This morning we began our Big Day in Adelaide at the top of Mount Lofty, just outside Adelaide.

Mount Lofty is a Sri Chinmoy Peace Summit which was dedicated to peace in the name of the founder of the World Harmony Run many years ago as a place of inspiration for people to enjoy the panoramic view of Adelaide and to contemplate peace.

We were surrounded by misty views and fresh temperatures this morning but were determined to make the most of our one full day in South Australia's capital city. During our early morning Mount Lofty ceremony, we presented the Torch-Bearer Award to Elizabeth Ellis.

Elizabeth focuses on promoting peace to the many international visitors to the Mt Lofty summit. We also presented the Mt Lofty Summit gift shop with a framed Jharna-Kala artwork print by Sri Chinmoy, entitled 'World Harmony'. In her welcoming remarks, Elizabeth commented that she loves working with people from all around the world and it was special hosting all of the Team from many countries today.

”I really believe in what you are doing to spread world peace and harmony in this way because we are all involved in creating peace in some way.” She said she felt overwhelmed and humbled by the beautiful ceremony and was grateful the World Harmony Run could visit Mt Lofty. Elizabeth, so are we! Thank you immensely for beginning our day in such a soulful and memorable way. Visiting the art exhibit of founder Sri Chinmoy in the gift shop was an added treat for the team.

Next the Team headed down the mountain (this time travelling by van as we ran this section yesterday), and visited the Sri Chinmoy Peace Mile in North Adelaide Parklands.

The team ran an honorary one-mile (1.6 km) loop around the course. We were joined by Bill, one of Joy-Discovery café’s regular customer-runners, who gladly held the Torch and ran with us, smiling the whole way. Great to have you join the Team today Bill!

Any locals who live or run near the Adelaide Zoo and are up early will know the call of the monkeys which rings out loud and clear through the surrounding parklands! Now all the animals of the zoo were calling out to our international team members to come and discover our furry-and-fine-feathered friends inside the zoo grounds.

We were kindly met at the gate by David Mayne from Adelaide Zoo and then taken on a tour by some of the zoo's hardworking volunteers. The girls' team headed towards the Australian animal enclosures with guide Corrinne.

We could have stayed all day and still not seen everything on offer, but truly enjoyed this quick forage through our native fauna’s zoo habitats.

We loved seeing the wombat, meerkats, giraffes, monkeys of all sorts, kookaburras and lots more (yes we know not all of these are Australian, but still a rare sight for any of us to view.)

Our ceremony began in the beautiful Rotunda, where Kevin Evans explained about the zoo’s breeding programs to save species from becoming endangered, or worse, extinct. He challenged the runners, whilst crossing the Nullarbor and seeing a lot of wildlife in danger there, to concentrate on ways to reduce the impact of road traffic on the native wildlife population. Representing the Adelaide Zoo, Kevin was presented with the World Harmony Run Torch-Bearer Award for the zoo's many services within the community.

Some of our runners posed for photos with a very cute yet shy Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby for a local Adelaide newspaper article on the World Harmony Run’s journey.

Outside the zoo awaited some players from Link Lightning Basketball Team who carried the Torch up ahead and away we ran towards our Welcome Ceremony in the centre of the city mall. We were met along the way by two Adelaide Power football players, Toby Thurstons and Gavin Grose, who then led the Team through the lunchtime crowds for a big entrance into the stage area in Rundle Mall.

MC Baqir Rezaie from Radio Adelaide and the Afghan community soulfully felt the message of the World Harmony Run and portrayed this special feeling through his introductions and comments the entire ceremony. No easy feat in an outdoor roaming venue within a busy city mall.

Lewis O’Brien did a wonderful Welcome to Country in Kourna (pronounced Ghana) and also was later awarded the Torch-Bearer Medallion for his service of increasing awareness of indigenous Australians in Adelaide for many years. In his remarks, Lewis stated: “Everyone can contribute a smile to increase love and joy in the world.”

The Team all announced their countries of origin to much applause and cheers, including our newest and youngest international team-member fresh from the airport, Shapathanal Daly from New Zealand.

The entertainment began now with Barefoot and Brilliant dance school performing an upbeat celebratory dance onstage.

This was followed by Jenni Kneale who overcame illness to still perform beautifully with her soulful voice from the angels.

She sang a piece which was originally performed at the opening of the Sydney Olympics, 'United in One Dream' and expressed also how we are all united in one Supreme. A very touching sentiment which the World Harmony Run Team could fully identify with.

Our next singer was Kristal Collins, a contemporary country singer who was Junior Performer of the Year in 2006/07 and accompanied her strong and clear voice with acoustic guitar. She also sang a perfect choice: 'Rise and Shine'. The lyrics were very apt … "the news you read in the paper mostly brings you down, rise and shine, we all want to make a difference so open up your heart, you’ll be brother and sister of mine so rise and shine.” Thank you Kristal for the added inspiration in “our journey along the road” (also from the lyrics!)

Jenni now sang the classic 'The Prayer' which was most soulful and rang true in our hearts.

Next up, the Redwood Park Primary School Choir took to the stage to sing 'Melting Pot', a very popular song from the 70s about multicultural acceptance and unity, followed by the World-Harmony-Run theme song, composed by Sri Chinmoy and led by choir trainer Miss Rhoda Emerson.

Many thanks to these young musicians, who learned the song in a day or so and also to Festival of Music who sponsored their travel into the city at very short notice! All gratitude to your willingness and participation.

The ceremony officially ended with many multicultural members from the Migrant Resource Centre as well as community group representatives coming onstage to hold the Torch and make a silent wish or prayer before passing it on from hand-to-hand, and heart-to-heart.

The World Harmony Run team now mingled with the crowd who had gathered for the past hour and answered questions, all the time passing the Torch around and posing for many photos. A special photo opportunity here was with Torrensville Primary School who created an awesome banner for the team with messages for Peace and Harmony.

Some class ambassadors read a heartfelt speech to the team in their own words which demonstrated they had really been contemplating this theme at school before attending the ceremony. Thank you very much.

After a delicious lunch at Joy-Discovery café (where the staff worked very quickly and efficiently to feed all 20 of us our own choice of vegetarian meals),

a few runners visited a special printing company S.A. Printed Labels, for a thank you presentation.

These brothers, Glen and John, worked tirelessly amidst being understaffed to produce and print 50,000 World Harmony Run stickers for our journey, at no cost. Enough for all the boys and girls we meet at school ceremonies all around Australia! We know who to thank and think of every time we see a child happily plaster their new sticker across their forehead or wear proudly on their school uniform. Thank you S.A. Printed Labels!

In addition to a certificate of appreciation, we became inspired to present our Torch-Bearer Award to this team who do a lot to assist children’s charities and the skin cancer foundation. As we left, Glen Steel was already talking about next year’s reprint of the stickers for our future journey!

This evening, the whole World Harmony Run Team was invited to a Civic Reception at the Adelaide Town Hall as the honoured guests of Lord Mayor Michael Harbison.

It was most touching and very re-affirming to know that our efforts and the goals of the Run were so appreciated by the Lord Mayor and the City of Adelaide.

As World Harmony Run co-ordinator Prachar Stegemann noted in his return address to the Lord Mayor, “It’s these events and knowing how we are appreciated that replenishes us and is our fuel for the journey ahead.”

Lord Mayor Michael Harbison circulated throughout the entire room, wearing full mayoral regalia, chatting to the runners and posing for photos.

In his address, he urged us  to explore the city of Adelaide; to eat at different restaurants; and get to know the people. It is exactly this spirit, this display of warm, open-hearted generosity that does nourish the runners on this momentous journey.

On behalf of the City of Adelaide, the Lord Mayor then nominated another recipient for the Torch-Bearer Award, Glen Woodward, who has volunteered at the Adelaide Town Hall for 15 years as a tour guide and belongs to nearly every historical society in the city. Every time someone congratulated him on his award, he held up the medallion, read the quote and said, “I really believe in these words. They’re true.”

Our deep and sincere gratitude to The Right Honourable Lord Mayor Michael Harbison for his warm welcome; kind words; and generous hospitality. We would’ve been most happy to stay another day or three here in this welcoming city, but the journey ahead beckons. In the morning we are off, with some mega-miles to cover and more adventures and community visits ahead. Thank you Angelic Adelaide, City of Churches, Festivals and Roses!

– Kylie Williams (Australia)

A very special thanks to Chris, Josh, Chakori and Januja Reynolds for their concern and oneness throughout our stay in Adelaide, Thanks!

– Prabhakar Street (Canada)

Team Members:
Prabhakar Street (Canada), Prachar Stegemann (Australia), Shapathanal Daly (New Zealand), Edi Serban (Romania ), Grahak Cunningham (Australia), Tristan Boyle (Australia), Standa Zubaty (Czech Republic), Sandro Zincarini (Italy), Runar Gigja (Iceland), Marichi Clarke (Australia), Misha Kulagin (Russia), Dima Lehonkov (Ukraine), Colm Magee (Ireland), Kylie Williams (Australia), Angela Muhs (Germany), Elke Lindner (Germany), Friederike Makowka (Switzerland), Julie Anderson (Australia), Nataliya Lehonkova (Ukraine)

Harmonemail:
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