CLAIR Sydney went to former Manly Council Chambers in the morning to attend the official Northern Beaches Council 2016 Odawara welcome reception on 28 July.
The Manly Odawara friendship is a strong relationship, now in its 26th year. This year, the newly formed Northern Beaches Council (an amalgamation of Manly, Pittwater and Warringah councils on 12 May 2016) welcomed a delegation from Odawara made up of 14 high-school students and four chaperones.
Former Mayor of Manly, Ms Jean Hay, gave a speech congratulating the students on becoming “young ambassadors of Odawara City” and presented them all with certificates of participation.
Following day, CLAIR Sydney accompanied the delegation to Castlereagh for a day at the Muru Mittigar Aboriginal Cultural & Education Centre. The students learned about important symbols and colours in aboriginal art by participating in workshop.
This was then followed by a lesson on bush tucker and how the indigenous population used different parts of various trees, shrubs and plants to sustain themselves in the outback.
The children then practiced boomerang throwing to help them build up a good appetite for lunch! After lunch there was a discussion about Aboriginal tribes in Australia and were then given a hands-on lesson on different wooden tools, instruments and weapons used in daily life.