Team A

The Assistant Manager of Ceduna Shelley Beach Caravan Park was from the Ukraine and enjoyed speaking with our team-member Nataliya Lehonkova in Ukrainian about her son (we visited his school yesterday in Ceduna, where he held the Torch.) A few of us pitched our tent to camp here last night in this beautiful camping ground and awoke early this morning to make an open fire.

Once warm and toasty, we ran down to Shelley Beach and dived in for a pre-run morning swim. Nataliya said that she was looking out for sharks!

Our other three team members also had a very comfortable and warm stay at the Ceduna Motor Inn and enjoyed a leisurely start to our running schedule of 72.5 km. Thank you to all our accommodation providers for the last two nights!

Cool-max running t-shirts and shorts were the order of the day, as right from the outset it proved to be a beautiful Australian winter's day – quite warm and very sunny. Whilst running, I looked above and as far as I could see, the sky was a clear, vast blue surrounding me.

To my right was only a thin wisp of white cloud running along the horizon. To my left I felt I saw in the distance some sand dunes, but thought it was just my imagination making pictures out of the clouds. We would end up here at the end of the day ... and yes, they were spectacular sand dunes!

We were cooled down only by the strong wind into which we ran all day.

As we ran along, we passed a plaque showing where a Methodist Church once stood from 1913 to 1963.

We reached Penong and ran into this quaint town with many windmills whizzing around.

When entering Fowlers Bay off a dirt road we came across the majestic sand dunes and couldn’t help but to run up and slide down them. It was a joyful moment in nature as we climbed, ran, did cartwheels and played for a while!

– Kylie Williams (Australia)

Team B

It was a glorious morning. Not a cloud in the sky, the sun beaming, the wind blowing. The road expanded until it met the vast blue sky on the horizon.

We set off for the little village of Penong where the children of Penong Primary School were eagerly waiting. They lined up to meet us at the school entrance and we greeted each student with a high five.

There were smiles all round as we talked about the World Harmony Run and our expedition so far.

There were even bigger smiles as each of the children held the Torch.

And those smiles soon turned into laughter as we ran around the oval with the Torch leading the way.

The children ran out to the roadside to cheer us on as we hit the road to begin our stretch of running.

It was pure joy to run with the vastness of the landscape around and the vastness of the sky overhead. The roads, with red soil each side and lined with trees and bushes, rose slightly uphill for a long distance before gently descending once more.

A very refreshing strong wind blew against us as we ran which diminished the heat of sun. While I was running, one very kind gentleman pulled over in his car and explained with excitement how he had seen us in Victoria a few weeks before. He handed me a banana, wished me well, and jumped back in the car.

Further ahead he met Shapathanal who was also running. Once again he jumped out, handed him a few lollies and jumped back in the car. Everyday we meet amazing people on the road!

In no time at all we were finished our running and travelling across dirt roads on our way to the beautiful village of Fowlers Bay.

– Colm Magee (Ireland)

Team C

Today belonged to the blue sky. We ran along our roads in pursuit of our own journey but we were just a passing sideshow. The smiling, benevolent reality was all the while watching, enjoying, sheltering...

We ran with our sacred companion, the World Harmony Flame...

and we even encountered the absurd...

always under the watchful gaze of the infinite, infinite blue...

At one point in between the infinite ahead and the infinite past, Yianni from Greece, attracted by our torch, pulled over his car and caravan for a chat. Like ourselves, Yianni is travelling around this vast continent following his dreams. We felt in each other true kindred spirits, expressed in an instant rapport. Wanting to offer us some tangible form of his appreciation, he left us with some choice ripe avocados and tomatoes, literally fruits of friendship.

Fowlers Bay has a permanent population of 14 souls, to which we were to add 16 runners tonight! Originally accessible only by sea, the settlement served as a supply post for the grain farmers further inland. Now accessible by dirt road, the picturesque hamlet has become a popular off-the-track holiday destination, though still without mains power, all the power being supplied by generator, solar and wind.

As we approach from a distance, large white shapes loom on the horizon. Without the benefit of perspective across this vast flat landscape, it is not clear how large these sand dunes are, though they are obviously massive.

Like a magnetic pull, the closer we come, the more we are drawn to these magnificent natural structures, looming over the fragile township below.

Between township and dune is an invisible frontier to another world, a world at once fascinating, exhilarating, nourishing and fulfilling.

This journey around our continent has thrown up some amazing surprises even for the Australians on our team. The array of landscapes, terrains, land uses and natural flora have astonished us even from hour to hour, not to mention from day to day. None of us had any idea of the existence of these incredible dunes, and like excited children, we threw ourselves utterly into the enjoyment of this surprising and magical playland.

 

 

With the long, long, long Nullarbor Plain awaiting us tomorrow, this interlude was a powerful tonic to our spirits.

We are most grateful to Reg Davis of Fowlers Bay Accommodation Cabins and

Lexie Bray of the Fowlers Bay Caravan Park for offering us such hospitable lodgings this evening, and providing such a fascinating insight into the area's local history.

– Prachar Stegemann (Australia)

Catch up with some 'Reflections from the Road' in Julie's web log.

---

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

Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.

Gallery: See more images!

< Australia 10 June

Australia 12 June >