Team A

Having arrived in the dark last night, we emerged this morning like joeys from our pouches to survey our surroundings.

Covering 685,000 acres of mostly spinifex grass and scrub, "Giralia" was formerly a vast sheep station, supporting 30,000 sheep in its heyday.

Having sold most of the property back to the Western Australian Government for conservation, Denver Blake and his wife Jennifer now operate the area around the homestead as a welcome resting place for travellers.

We are most grateful to Denver, Jennifer and their children Georgia and DJ for accommodating our team so hospitably and comfortably last night at such short notice. We felt so much at home here and were in no hurry to depart, enjoying a brief tour of the homestead and grounds.

Georgia, with her friend Abby showed us her school room, where she attends the "Carnarvon School of the Air."

In the past, the 'School of the Air' broadcast lessons daily by radio to children in remote areas around Australia.

Nowadays, a satellite internet connection is used to communicate between teachers in Carnarvon and students across several thousand kilometres.

At Giralia they told us, "The scenery will change up ahead, you will start coming into the hills, and there are rivers that flow."

After so many days of horizontal horizons and sand-filled creek beds, we could scarcely believe this, but sure enough, from out of the restless headwind that lent into us the whole way, there emerged first a few undulations, then some magnificent bona fide hills.

For a few team members who have run the World Harmony Run through the USA, some of the formations brought the deserts of Arizona, Utah or Nevada to mind.

Here there is a graceful repose in everything: the way the low shrubs bow with the wind, the way the distant ranges sit under the sky, the all-consuming heat-light inundating every cell of every thing, every day like this for aeons ... while from the shade of the low roadside shrubbery, unseen songbirds, supported by a throbbing chorus of insects, sing sweet hymns to the perfection of things.

The heat and wind made running a hard toil today, a grinding effort of will. As the knife is sharpened on the grindstone, so are the instruments of peace and harmony honed and brightened by such days.

We were told we would see hills and we did, now what about these flowing rivers? After days of arid plains, the mighty Ashburton River seemed to spring from nowhere. As if by the touch of a magic wand, the soothing waters in an instant transformed our day from arduous to glorious...

The clear water was surrounded by rich green...

many birds...

rocks...

and sheer beauty...

Bruce Forsyth was a cross-country runner in his youth. When he heard about a team of runners carrying a Torch around the country, he immediately responded by offering accommodations at his Nanutarra Roadhouse. We were delighted to meet Bruce and chatted about our adventures on the road, and his life here in the outback.

– Prachar Stegemann (Australia)

Team RV

Ahh, a day in the RV, a time to be relished for our tired legs. So today on our way to Nanutarra Roadhouse, when we noticed an inviting rocky outcrop on the side of the highway we could not resist going for a climb.

Once we arrived at our venue we quickly set up camp and headed down to the river for a swim. Then in our office, under the light of the moon, we set about completing our daily writing and photographic tasks.

– Veeraja Uppal (Australia)

Team B

We had just left the most beautiful beaches behind us yesterday to find ourselves watching the sun rise this morning at Giralia Homestead with a breathtaking landscape.

We were captured by the charm and character of this previous sheep station, and especially by our new friend, one of the locals. He was very interested in what food we had in our van and especially loved the carrots.

The girls enjoyed the homestead grounds before heading out running.

DJ admiring the torch...

IMPRESSIONS

… straight, flat roads that lead into the outback, burnt red gravel crunching under your feet.

nothing to see, nothing to think, minds-absence, just catch the wave and jump into the vastness of nothingness … just run with the breeze and breathe with the wind that gently talks to the flame of the Torch.

Don’t think, just breathe the smell of the sun, the sun that gives, the sun that takes and dries out mercilessly … but at the end of the day you can find a new beginning.

The landscape started changing dramatically as we ran toward Nanutarra Roadhouse with rocks that reminded us of Kata Tjuta near Uluru.

We were very excited to discover a river bed with enough water to swim in, right at our back door. At the Nanutarra Roadhouse we captured the beauty of the Ashburton River with the rowdy squawk of the white cockatiels as we soaked tired muscles and watched another glorious sunset and the moon smiling down at us.

– Elke Lindner (Germany)

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Team Members:
Prabuddha Nicol (Australia), Kritartha Brada (Czech Republic), Nishima Knowsley (New Zealand), Edi Serban (Romania), Runar Gigja (Iceland), Iva Nemcova (Czech Republic), Prabhakar Street (Canada), Sandro Zincarini (Italy), Nataliya Lehonkova (Ukraine), Prachar Stegemann (Australia), Misha Kulagin (Russia), Dima Lehonkov (Ukraine), Angela Muhs (Germany), Veeraja Uppal (Australia), Miro Pospisek (Czech Republic), Elke Lindner (Germany), Standa Zubaty (Czech Republic)

Harmonemail:
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Gallery: See more images!

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