Australia 18 : Days 17 and 18

Yesterday we mooched most of the morning as it was the weekend and in the afternoon we went in the pool. After tea some of us went to the Turkish orchestra's version of the events of Gallipoli at Chatsworth which was a multimedia production with music, singing, photos, videos and narrative. It was done from the perspective of the loss to both communities in contrast to the emphasis on just the Australian loss for Anzac Day. They are however training Turkish life guards for the reenactment! The Turkish community here is some 30,000 strong many third generation immigrants.

Today Paolo and I went to Pitt Street Uniting church in central Sydney where we again had a warm welcome. Paolo led a prayer about the Turkish and Australian lives lost at Gallipoli and enjoyed the service and especially the breakfast tea and Anzac biscuits served at the end!

We came home and immediately went out to Long Reef on a guided tour of the reef and were given information about the birds, geology and marine life by well informed volunteers. We even saw an octopus and an osprey!