WYD Sydney Day 2

Photos - 1 - cockatoos waking me up in the morning - 2 - waiting for our catechesis to start - 3 - pacific ocean Bondi beach - 4 - Darlng Harbor at night


Up at 6am today, 2pm back home, which is better than the 4am yesterday, and am feeling well. The weather here in Sydney is perfect so far. Low 60s during the day with lots of sunshine, and low 40s at night. Was awakened yesterday morning by cockatoos and some colorful birds (loola somethings . .. I forget) that appeared outside my window. Had a great breakfast with my host family and then headed for Catechesis on the Holy Spirit (the them of WYD) given by a bishop from New Zealand. The catechesis was fine, and the liturgy that followed was a little rough (they are not quite as detail-oriented with their liturgies as we are in the states) and the lunch that followed given by the Rotary club was a piece of bread and a susage (no picture, unfortunately) so we were pretty glad to go to the metro around 2pm and head into the city. The first stop was Bondi Beach for a look at the Pacific. It was filled with mid-afternoon surfers and of course plenty of pilgrims. There was a concert going on but this was not one of the main WYD sites. Getting on the buses afterwards was chaos, and we lost Fr. Meinrad Miller, OSB and Barry Clayton, one of our seminarians, but they made it home safely eventually. Anthony Saiki, Scott Wallisch, Nathan Haverland and I made our way to Darling Harbor, which was absolutely spectacular. Filled with pilgrims, they quickly ran out of dinners and we had to walk a long way to get ours, and again, the food was pretty rough, but who cared since the Harbour was such a happening place. Stages set up everywhere with people dancing and singing. Groups yelling and cheering for each other. People meeting each other everywhere and exchanging gifts. Beautiful walkways and restaurants and lighting and boats and views of downtown. Perfect weather. Adoration hosted by the Dominican Sisters of Nashville, who have been down working on this event for three months. Great talks by Christopher West and others that were packed. A jubilant atmosphere. The picures from Darling Harbor don't do it justice, but I'll try to get some more later in the daylight. Thanks for all your prayers and support back home. Today we have more Catechesis, a chance to greet the Holy Father at a point of our choosing (I'm hoping for the Sydney Opera House) followed by more walking, praying, learning, singing, exploring, meeting and exchanging - pilgrimage stuff!