We flew in to Auckland on the 18th December 2022 for a busy three weeks, visiting friends and family. Annie’s brother Johan (Joe in New Zillund), kindly picked us up from the airport to spend the first week with him and his partner Mary Griffiths in Brown’s Bay.
A beautiful trompe l’oeil * on an old building to illustrate the meaning of “Aotearoa”.
The Maori name for NZ, “Aotearoa” means “land of the long white cloud”. This refers to the cloud formations which helped early Polynesian navigators find the country.
(*trompe l’oeil = visual illusion in art, as used to trick the eye into perceiving a painted detail as a three-dimensional object.)
Brown’s Bay coastal walk with Mike, Lynette, Joe and Annie.
Mary and Joe had hikes, scenic trips and social events lined up for us, which I enjoyed in as much as my buggered left knee would allow me to. Apart from walks along Long Beach, Brown’s Bay and the city, there were a flurry of social events at various friends for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Magnificent trees in Long Bay regional reserve.
Street in Ponsonby with Christmas decorations on all the Victorian houses.
Visiting one of Frank Tonetti’s container housing projects.
Christmas Eve dinner at Alec and Vick’s.
The Tonetti siblings, Julia, front and Paulo, back with their partners James and Shahlaa.
Christmas lunch at Joe and Mary – Shahlaa, Sage and Lisa left, with Marco Tonetti right.
Morning tea: Annie and Kathleen, Jim Petrie’s sister.
After Christmas, Annie and I drove down to Tauranga, about 3 hours south east of Auckland on the Bay of Plenty. My brother Vanna and his wife Annemarie’s two children, Anneri and Stevan live in NZ with their spouses and children. Vanna and Annemarie are presently visiting their offspring after 3-years of Covid travel restrictions. The mob is in good shape and thriving.
The Muller/Fourie clan in Tauranga.
Annie, Dirk, Vanna & Annemarie.
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland harbour.
During our circumnavigation we have met many Kiwi’s. Sailing like rugby, is an obsession for Kiwi’s, which is borne out by the thousands of yachts in Auckland harbour. We had a long lunch catching up with Mike and Sarah and Topher and Michelle at Mahurangi West on the Pukapuka inlet, about an hour north of Auckland. They will shortly return to the Med to get back onto their boats, but other Kiwi friends, Jonny and Tina left a week before, to join their boat at Ushuaia, the southern tip of Argentina, to round Cape Horn into the Pacific.
View from Mike and Sarah’s house in Mahurangi West.
Topher, Michelle, Sarah, Mike and Annie
The following day, Bruce and Caroline Cowan, took us out on their Farr 40 for a delightful sail on the Pukapuka inlet and to visit these islands.
Sailing on Bruce’s Farr 40.
Walking on one of the islands in Pukapuka.
After a New Year’s Eve dinner party at Penny and Frank in Stanley Point and then watching the fireworks across the harbour in the city, we woke up to a beautiful New Year and Annie’s 68th birthday. We felt energised enough to walk along the harbour front to the Stanley Point Naval Base and back.
New Years Eve dinner at Penny and Frank.
Auckland Sky Tower early evening – my photos of the fireworks were not successful!
We travelled south to Whiritoa after the new year to relax at Penny and Frank’s holiday cottage on the East coast of the Coromandel and north of Tauranga. Continuous rain forced us to relax for three days before visiting Philip and Lindsay on their farm at Katikati and later drive north to Whangamata on the coast.
Penny and Frank’s holiday cottage.
On Monday the 9th January, Joe dropped us off at the airport on our way back from Whiritoa and we had an uneventful flight back to Sydney where Michelle and Kristian picked us up at the airport. They had spent more than a week on Esprit, exploring the Cowan Waters and Hawkesbury River, after visiting Kristian’s family and diving off Stradbroke Island in Queensland.
Michelle and Kristian diving at Stradbroke Island.
We caught up with their news before they flew back to Singapore and Fiji respectively, to start back at work. On Thursday the 12th Annie dropped me at Westmead Private Hospital for a total knee replacement on my left leg at about 4:30 pm.
The cut looks interesting.
The TKR technology has improved remarkably since the right knee was replaced 18 years ago. I was able to get up the next morning with moderate pain and started physiotherapy at 9am, walking with first a frame and then crutches. By Saturday morning, I was walking unassisted and the surgeon and the physio agreed for me to go home after 36 hours.
Impressive bruising from the tourniquet.
It is much easier recuperating from home with less interruptions. Matt Jones the surgeon, will check the result and x-rays and take the sutures out after 14 days. Hopefully, that will be the end of this adventure.
Our previous post of September/October probably didn’t reach you by email, as we were busy migrating our website from a UK host to an Australian host. That post is on our main page, if you want to catch up with our earlier news.
Walk along Mona Vale beach.
November and December will go down as my left knee month. After surviving 75 years of use and abuse playing squash, climbing, walking, sailing and tearing ligaments in the process, it finally gave notice. Slowly but surely, walking to the local shops, gardening and house chores became very painful.
Drinks at RMYC: Ron, Annie & Michelle.
Karen suggested I have X-rays taken and as she is not allowed to treat her family, referred me to her colleague, Matthew Jones at Westmead Hospital. A MRI scan confirmed loose fragments, very little cartilage and arthritis. He said an arthroscopy would be pointless and suggested a total knee replacement asap.
Walk at the Mona Vale golf course next to the beach.
The “Conformis” customised knee implant is being manufactured in the US as we speak and the knee replacement is scheduled for the 12 th January 2023. In the meantime, anti-inflammatories helps a bit. Quite a busy medical year!
Some of the ladies at Sunday sundowners in our complex.
Word from Fiji is that Michelle has settled into her new apartment and bought a small Suzuki 4WD, with which she is bashing the bundu. She is enjoying her new job and apart from Fiji, is also serving eight other Pacific nations in her role. Kristian her beau, visits frequently from his base in Singapore.
Michelle’s apartment in Fiji.
Exploring off the beaten track.
River and pool 20 minutes from her apartment.
Kristian & Michelle in Fiji.
Karen and fiancé Evan announced their wedding for the 1st April 2023. Apart from seven family members from each side, the rest of their guests are friends and colleagues. They have decided on a low key affair in a Newcastle art studio with catering by a food truck from OzHarvest, a charity that collects food for homeless people. The proceeds go towards providing meals for the homeless. Cocktails and desserts, will also be provided by food trucks for the event.
Evan & Karen.
OzHarvest food truck.
During the month of November, I had a vaccination against shingles and another against pneumonia, provided free of charge for old farts like me, by the NSW Government Health Department. Annie’s garden in the meantime, has gone from strength to strength. We are eating lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes from her garden every evening at dinner.
Annie and her garden.
Ron & Michelle in the classic MG Ron has meticulously restored.
We will be flying to New Zealand on the 18 th of December to visit family and friends and will be back in Sydney on the 9 th January 2023. So, here’s wishing you a merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! Cheers for now.
With the warmer weather, the snakes are coming out of the wetlands to sun themselves. Walking with Karen and Annie on Sunday morning, we took a wide berth around a 2 m venomous red bellied black snake and 50 m further, found a sleepy python enjoying the sun next to the path.
Hello Red Belly!
Lazy Python.
A day after the ascension of King Charles III, Australian larrikins were at it again – I received an email with a new version of our $5 note, which until now, featured the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Aussie $5 note
Our new fiver?
On the 21st September we celebrated with Evan, Karen’s 34th birthday at their flat in Redfern with Michelle, who had just returned from her hikes through the Redwood forests of California.
Karen’s birthday.
Michelle and giant redwood trees.
Path cut through a Redwood tree trunk.
Sailing on San Francisco harbour.
Around the same time, the new 6.25kW solar panel array was installed on the roofs of our townhouse and garage. The contractors were fast, as their teams completed the solar panel installations on four townhouses in our complex in one day. Some more townhouses followed in the following week, proving that our initiative to change the bylaws to allow solar panel systems was timeous.
Up goes the solar panels.
The Manly Jazz Festival was on again this year and the weather gave us a welcome break on the 25th September to enjoy the bands on five stages in the streets of Manly. There were also roving groups playing music.
Manly Jazz.
Young musicians.
Roving quartet.
After a test drive of the new BYD Atto 3 electric vehicle, we took delivery of our new car on the 4th October. The car drives well and we are charging the battery with our new solar panel system during the days we don’t need to drive. The range is about 420 km on a full charge, but so far, we haven’t used more than 8% of the charge in a week. We have yet to try the fast DC public chargers which can charge our 60.5kWh battery from 20 to 80% in 45 min.
BYD Atto 3
BYD EV with its energy source on the roof behind.
The next day Annie took Michelle to the airport for her next assignment, this time for UNICEF in Fiji, for the next year. On the way back, she dropped off Karen’s car in Redfern and came home by bus. In the meantime I re-arrangedall the sh*t in the garage to fit in the mid sized Atto 3, SUV electric vehicle.
Michelle off to Fiji.
Celebrating Fiji day with traditional Kava, after her arrival.
The following week was a busy one for us retirees – how exciting! Monday 10th, started with my appointment at Royal North Shore Hospital, Nuclear Medicine department to review my progress four months after completing radiation therapy for prostate cancer. The oncologist was satisfied with my Prostate Specific Antigen test which had come down from a value of 5.8 to 1.3 and expects a final PET scan in June 2023 to confirm the all clear.
On the Wednesday, we celebrated this result by buying a new 40” smart TV to replace our ancient 34” analog TV which our friends were laughing at. It is a bit of largesse, as we never watched TV for six years and now we only watch the 6pm news to check the weather forecast at the end of the news broadcast. We are readers and thoroughly utilise the local Mona Vale library.
Thursday evening Annie and I gave an audio visual presentation at RMYC about circumnavigating the world in their safety series. We spoke about weather and route planning, navigation, safety measures, maintenance and breakdowns on extended voyages, illustrated with maps and photos from around the world. The 45 minute presentation was well received and resulted in 45 minutes worth of questions.
Esprit’s route.
The following night we attended a show by the American stand up comedian Arj Barker, who our girls introduced us to about 10 years ago. Barker has enjoyed success in Australia for a number of years since first appearing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2000, and presently resides there. He really understands the Australian idiosyncrasies and is a laugh a minute.
Arj Barker.
The sailing season opening day at Royal Motor Yacht Club was on Saturday 15th October, with all the pageantry and a sail past which is synonymous with its royal status. It was good to catch up with old friends and enjoy champagne and canapés at 10 in the morning, resulting in a Nana nap in the arvo.
Sailing season opening day at RMYC.
Afterthree weeks of charging our Electric Vehicle from our solar panels at home, for driving around Sydney, we did our first longer trip to the country at the end of October. We had to drive to East Maitland near Newcastle, to do a pre-settlement inspection on an investment property we bought. This was a good opportunity to check the distance we could travel on a fully charged battery. The owners manual indicated a potential range of 420 km.
Charging the EV from our solar panels.
Starting at 95% charge and driving at 110 km/h, we covered 320 km on the return trip. We arrived home with a 10% charge (43 km), indicated on the onboard computer. We are happy with this, as the over the air software updates received via the car’s internet modem, stated that the first long trip would determine driving style and various parameters for the longer term.
On this new tech for old brains note, we say cheers until next time!
In a previous post, I showed the banana trees that were taking over the back yard garden. Having trimmed the trees, we soon realised that this mini banana plantation was going to give us grief in future, due to it’s invasive root system spreading out under the paving. I bought a reciprocating saw with a 300mm pruning blade and cut the trees down, to be confronted with the stumps and roots, which I attacked with a new axe. After four days of swinging the axe and swearing at the stumps, Johno the tree feller came to my rescue with his stump grinder. Annie eyed the open patch.
Installing the treated 200 x 50 mm sleepers.
She had her heart set on a veggie and herb garden, so on August 2, I went to Bunnings in Belrose with my Ryobi reciprocating saw to cut 4 x 3.0 m long timber sleepers into shorter lengths for this garden. Bunnings don’t offer a cutting service for wet timber, so after cutting the 200 x 50 mm sleepers, I loaded the timber into Karen’s 13 year old little Nissan Micra to cart it back to our house.
Ready for the garden soil.
Building the treated timber walls was straight forward, but then treating the lumpy and acidic soil with bags of lime and chalk, carting in three loads of 15 x 50 litre bags of garden soil and compost with the Micra, was hard yakka.
Annie planting her veggies and herbs.
It was a pleasant surprise to bump into an old friend Judith MacDonald at a local bottle shop, so we met for dinner with her and partner Neil, at the local Forest hotel pub. Weshare the dubious reputation of being thrown out of the Dee Why RSL with some other friends, after a raucous and liquid “Black Sorrows” concert, years ago.
Judith, Dirk, Annie and Neil.
We enjoyed a visit from Karen’s fiancé Evan’s dad, Eugene and his partner Adelaide and had a slideshow of our sailing and a BBQ. The next day we did a wetlands walk and showed them around the Pittwater before they took the train back to Newcastle.
Eugene, Adelaide, Dirk and Annie.
News from Michelle came in from Europe: After her Swiss Alps hikes, she went to Portugal and spent a week in Lisbon with friends and attended the Boom Festival.
With her friends at the Boom Festival.
Portugal: finding shade in the heatwave.
Kristian flew over to join her and they travelled along the north coast of Spain, visiting the Guggenheim in Bilbao, before he returned to Singapore.
Bilbao – Guggenheim museum.
Kristian & Michelle in Spain.
This was followed by a five day, 150 km hike through Spain on the Camino de Santiago trail.
Camino de Santiago – which way now?
Back here in Sydney, we have settled down in Warriewood and now focus on getting Esprit, our home of six years back in shape again. There a numerous components on the boat that need maintenance and upgrading before we can sail offshore again. Yesterday I fitted a new toilet pump and fixed the shower pump in the aft head (bathroom). It was quite a job to remove the VHF radio and handsets which B&G will replace for us, after ongoing malfunctions.
Pete Murray at the DY RSL.
In between, we have attended a few music shows, including Pete Murray and his band, drove up to Newcastle for consecutive Saturdays to look at open homes, with the view of purchasing an investment property in the area. On Sunday evenings we have methodically invited our fellow strata owners in batches for sundowners, in order to get to know everyone. Quite a diverse and friendly group of people, who we could get along with well (we hope).
Sydney rainfall 2022
Our weather gurus predict that La Niña will continue! The chance that the current La Niña will last through this year is over 70%. If it happens, this will be only the third time with three La Niña winters in a row on record. Meanwhile the record temperatures and droughts in the UK and Europe continue and Pakistan has had the worst flooding in history. Our Bureau of Meteorology confirmed yesterday that Sydney had its wettest and coldest August since 1859. Don’t tell me climate change is not real!
Burning Man 2019.
At the end of August, Michelle met up again with Kristian in the Black Rock Desert, 160 km north of Reno, Nevada for the annual nine-day Burning Man Festival. This follows a 2-year hiatus due to the pandemic shutdown. Its name derives from the week’s main event, where a 12 m tall wooden man atop a 9 m structure is set ablaze. The event includes music, art installations and no money changes hands. Gifting is the rule.
Kristian loading provisions and water for 30 friends at Burning Man into their U-haul.
Paradisium: Constructed of charred trees from the Californian wildfires.
Gaia, a 12 m high metal sculpture.
Continuing a tradition that started in 1986, the annual Nevada event draws tens of thousands to the bike-friendly temporary city. Participants must bring everything they need to survive in the desert, with summer heat often tipping into near-freezing temperatures at night. The principle of inclusion and self-reliance, guide the behaviour of the participants.
Our metal birds.
We have an African Secretary Bird and Guinea Fowl metal sculptures in our front garden. A local Kookaburra (Kingfisher) has taken to sitting on the Secretary Bird’s head. I can’t figure if this is for company, or to show the Secretary Bird who is in charge.
G’day mate.
Australians were saddened by the passing of Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, their queen and head of state for 70 years. At her coronation in 1952, I was a grade 1 pupil at Northmead Primary School in South Africa. As a British Commonwealth country, she was head of state of South Africa as well and each pupil received a glass with her picture on it to commemorate the event. After a referendum, South Africa became a republic in 1961.
Since arriving in Australia 26 years ago we became accustomed to her profile on our coins and notes and despite an Australian republic referendum in 1999, our multicultural society admire her so much, to vote to retain the status quo. Charles III will now be king and head of state of Australia.
On this sombre note we sign off this post. Look out for exciting news of our new solar panel installation and delivery of our new electric vehicle.
At the end of June a big weather system formed off the NSW coast. This resulted in severe flooding of the northern coastal plains along the Nepean and Hawkesbury Rivers and the coastal plains to the south of Sydney. The system dumped between 700mm and a metre of rain in the region, over the weekend of the 1 – 4th July. We had heavy rain in Warriewood, but no flooding.
Offshore low causing heavy onshore rain.
The irony is that we have extremes: Either droughts, resulting in bushfires in summer, or, heavy rain in winter as experienced over the last three years. Climate change is a reality and it is good to see the new government commit to reduced emissions and renewable energy in line with targets adopted in Europe. Also, by offering incentives for the adoption of electric vehicles.
Flooded shores of the Hawkesbury River.
Our EV which we ordered in January, is now due to arrive in August. I have managed to have the bylaws for our estate redrafted by strata solicitors, to allow for solar panel systems to be installed on our roofs. This was approved at a strata meeting on the 7th July. The new bylaw has been submitted for registration by the Lands Department, which should take about a month.
The BYD Atto 3 EV we ordered.
We already have 6 quotes to install a 6.6kW solar panel array on our unit 17, to charge the EV as well as for electrical energy during the day, feeding excess energy back into the grid. We don’t need to buy an expensive $15,000 Tesla 13.5kWh Powerwall 2 home battery, as our new EV will have vehicle to load capability, allowing us to use it’s big 60.4kWh car battery for some of our energy requirements. How good is that – we may even be carbon neutral, as well as not having to pay $2.20/l for petrol, the price recently and bound to go up in the future.
During the rainy period, Annie suddenly had the urge to do furniture restoration. She tackled a large coffee table and bookcase, stripped the Oregon pine of varnish, sanded it endlessly and sealed it with Beeswax. This may be the last.
Working on the bookcase in the garage.
We also had news from our daughters who were having fun travelling abroad. Michelle after the UK, spent time in Amsterdam and then met up with hiking friends Luzi, Lara and Zoe in Hinterthal, Switzerland to do a 4 day hike in the Swiss Alps.
Starting out in the lower valleys, heading for Berghutte at 2000m.
More clothes as she gets higher.
Getting chilly at 3,000m.
Celebrating completion of the 4 day hike at Arthurhaus, after 50km and 2,995m elevation gain.
Karen and Evan in the meantime, got to La Paz in Bolivia after doing volunteer work, then set off for the Uyuni salt flats – at 11,000 sq km, the largest body of white salt in the world.
Karen and Evan.
Karen and friends.
By mid-July 2022, Covid infections were on the rise again in Australia due to two new Covid strains. The government was prepared this time with adequate vaccines in stock, so we checked in with our local chemist where we received our third booster shot.
Warriewood Wetlands.
We are fortunate to have a number of nature trails on our doorstep – 200m down Garden Street, we have the start of the Warriewood Wetlands trails. A number of raised timber walking trails and a huge diversity of birds – apart from the ubiquitous Kookaburras and White Cockatiels, there are also the Bellbird honeyeaters with their unique bell sound.
Irrawong waterfall.
When we go shopping at the Warriewood shopping centre, we walk there and back through the Wetlands walk.Across the road from us is the start of the Irrawong reserve, with the trail leading up the valley past the waterfall about 500m from our house, to Ingleside further up the valley. Lots of exercise here, keeping the circulation going in winter!
We wrapped the month of July with a B-line bus ride to Wynyard in the city, to visit the Sydney International Boat Show at Darling Harbour. Afterwards, we walked across the city to the NSW Art gallery to view the annual Archibald competition art exhibition. Some of the entries follow below.
The Archibald winner: Blak Douglas inspired by the recent floods.
Peter Garrett by Anh Do.
The big switch to solar power – portrait of inventor and engineer, Dr Saul Griffith.
Hirsute: Self portrait of Peter Hannaford – a three times cancer survivor.
Untitled: Wynne prize for landscape painting.
After the exhibition, we walked back to Wynyard for the bus ride home to Warriewood and a well deserved beer after covering 11 km during the day. The days are getting longer and soon we hope to welcome spring here in Sydney, after a decidedly wet and cold July. Cheers for now!
Well, here we are in mid June: Settled into our new townhouse, the federal election is behind us, with a new Labour government in power, winter is upon us and four weeks of prostate radiation therapy has been completed.
6th May 2022: Arriving at 17/153 Garden St, Warriewood.
Champagne welcome with Karen, Michelle and Evan, at our new mini abode.
Next morning – North Narrabeen – our new local beach.
Coffees after the swim.
Shortly afterwards, Karen and Evan flew to South America for three months and Michelle to the UK and Europe for three months. We discovered that kids are for keeps: they have unloaded all their sh*t in our attic and garage while they are away, as Karen had rented out her house in Newcastle for the foreseeable future and Michelle has parked her camper van somewhere in Bondi. Never a dull moment!
A walk at the North Narrabeen lagoon entrance.
We can move forward with other projects and plan for some more sailing and travelling. Roles have now been reversed: kids not worrying about parents at sea, but parents wondering about the whereabouts of their kids – Karen and Evan somewhere in South America for three months and Michelle away in Europe and the UK for three months.
Annie having a coffee after a swim in the ocean pool.
We were asked to do a talk on circumnavigating the world for a sailing gathering. In hindsight I should have declined, as three weeks into my radiation treatment, I was really feeling knackered and failed to put on a happy face. Apart from that, a third of the audience could see the television screen showing our photos, while another third had to watch a footy match on another screen.The rest was an unrelated rowdy crowd having dinner right next to us. To crown it all, the next speaker asked us to hurry up, about ten minutes before the end of our talk, as he was eager to share his local sailing plans for the year ahead in a lengthy monologue. This event reminded us of stand up comedy in a noisy pub – but hey, this is Australia and we love it.
Trimming a fast growing banana tree.
Here in Sydney, we have had a very wet couple of months due to the La Nina weather system. The plants in our front and back gardens are thriving and had to be cut back as they were leaning over the fences of our neighbours.
We had some news from Karen and Evan in South America – they were having a good time. Adrenaline junkie Karen, who summited Cotopaxi in Ecuador during her last visit, had to jump of a cliff with a parasail bloke at San Gil in the Andes. San Gil is famous for extreme sports – they also did a big zip line run and canyoning. Great to see Evan taking her to more sedate venues in the evenings.
Parasailing, Colombia 2022
Up and away.
Cotopaxi, Ecuador 2018.
A romantic evening in Bogota.
We celebrated the completion of my prostate nuking with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow at the Glen Street Theatre (the show name is almost as long as the show). It was excellent Aussie humour – it also felt strange to be sitting shoulder to shoulder in a packed theatre, after almost six years out in the open at sea. It gave us enough confidence to go to the local cinema the following week.
Michelle, who is having a three month break from her post at the UN, started her trip with a yoga retreat and tech detox in Portugal. Then, off to the UK for time with her many friends there – she worked in London for five years. She enjoyed numerous hikes in Cornwall and Dartmoor with her “Women in the Forests” hiking group, started in 2017. She later met up with Kristian for hikes in Switzerland and then attending the Montreux Jazz Festival. After this, she planned to do part of the Camino de Santiago walk through northern Spain and Portugal.
Dartmoor.
Old friends, now with kids.
Having almost settled down in our townhouse, we will now focus on getting the boat back in shape and preparing her for another long cruise in the new year. We will keep you posted – cheers for now!
Auckland Sky Tower early evening – my photos of the fireworks were not successful!
