With a big day ahead, several schools promised and some sublime coastline to run along, our boys team made an early start from our accommodations in Wollongong ...
... our first Port of Call at 9am was St Brigid’s Primary school, right in the heart of Wollongong.
We joined the school for their morning prayers which we really enjoyed and took as a great honour.
We all noticed that this was probably the most peaceful school we had visited.
At one point we were asked by the Principal, Jennie Werakso, to light the school’s Altar Candle which was lovely symbolism ...
... uniting St Brigid's flame of aspiration with our own.
At the end of the presentation, we were offered some gifts of chocolate and wine ...
... which will certainly get to be put to good use! :-)
Ion's accent was instantly recognised by one pupil who was from Romania. Raul spoke to Ion afterwards ...
... and introduced his mother Mariana. They spoke for quite a while in Romanian and were all delighted to be able to use their mother-tongue so unexpectedly.
Joy flowed all around as the Peace Torch made its way from pupil to pupil, and among the staff ...
With our journey around Australia nearing its conclusion, today part of our team commenced our visits to schools in Canberra, in advance of our main team's arrival there in a few days ...
Our first visit in Canberra this morning was to Rosary Primary School in Watson at 9am ...
... where we were greeted warmly by teachers Philippa Brotchie and Matthew Jones and their grade 6 classes.
The students nominated various feelings and qualities which they felt were indispensable to the flowering of peace in our lives; including purity, humility, harmony, concern and togetherness.
They are all preparing for their Confirmation, and have thus been very focussed on the spiritual dimension of life: the inner reality of peace, and the role of inner peace in maintaining a happy and harmonious outer environment.
The movements to the World Harmony Run song, along with the words and music, were mastered in no time ...
Caleb Hadlock – whose birthday was yesterday, and Alison Connor – whose birthday is on Wednesday, the day the Peace Run will reach Canberra, accepted the Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of Rosary Primary School.
Next we all gathered outside to pass the Torch around and offer our wishes for peace ...
... then everyone ran a lap of the entire school perimeter, passing the Peace Torch from one pair to the next in a mood of soulful enthusiasm despite the cold and wet surrounds ...
... until we gathered in front of the newly completed school mural.
The mural, celebrating the school's 50th anniversary this year, is a veritable masterpiece created by former Canberra artist Michael Winter, representing the school's history, culture and activities. The staff and students are rightly proud of this magnificent addition to their school community.
All the children together offered thanks and 3 cheers for the Peace Runners!
We're really grateful to everyone at Rosary Primary School for such a heartfelt and memorable reception.
Meanwhile, back on the coast ...
... our girls team had an 8:30am start so we would reach Mount Kembla Primary School by 9:10am ...
... yet when we arrived, there was a mix up, as we were expected at 11:10am instead ...
... yet since our team was expected at another school at that time, Mount Kembla were able to assemble their students for a short presentation.
The kids loved the whole event.
Tane and Chris received the Certificate of Appreciation and said: “Oh behalf of the school, we would like to thank you for coming and teaching us about the Peace Run”.
Thank you so much to Mount Kembla Primary for fitting us in at the last minute; we are most grateful for your kindness!
We then jumped in the van for our next visit almost immediately to the Berkeley West Public School ...
... where we were welcomed by a select group of students led by Liam ...
... who escorted us to the assembly hall.
The students had prepared a wonderful 45 minute program which included a brief address by Principal Andrew Attard. The team introduced themselves and the DVD was shown ...
... followed up by the coordinated singing of the World Harmony Run song.
Kiara then invited several classes to come up to the stage and share artwork and poetry they had prepared on the theme of peace ...
... many groups of students had prepared collages in teams, on the theme of what peace means to them.
These included mottos like: ‘Respect all the world, be a good sport and care’; ‘Peace means an honest friendship and a better world, also a great life'; 'Be respectful of others’; ‘Peace, calm, friendship, self control, no fighting, be respectful to everyone, honesty' by TYG; ‘Peace, calm, care, love, quiet, and respect' by Caitlin; ‘Peace is no lives lost, tranquility for us all, joy, there is no war' by Hayden; ‘Peace, love, harmony, kindness, friendship, freedom, living in total harmony, silence' by Kaine.
Class 20 offered a collage with a white dove named 'Peace' carrying an olive branch and the words: Peace, Making Friends, Great things happen, Forgiveness of each other, Harmony.
KM made a beautiful portrait of a lion and lamb lying alongside each other with the words, ‘KM wants everyone to be friends!
Class K/1S made a ‘Peace Tree’ with hands as leaves and many positive qualities like love, peace, joy, caring and family written on them.
So many students offered messages about peace and other similar qualities. It was a joy to read them all.
The students gave us their collages to take with us and share with others along the way.
Meg then came to the stage and said: “Oh behalf of the school, the Captains and Prefects of Berkeley West Public School have written a Peace Pledge we would like to share.”
All students were asked to stand and repeat the words to the pledge line by line, as read by Meg.
"Together we can create peace
We can value and accept each other
We can practice self-control and respect each other
We can show empathy and care for the feelings of each other
We can nurture and be kind to each other
We pledge to join together because together we can create peace."
The pledge was then signed by Stacey as a member of the Peace Run Team, Principal Allard and a representative from the student body.
The National Anthem was then sung.
Tamarah then said: “Thank you for your attention to our Peace Run assembly. On behalf of the students of Berkeley West Public School, I would like to thank the International Peace Run Relay Team for visiting our school today and wish them well on their continued journey around Australia."
All students then had a chance to hold the Peace Torch ...
Before we left, we were able to present the Certificate of Appreciation to Principal Allard. A remarkable school indeed!
While all this was happening, our boys team had started running, heading south ...
The wind really began to pick up and there were reports of gusts of up to 95kph.
Everywhere we went we were being blown about, the van was buffeted quite alarmingly at times and twigs and small branches littered the ground as we ran.
Martin and Ion felt the full force of the wind on a 5km stretch on the Coastal Walking Path, right on the cliffs going towards Werri Beach.
They told us it was quite undulating and there were Aboriginal sacred sites all along the route, marked by plaques which told the stories and legends of these ancient lands.
The route took an unconventional turn at one point ...
... when the path and the sea became one!
Nothing was going to stop our intrepid runners and with shoes and mobile phone in hand, they kept true to their course.
Afterwards, they were able to relax in proper style ...
The wind was really strong now and it felt necessary to change our grip on the Torch to a more substantial hold to prevent it being whipped out of our hands.
The runners agreed that whenever we had experienced wind before, it had always been in our face ...
... today, for the first time, the wind blew us up the hill and into Kiama. Perhaps the wind gods are finally smiling on us! I hope so because tomorrow is forecast more wind.
We were honoured to meet up with the Mayor of the lovely town of Kiama ...
Mayor Brian Petschler greeted out team on the steps of the Council Chambers.
Once inside ...
... we were also introduced to several other employees of the Council in what turned out to be a very fulfilling meeting.
We talked about how running around a country forces you to cover every inch of it, to meet every person along the way. It’s hard to imagine a better way to get to know a country and its people than in this way ...
... the remarkable thing is that everywhere we go in the world, the people we meet all accept our principles and have a common aspiration for peace. The media may make us believe that we live in a dark and hopeless world, but our experience is completely different, and in all humility, we should know.
We are truly encouraged because the overwhelming majority of people we encounter have a genuine hope of living in a transformed and peaceful world – and ultimately it will be by taking the positive side that we can make a difference and give peace a chance.
Mayor Petschler then took us to the waterfront for a brief run along the esplanade before we had to be on our way ...
By now, back in Canberra ...
... at St John the Apostle Primary School in Florey, with all of years 5 & 6 gathered in the library ...
... our guest runner and presenter from WA, Grahak Cunningham, spoke of the background and history of the Run and showed the Peace Run DVD.
The school motto of St John the Apostle Primary School is "United in Love, Truth and Courage." This motto sits perfectly with the aims of the Peace Run, so it was an easy task to introduce the ideals and purpose of the Run to the students ...
Once we all went outside to the playing fields and passed the Torch around, the enthusiasm and joy aspects of the Peace Run came flooding to the fore ...
... or some might say, exuberant mayhem.
By the time we ran around the oval with the Torch, all of the kids were bursting with eagerness to be involved ...
... and have their photos taken in smaller groups.
Never have the Peace Run brochures and stickers been snapped up with such eagerness!
Several of the students were quick to nominate to join the Peace Run team next time we run around Australia ...
... we'll be in touch, kids!
While our boys were meeting people in glorious sunshine south of Kiama, our Canberra crew were driving through the cold and rain ...
... our final school visit in Canberra today brought us to St Benedict’s in Narrabundah. Their warmth and concern for us contrasted with the increasingly bleak weather outdoors, and was apparent from the moment we arrived as we were greeted in the foyer by Hospitality Leaders, Tess and Tara ...
... who brought us to the main auditorium, where the entire school of 183 students were assembled, patiently awaiting the arrival of the Peace Torch.
They listened attentively to our presentation and asked insightful, intelligent and searching questions ...
The students threw themselves in to their singing with gusto.
When the time came for us all to head outside, a huge line was formed so that every student could hold the Torch. By now, a chill wind blew and the rain had started in earnest – yet there was no hesitation in proceeding as the Peace Torch held all in its thrall ...
... it is as though the rain, wind and cold simply did not exist.
The outer cold, wind and rain only seemed to sharpen our sense of the inner joy of the Peace Run, and certainly made for a rapid run around the grounds ...
The Principal of the school, Matthew Garton, went to great lengths to coordinate every aspect of the Peace Run visit with tremendous care. It was a delight to work with him ...
Thank you, St Benedict’s. You are a great bunch of kids, led by some remarkable teachers. We hope to meet you again in the future :-)
Back on the coast, our girls team had meanwhile 15km to run before arriving at their next school. It may have been raining in Canberra, but around Nowra we were encountering another challenge. As we made our way down the Princes Highway to begin running, our Peace Run van was buffeted by severe wind, a foretelling of things to come.
Each of us had a chance to experience running against very high winds during that 15km. Even though my run began leaning into an incredible headwind, my torch was lit when I arrived at Bomaderry ...
... we then made our way to our team's third school of the day ...
... Bomaderry Public School.
It was an enthusiastic bunch of young people ...
... who were excited to learn the World Harmony Run song.
A number of the classes had written poems about peace. Lacey asked that I read her poem about peace. She then accepted the Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of the school.
Other students had created works of art for peace and another class made peace torches.
Thomas, Reuben, Tahni and Jake had created a collage with many flags of nations and words representing peace.
There was a lot of excitement and enthusiasm at Bomaderry.
Thank you to Jim Hines for coordinating the event, which had a real buzz from beginning to end.
We then set out to finish our running for the day ...
... it was peaceful running from Bomaderry Public School ...
... a welcome change from our earlier battles against the wind.
After our running was completed, we drove over the ground being run by the boys team ...
... and made our way to the Huskisson Beach Tourist Resort where we were greeted by our kind host, Kylie. Thank you Kylie for your generous support of the Peace Run!
We love our accommodations and the location – and after a busy day, we're most grateful for such a quiet and restful night by Huskisson Beach, and a pizza supper rounded off another perfect day. Thanks to Huskisson Beach Tourist Resort, we slept like babies tonight!
