Pope Benedict Arrives in Sydney

Although the public was not given close access to the Pontiff,thousands of spectators including a number of religious went to the base'sperimeter to view the Pope and receive a Papal wave from afar.

Spectators initialy got falsely excited some hours earlier when theymistook the Australian Prime Minister's plane for that of the pontiff.

Bernadette Jee who took her two young daughters out for the plane'sarrival said "it was pretty amazing to go out there to Richmond, worthevery bit of effort. My three year old daughter is telling me she sawthe Pope's plane, hope she remembers it for life."

She went on to say that "some people thought he was going out to Kenthurst in a helicopter but he went in the car and we saw him as close as from one side of the road to the other. He waved and looked very happy."

"It was great to see him looking so happy and also great to see heaps of people making the journey to see him. Cardinal Pell passed in the back of a white Tarago van. It was funny to see the Catholic clergy in ordinary vehicles while pollies travelled in limos."

The crowd included Schoenstatt Sisters, Neo-catechumens singing with guitars. 

Traffic around the base was brought to a crawl as spectators tried tosee the star arrival. The Pope stayed only about 15 minutes, which was a shorter time than expected, before travelingto Kenthurst Sydney for a break before his arrival at WYD08 on Thursdayvia Boat-a-cade.

Image courtesy of WYD 2008 ACN 118060987 as Trustee for the World Youth Day 2008 Trust ABN 74 422 698 032