We began musically again in St. Mary’s Chapel preparing for a performance for the primary school. When the assembly began, two well-spoken St. Mary’s girls introduced the choir to educate the audience with astute facts about our state dog, the Great Dane, Hershey’s Chocolate, and several “firsts” that occurred in Philadelphia. A few singers learned something new about their own local! Girls at St. Mary’s school particularly liked our singing of Jambo, with familiar words, “Hakuna Matata.” At the end of the assembly, our singers taught St. Mary’s students, “Draw the Circle Wide.” The whole auditorium joined in moving and singing. It was a powerful and meaningful moment.

On to the bus we went to Fremantle, a beautiful seaside town that houses the University of Notre Dame of Western Australia. In Fremantle, singers shopped for souvenirs. Our big find was clapsticks, a high-pitched pair of wooden sticks, similar to claves. Waltzing Matilda calls for clapsticks, and singers happily incorporated them in their next performance.

The ferry to Rottnest Island was a treat—several riders asked PG and GSG to sing, and so girls rode the waves singing “Waltzing Matilda.” After the ferry, we departed to ride bikes, swim, shop and then took together Quokka selfie-tour. Quokkas are nocturnal animals; several slept and others sought us out for food for themselves or their joeys. We worked on capturing the famed Quokka selfies.

After the Rottnest ferry returned us to Fremantle, we enjoyed sightsinging and dinner. One of the joys today was watching singers reach out to new friends and share dinner and ice cream at the Fremantle pier.

Back at St. Mary’s, homestay families warmly greeted singers for a restful night’s sleep. We look forward to our concert with St. Mary’s and Hale’s schools tomorrow!