We stayed with Mereki’s family in Glebe last night, so that our visit to Glebe Primary School today would be easier. Channel Ten News was booked in to film us with the students, and we always like being at schools with plenty of time to get organised.
As I lay in bed this morning I cast my mind back to the utter blur of the previous day. Had we really just crossed the Sydney Harbour Bridge? Were we really getting our photos taken with the Sydney Morning Herald at the Sydney Opera House? I emphasise the word “Sydney” in these phrases – the target, the final milestone, and our home.
We thought it all too fitting for our final school visit of the tour to be located directly across the road from the site where this entire MyPOWER idea was born. The small shop at which the seed of inspiration was planted back in October 2006 stared back at us from the other side of Glebe Point Road. I remember the book launch vividly, with William J. Lines talking about his new book “Patriots”, and of the people he felt have made significant contributions to the Australian conservation movement throughout our short history here.
I see it no longer as a modest store, but as a source of great and limitless inspiration. How many other books in there could inspire, or indeed have already inspired others? I marvel in the powerful ability of words on a page to create – to bring to life something the words did not originally intend. I wonder where the next book I read will take me...
We really enjoyed the last school. It was possibly the smallest group we had ever spoken to, but nonetheless as interesting as any other. We showed the short DVD of our journey to date, which still brings tingles rushing down my spine every time I hear Paul Appelkamp’s song “Why” kick in for the deserted west coast section. I couldn’t count the number of times I have listened to that song in the desert on the road and imagining life after the journey – that far off world in a time that didn’t exist anymore. Tommy confirmed my touch of emotion with a glimpse in my direction as the music started. He was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by it all as well. I looked at the other two. There is very little we don’t share on the road together, and these feelings were no exception.
We were offered a touch of luxury by the Darling Harbour Novotel for our last night in town before we began the ride to Cronulla, our final destination. It seemed all too fitting that our last night was spent overlooking the city we had been striving to reach for an entire year. The view was breathtaking to say the least. I had forgotten just how beautiful our city was, with its massive blue harbour, diverse architectural fabric, and incredibly constant movement.
Mereki and I were sharing a room, and sat looking outside the room in complete silence for what seemed like hours. I was the first to break the silence, “What are you thinking about?”
“I see the world in a completely different way now”, he replied. “Before we left I would have looked out here and felt our mission to live sustainably is almost impossible, but now all I see is an excess of energy – an incredible excess of energy. There is a greater excess of energy in the world right now than ever before in history. We just need to start using it for the right things”. I nodded my head in agreement.
“Now that we are back it is possible to do something about it”
Quote of the Day
“There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.” - Aldous Huxley
Matt
matt@mypower.org.au