Our Monday (March 14) in Penrith was worth reminiscing for aside from club presentations and educational tour; we were able to visit, for a rare chance, Sydney’s State of the Art Sports Facility during the 2000 Olympics, THE REGATTA CENTER and PENRITH WHITEWATER STADIUM.
We started the day as early as five in the morning with thrill for we were to beat the time and meet the members of Rotary Club of NEPEAN in Penrith at 6:30 am. The group had fun as we were introduced to the energetic members of the club. After a while, we took advantage and had photos with the Nepean River as where the venue of the meeting was just on the riverside. The excitement was then intensified when after the meeting, Rtn. Graham Wilson and his wife Helen brought us to Regatta Center and the manmade whitewater river. After which, Graham with the assistance of John Harding drove us to one of the biggest water reserves in the New South Wales, the Warragamba Dam. Our excitement was paid with astonishment to see the huge, highly sophisticated technology of the water system.
Full of contentment, we made our way back to our respective host families to regain our energy and freshen up for another meeting, this time with the Rotary Club of Penrith. The team arrived at the venue at around 6:00 O’clock in the evening and were assigned to different tables. After dinner, we made our presentation. It was fortunate then that the team was able to listen to the inputs of the club’s invited speaker from Nepean Research Foundation who talked about latest researches on health management. As the meeting ended, the team’s Monday in Penrith also ended with our respective host family. (Ben)
March 15- The GSE Philippine Team went to Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory. Three hours drive from Penrith, Canberra is a capital city of beauty and culture. With great historical museums and galleries we explored and learned about the Australian heritage – as seen in the National Museum and War Memorial Museum. We also visited the Parliament house, which is very famous and most well known buildings in Australia, being the centre of government. We went to discover how the senate and congress operate.
What a lovely day to see the sights of the national parks and rolling hills. Thanks to Graham and Keith Wakefield for bringing us there. (Lorna)
March 16 (Wednesday). Another vocational day for the GSE Team. Arleen and Chris went to West Pac Bank – Penrith Branch. They got to compare the banking system and realized that such have almost similar banking system, rates, products, but Oz banks have sophisticated credit checking system for their respective borrower. West Pac ranks number 2 in NSW. Rtn. Mark of RC Penrith Valley, the Branch Head and Josh, their Business Manager were very gracious hosts, answering questions of Arleen and Chris. Rucel went to a Lawyer’s Office of Mr. Mario Bellantonio and was fortunate to visit and attend an actual court proceeding in the District Court of Penrith. In the afternoon, Lorna, Ben and Rucel went to Penrith police station and got to get more information from the domestic violence desk, forensics and police prosecution unit, respectively. (Chris)
Day 9 (March 17) of our Group Study Exchange took us to the second oldest settlement in Australia – Parramatta, which was established in 1788. First stop was the office of Rotary Down Under , RI’s Regional Publication Office. We were hosted by PDG Bob Aitken, the managing editor of said publication. We were given a bagful of give-aways / tokens and served morning merienda. We then headed to Parramatta Park and listened to PDG Jack Elliot talked about the city’s history and his Rotary experiences. We were together with the Taiwan Team here.
After the sumptuous lunch, GSE Chair Graham Wilson took us to the Regional Office / Headquarters of Rotary International, a special request of TL Arleen. We met Frank Pessimenti, the Regional Head and Bruce Allen, Manager, along with filipinas working there and holding important functions too. It was indeed a wonderful experience to meet these people who are in the forefront of Rotary’s program. (Rucel)
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