May to August is the hibernating season for retirees in Sydney – and probably for retirees everywhere south of latitude 34 degrees south, in the Southern Hemisphere. We start this post with an old photo of Michelle our daughter, during her 49er FX sailing days in her early twenties, to remind us of warmer sailing days, which is not too far away.
May was a relatively quiet month with less sailing (only to Akuna Bay) and less socialising (the John and Yoko movie retrospective show at the Orpheum theatre) in early June. With regular visits to Summerhill to see our granddaughter Nina, we stayed active – Annie helping Karen where needed, once a week.
Karen and Nina 28 June 2025.
The annual Vivid Sydney Festival of Lights came around again in June. We haven’t been for the last eight years and decided to make an evening of it by taking the B-Line express bus to and from the city. The weather was clear, albeit chilly, but we stayed warm by walking a 9 km circuit form Wynyard station through Martin Place and the city to Circular Quay, then Barangaroo, on to Darling Harbour and back to Wynyard.
Winter solstice was on the 21st June, after which our daylight hours gets longer.The reality is of course, that the months of July and August are actually colder. But, our garden’s growth slows down – so my gardening activities also slow down. I did however manage to continue walks and cycling with the aid of gloves and warmer underwear, but Annie braved the cold gym she attends six day a week. We also started playing pickle ball with friends on Wednesdays and Fridays in Avalon, weather providing – good exercise, sociable and fun.
The Sail Cruising Division had a pleasant mid winter Outback BBQ lunch at PAC on the 12th July. Annie won a bottle of wine for her barn dancing moves. It was great to catch up with Michelle, who came to visit on the 13th July, after launching her Pasifika Wayfinders youth program in early July.
Karen and Evan packed up their rental in Summerhill and put everything into storage, before flying to San Francisco on the 22nd July. Karen will do a six month registrar placement in paediatric orthopaedic surgery in Portland, Oregon. We trust that Evan and Nina will have fun and support her.
We had the annual Madison Way “Christmas in July” lunch at Ross and Heather Allan on the 26th July and caught up with our longest-standing Sydney friends.
Well, that sums up the quiet winter months here in Sydney. Watch out for our Spring 2025 post!
Cheers
Annie and Dirk
Great to catch up with your news…..a grand daughter too, she’s gorgeous.
We have just come back from visiting our grandchildren at Lake Hāwea,(2) and Wellington,(1) and another on the way. Home and community activities for us plus maintenance on SOUL. We hope to have a last great season of summer sailing…..possibly a trip to Fiji next year then she is on the market.
All the best to you both.
Sarah and Mike
Hi Guys
Great to hear from you! Wow, you have 3 grandchildren – we’ll have to push our girls harder for some action. We are planning to circumnavigate Tasmania in Jan-March 2026. After that, see if we can sell a half share to our daughter Michelle – she has a bug to do a circumnavigation. We will insist on her getting a partner that can tell the difference between the handle and the jaws of a pair of pliers.
We will be in NZ on our way back from the US in middle October and will call you to see if we can catch up.
Love, Dirk and Annie