Royal Australian Mint: We started our first full day in Canberra by walking to the Royal Australian Mint. We watched a short film on the minting process, which showed the entire minting process, including how the designs are created and transferred to the coins. Australia mints 5, 10, 20 and 50 cent pieces as well as 1 and 2 dollar coins. We also saw a display on the history of coins in Australia, from the original multitude of foreign coins traded up to their switch to decimal currency. There were no views of the production floor, but we were able to operate a press to make our own uncirculated 1 dollar coin commemorating the 75th anniversary of Sydney Harbor Bridge.
Race Expo: In the afternoon, we returned to the school to pick up our race packets. All the packets for those participating in the 5k fun run were mailed out before the race, but Peep didn't receive hers, so we tracked down the race organizer in charge of distributing the packets. As it turns out, she didn't mail it because Peep was from a foreign country. We picked up her packet and mine before her three o'clock run.
The 5K Fun Run: Peep's 5k Fun Run started at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The course consisted of nearly two full loops around a local park, sharing the same finish line as the marathon to be run the next day. Shortly after beginning the run, she started to have some trouble breathing, and had to slow her pace. Even though she walked part of the course in the blazing sun, she still managed to smile as she started running again. Although her time wasn't what she would have liked, she hung in there until she crossed the finish line and treated herself to plenty of water. I am sure the stress of travel, particularly that of an overnight fight, and her allergies played a big part in her performance. She suffered with a runny nose for several days following the race.