One great thing about the Peace Run is that, while it can be exhausting, our energy is miraculously preserved until we no longer need it. For the past few weeks, our schedule and our running have been taxing. Yet we have maintained the vigour and dynamism, every single day. Now we have a day off in Townsville, and our bodies are telling us to relax, enjoying the sites and the lifestyle of this growing Queensland city.
Still, we had a few items on our itinerary. First up: the Great Barrier Reef Aquarium, "Reef HQ".
We are not far from perhaps Australia’s greatest natural wonder, a coral reef the size of Germany. Sadly, we have no time to visit the Great Barrier Reef in our schedule, so we went to the next best thing.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has a special connection with the Peace Run. In 1997 it was declared a Sri Chinmoy Peace Marine Park, as part of the Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossoms program that encompasses many wonders (both natural and human-constructed) around the world. We are especially grateful to the management of the Aquarium for facilitating free passes for our entire team to visit today.
Peter took us on an impromptu guided tour. An employee of the Aquarium during the week, he often returns to work on weekends (such as today) as a volunteer ...
... a true sign of dedication – and this was clear from his tour, as he told us at length about the wonders of the Reef and its piscine inhabitants. He also spoke about the environmental damage that is currently facing the Reef, and the importance of saving it from further degradation, caused by agrigultural and industrial pollution, and global warming.
The Aquarium gave us a taste of the large and colourful underwater world of the Reef, with several species of coral and more than 200 tropical fishes – just a sample of the diverse wildlife living in the Great Barrier Reef.
Even on our day off we meet new friends. Jendrik from Germany appeared in the HQ Aquarium, much to the delight of our German runner Samalya, who it turns out, lives close-by to Jendrik in Berlin. They became instant friends, and spent the whole rest of the day together. Jendrik happens to be a world-class hackeysack player, having represented Germany in the World Cup and European Cup of this exciting sport. He confided in us that he has read Sri Chinmoy’s book “Sport and Meditation” which he said helped him very much in his sporting career. As he is traveling south, we are sure to meet him again along the way.
After visiting the Aquarium, we had lunch on The Strand ...
... a pleasant park area of central Townsville overlooking the beautiful Coral Sea, with the imposing site of Magnetic Island in the background.
Blessed with the pristine blue sky, the weather was perfect ...
... (It might have been too hot for running, but for picnicking, it was ideal.)
