Team A

After a welcome night's rest in Port Hedland Caravan Park, we re-entered the running world. We only had 36 kilometres to run, so every member did his 7 km with a smile.

We finished early, so we decided to drive straight to our accommodation and do some sightseeing.

After arriving at our accommodation and with nothing much to do we headed to the beach for some photos and hopefully a dip in the Indian Ocean.

Guess what...

So, no dipping in the ocean for our not-so-tired legs. And there had been a sighting of a crocodile about a month ago, so ...

We instead enjoyed a walk on the big, big beach which looked like a cemetery of seashells, with great wonder for Mother Nature’s varied and colourful creations ...

some fascinating rock and coral formations all moulded and shaped by the great sea.

On the way to the ocean we ran into a cattle round-up which looked like a dusty and arduous task.

Instead of horses, the preferred vehicles are four-wheel-drive jeeps or utes that are quick and manoeuvrable.

The drivers were revving their engines and honking their horns to keep the cattle moving and even then one would bolt out of the pack and try for the open pastures, but the nearest vehicle was always in chase to bring them back with the herd.

On the way back we met them again and followed these spooked and nervous cattle into the yard, a task which needed some gentle and some powerful persuasion.

They progressed with a frenzy of noise and movement behind them, getting closer to the gate which meant for the rustlers an end to six hours of intense work. Just at the threshold of the gate the cattle seemed to hesitate and want to turn back into their simple life and freedom: some actually turned back before the real crescendo of noise and speedy trucks convinced the lead cattle to move forward and in a burst of wild activity of cattle running and panicking, the expert handlers got them handily into the yard. But not before stirring up a huge cloud of dust.

– Runar Gigja (Iceland)

Team B

The best meals start with fresh raw ingredients. Then our skilled cooks, Elke Lindner from Germany and Iva Nemcova from Czech Republic, transform these into a vegetarian delight – and we are served the most delicious cashew curry, 108 km away on an outback station.

 

The termite colonies in a paddock near Port Hedland have an additional, distinguishing feature from other termite colonies we have seen – hard hats!

John and Lyn Morrison know about the founder of The World Harmony Run, Sri Chinmoy, from races held by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in Victoria. They are excited about The World Harmony Run – “You are doing something for the world.”

Pardoo Station Stay and Caravan Park, our accommodation for the night, is 13 km off the beaten track. It is a popular stop for camping tours and other travellers.

I shared travel stories with Alison and Stephen from Perth. They are seeing Australia at a more sedate pace over 1–2 years.

The locals.

The guard dog.

– Angela Muhs (Germany) and Nishima Knowsley (New Zealand)

Team C

Today since our team was only allocated a small number of kilometres to complete, our main focus for the day, after leaving the industrial landscape of Port Hedland, was to find a good place to cool off and escape the afternoon heat.

By chance we finished our running at the edge of the De Grays River, a beautiful, wide river with an inviting grassy bank nestled amongst the trees. We parked the van and hurried down to the river bank to dip in the cool, refreshing waters.

However, before we could as much as set a toe in the river, a local camper came up to us and warned us that the river was home to freshwater crocodiles. Crest-fallen, but still alive and in one piece, we returned to our baking-hot van and drove with all windows open to our accommodation at Pardoo Station.

We were delighted to discover that our campsite was situated just 10 km by dirt road to the Indian Ocean, no freshwater crocs here (the saltwater crocs are only found 600 km to the north). So this means no more freshwater swimming for the next month and soon no ocean swimming either.

After a quick dip, we hunted for exotic shells on the beach, with Misha Kulagin bringing home a bumper crop. Not sure how he will get these back to Russia?

– Veeraja Uppal (Australia)

If you would like to place a link or a write a story about the World Harmony Run on your website, click here to Link to Us. We'll be happy to place a reciprocal link and list you on our Friends Online page.

---

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

Gallery: See more images!

< Australia 9 July

Australia 11 July >