters of Lake Hamilton.
Baigal from Mongolia saw the Ocean for the first time in her life here in South Australia. She does not say much, but she seemed very moved by the look in her eyes. Imagine her coming all the way from Mongolia and the first Ocean she has ever seen is the Southern Ocean!
As the afternoon set in Harita was pleasantly surprised to have a local school bus pull up beside her out on the road. The bus had already met with one of the boys running further up the road, and the driver and children were delighted to let her know that they were eagerly anticipating the teams visit tomorrow at Elliston Area School, it seems that some of the children live a long way from their school!!
We were equally happy to receive a contact message tonight on our website from The Bus Driver (this is how she named herself)! She offered us some kind words of encouragement, saying “Welcome to Elliston. May the wind be at your back and the road be kind to the torch bearers. Elliston is a very peaceful place in the Eyre Peninsula.” It really means so much to us when we meet people who have so much oneness with the deeper meaning of the run, manifesting the reality of the dream...
When Boys Team A arrived in Elliston at the end of the day, the sun was starting to set over Waterloo Bay ...
Tom of the Elliston Hotel is very graciously hosting all of our boys teams tonight, for which we are very grateful. After a long and sometimes wet day of running, these comfortable rooms were just what the doctor ordered!
Thank you very much to Michael (and Maryanne) from Waterloo Bay Tourist Park in Elliston for accommodating some of our team in their beautiful hillside cabins. We wish we could spend more time here to explore Elliston!
