What a day!
The Sydney Harbour Bridge celebrated its 75th birthday with pomp, glory and style…if only it wasn’t for those noisy Peer Networkers!
A swarm of approximately forty hyperactive Peer Networkers (PNs) and international students from University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) descended upon the bridge to participate in the Bridge Walk. They came brightly dressed in greens and golds to show their support for Australia’s national and historical icon.
“It was very thoughtful [of the UTS organisers] to arrange this event…it is a day the international students wouldn’t have known about otherwise so it is good to get them involved,” said Michelle Beattie, a Marketing and Tourism student.
Rebecca Lai agreed: “It is lucky for them [international students] because they get to celebrate with local people and its shows them that we can be very festive.”
The UTS contingent joined the more than 200,000 group of people who officially registered to join the 3.6 kilometer walk. It started in North Sydney, ended either at Darling Harbour or The Rocks and took around an hour to complete depending if you ambled, walked, jogged or ran (the UTS group took a very long time to cross the bridge as they stopped numerous times for photos!). All who participated in the walk received a free neon green cap to commemorate the day.
For those who missed out on the walk, organisers had planned various other activities and free family entertainment at and around the area. Highlights included a ferry and workboat race around the harbour, fly-overs of historical planes, an Aboriginal smoking ceremony and the dazzling bridge lights that illuminated the night sky.
Allen Lui, the UTS organiser, said the day was a great success even though not as many people turned up as he had hoped. “It is a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ special event and it was about time PNs got together with the international students…to foster the university’s international community.”
Other links:
http://photos.all.id.au (Click on Allen’s link)
