Walking for History

After an opening ceremony involving the smoking ceremony (not smudging, as we are used to hearing it referred to) - which was performed by "Uncle Max", an aboriginal who claims he has "smoked the Queen, three popes, Prince William, Oprah" and other celebrities.

There was definitely some smoke ... all detectors must have been temporarily disarmed.

Here's Uncle Max sharing his who's who of prior "smokings"!

Rotary International President Ron Burton had a tough act to follow but found a resounding "OI, OI, OI" to his cry of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie".  I think it's safe to expect that that will be a continuing theme.

The main event of Saturday was the 3km Walk to End Polio.  Following are some pics from that hour of life.  People from many countries and continents - there are likely statistics posted on Rotary International's website for those of you who'd like the stats.

Just at the gate ready to GO!

Any athletes would have been frustrated by the pace, but the atmosphere was terrific!  It had rained earlier but the sky was mostly blue, and the temperature perfect.

Note tower in the background ...

From atop the tower ...

And yes, we made it to the finish line.

The remainder of our day was split evenly between exploring the House of Friiendship (Rotary speak for an international Rotary themed trade fair).  Some beautiful quilts caught my eye, and Destiny thought that this fellow was kind of intriguing - a project of an Australian club.

And I didn't get away unscathed - 

We've been enjoying our lunches in 'pie form' - meat pies, veggie pies, Butter Chicken pies.  Tasty and affordable.  Yummy.  I ate mine too quickly to take a photo - maybe I'll have more self control today ...

The afternooon was filled with train exploring, an excursion to Paddy's Market where some souvenirs were purchased as well as hats and sunnies.  We've found a restaurant close to our hotel called Tropicanna Caffe that is now our fall back place - prices reasonable, good service and delicious food.  

We experienced some success in further shifting our internal clocks at were up until at least 8:30 ...

Tomorrow the convention starts 'proper' so stay tuned.

And, for the Rotarians of Camrose Daybreak, do a Google serarch for a project called "Days for Girls"; Destiny and I would like to find a way to adopt this at home.

Chat with y'all latah.