It’s quite clear that our overlapping layers of weather protection – curtains, blinds, tinting, heavy duty insect screens and plants – have substantially reduced the heat that gets into our apartment. The other day, sliding the windows in my study along to fertilise the window boxes, I saw how dark the overlapping tinted glass is.
It’s a pleasure to have a terrace that is as expansive as a courtyard, our very own garden of Eden, like the fabled Islamic paradise gardens Monty Don talks about, or as I sometimes refer to it - the hanging gardens of babble on.
To date, while we have had a few scattered hot days, we’ve not really had either very hot days or a continuous stretch of them. While I’m not looking forward to a string of hot days finally appearing, I am looking forward to seeing how the apartment will respond. We will add the two remaining defensive components we have – fans and air-conditioning – and see how we fare.
Reading books and drinking tea
At the library I swapped over a tall pile of books. I seem to be reading a book every two to three days at the moment. I like reading books – and drinking tea – a lot. For my new year resolution I thought perhaps I should combine the best of both worlds and start reading tea leaves as well. Reading entrails is possibly a bridge too far.
At the library I swapped over a tall pile of books. I seem to be reading a book every two to three days at the moment. I like reading books – and drinking tea – a lot. For my new year resolution I thought perhaps I should combine the best of both worlds and start reading tea leaves as well. Reading entrails is possibly a bridge too far.
Peaking at 5 am and then going steadily downhill
I seem to be rising earlier nowadays. In fact I’ve often said that I peak at 5 am and go steadily downhill from there. Increasingly I am going to bed earlier and earlier, which means I get up earlier and earlier as well. I’m worried that I’ll end up getting up so early, that it’ll be the previous day.
I’m very grateful that the New Years Eve fireworks were scheduled for both 9 pm and midnight – that meant I could see them and still be in bed at a reasonable hour. I was sure I’d hear later if the midnight ones weren’t up to scratch. In the end I did hang on till midnight, but only just. It was the latest I’d been to bed for a very long time.
I seem to be rising earlier nowadays. In fact I’ve often said that I peak at 5 am and go steadily downhill from there. Increasingly I am going to bed earlier and earlier, which means I get up earlier and earlier as well. I’m worried that I’ll end up getting up so early, that it’ll be the previous day.
I’m very grateful that the New Years Eve fireworks were scheduled for both 9 pm and midnight – that meant I could see them and still be in bed at a reasonable hour. I was sure I’d hear later if the midnight ones weren’t up to scratch. In the end I did hang on till midnight, but only just. It was the latest I’d been to bed for a very long time.
Viking Jupiter riding high on the Thames at Greenwich in 2019 – one of the great moments of my life. It further reinforced the late onset love affair with the UK that even Brexit can’t dislodge.
I’ve said before that when you travel you get to enjoy it three times. Once when you are planning the trip and checking out all the possibilities (I still have a vivid memory of using Google Earth to walk the streets where we would have stayed in St Remy de Provence, even though we eventually had to cancel). The second time is when you are actually travelling, and the third when you revisit it afterwards, through photos and journals. I’ve transferred all my favourite travel photos to my screensaver, so when I’m sitting at my desk, an unexpected image of a fabulous memory will suddenly flit past. I even suggested that for a quiet New Years Eve celebration we could sit and watch my screensaver together.
The ‘socialist’ countries
Now that we’ve leapt (or perhaps sidled is a better word) into 2026, we can continue planning our next overseas trip this year. We’re going to the ‘socialist’ countries – Sweden, Finland and Norway – and stopping in Stockholm, Helsinki, London and Hong Kong. We’re boarding a two week Viking cruise from Bergen round the British Isles to Greenwich, something like the route we followed on our first ever cruise in 2019, except in reverse.
Ironically there is a Cutty Sark Lane in our maritime-themed suburb and the ship it is named after is on display on the dockside at Greenwich. When I stood next to it in 2019, looking out at our ship riding high on the Thames, it was one of the great moments of my life, possibly beaten only by sitting on deck at midnight watching the steep sides of fjords tower above us as we slipped through the water, or getting married.
All going to plan, we will be joined by the two Americans we met on the cruise in 2019 and have kept contact with ever since. It is going to be terrific, because as soon as we step off the ship, we are visiting friends in Oxford – where I have never been. It will further reinforce the late onset love affair with the UK that even Brexit can’t dislodge.
Now that we’ve leapt (or perhaps sidled is a better word) into 2026, we can continue planning our next overseas trip this year. We’re going to the ‘socialist’ countries – Sweden, Finland and Norway – and stopping in Stockholm, Helsinki, London and Hong Kong. We’re boarding a two week Viking cruise from Bergen round the British Isles to Greenwich, something like the route we followed on our first ever cruise in 2019, except in reverse.
Ironically there is a Cutty Sark Lane in our maritime-themed suburb and the ship it is named after is on display on the dockside at Greenwich. When I stood next to it in 2019, looking out at our ship riding high on the Thames, it was one of the great moments of my life, possibly beaten only by sitting on deck at midnight watching the steep sides of fjords tower above us as we slipped through the water, or getting married.
All going to plan, we will be joined by the two Americans we met on the cruise in 2019 and have kept contact with ever since. It is going to be terrific, because as soon as we step off the ship, we are visiting friends in Oxford – where I have never been. It will further reinforce the late onset love affair with the UK that even Brexit can’t dislodge.
On our last ocean cruise, from Sydney to New Zealand, we were in the odd staterooms – apt given we are fairly odd passengers. This time we will still be right at the top of the ship, but we’re on the opposite side, so we’ll be in the even staterooms – even Stephen.
It’s a date
The period at the end of the year is all about scheduling. Transferring dates in the diary from one year to the next – birthdays, anniversaries, deadlines. I already have some key dates entered – when the local coffee shop reopens, when the library is back in business, when favourite places open their doors again. On top of that I have plans for when I’ll lie down for a nap or a read of a good book, when we might travel next.
The period at the end of the year is all about scheduling. Transferring dates in the diary from one year to the next – birthdays, anniversaries, deadlines. I already have some key dates entered – when the local coffee shop reopens, when the library is back in business, when favourite places open their doors again. On top of that I have plans for when I’ll lie down for a nap or a read of a good book, when we might travel next.
Reading books and drinking tea
I like reading books and drinking tea a lot. I thought I should combine the best of both worlds and start reading tea leaves as well.
I like reading books and drinking tea a lot. I thought I should combine the best of both worlds and start reading tea leaves as well.
Exercising my health options
As we cruise into the new year, I’m busy trying to slip back into a regular pattern of exercise. It reminds me of an old saying that if you live in London, there’s a million things you can do. You don’t do them, but you could. Exercise is very similar.
As we cruise into the new year, I’m busy trying to slip back into a regular pattern of exercise. It reminds me of an old saying that if you live in London, there’s a million things you can do. You don’t do them, but you could. Exercise is very similar.
© Stephen Cassidy 2026
See also
‘I’ve made a couple of big decisions. I’ve decided that it’s better to be a Chardonnay socialist than a Riesling reactionary. I’ve also decided that given the state of the world – despite all the good things going on that we never hear about, it seems to be balancing between mediocrity, incompetence and plain greed and lust for power – I’m never leaving home again…well, except to travel’, I'm never leaving home again – well, except to travel.
Lurching to a halt at the end of the year
‘For some reason Christmas reminds me of a play by Jean-Paul Sartre called ‘Huis Clos’, named after the French equivalent of an in camera trial or closed courtroom. It’s about three people who have died, locked together awaiting judgement in a crowded room for eternity. It’s the origin of Sartre’s famous line ‘hell is other people’. But it’s not the idea of hell that Christmas reminds me of, but the fact that at Christmas, especially on Boxing Day, the world suddenly lurches to a halt’, Lurching to a halt at the end of the year.
A different universe lapped by waves‘The little city that serves Australia as a capital is tucked up in the mountains far from any coastline, even though in a strange historical quirk it actually has a coastline at Jervis Bay. Yet to reach the South Coast of New South Wales, below the swollen city where Australia’s official European history began, takes hardly any time at all. It’s much more drawn out heading down the coast from Sydney, through the great Sydney sprawl past Wollongong and beyond. The South Coast is an entirely different universe to the capital’, A different universe lapped by waves.
Walking with ghosts
‘Increasingly people I have known for a long time seem to be dying. In fact my generation is steadily starting to disappear. Who is replacing them? We shuffle along in a world that is unravelling, a world – that for both good and bad – our generation gave birth to. We are teetering in a strange balance between building on the achievements of the past and desperately trying to dismantle them. In many countries, the current generation is poorer than the previous one, upending generations of dreams by working class parents and migrants for a better life for their children. In this time of upheaval – both welcome and unwelcome – creativity is needed like never before’, Walking with ghosts.
On the rails again – a trip about the past and the future
I'm on the road again – well, on the rails again. On Monday I caught the slow train from Canberra to Sydney, and today I’ve woken up to a third morning in Surry Hills. I’m enjoying the days in Sydney – after all, I did live here for twelve and a half years. I’m mainly here to see the Yolngu Power exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW, which finishes next week, but I’m also using the trip to see to other business’, On the rails again – a trip about the past and the future.
I'm on the road again – well, on the rails again. On Monday I caught the slow train from Canberra to Sydney, and today I’ve woken up to a third morning in Surry Hills. I’m enjoying the days in Sydney – after all, I did live here for twelve and a half years. I’m mainly here to see the Yolngu Power exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW, which finishes next week, but I’m also using the trip to see to other business’, On the rails again – a trip about the past and the future.
Looking down on dire predictions
‘I see the latest report on looming climate change has some pretty dire predictions – like a future of four times the length of heatwaves, up to five times as many deaths due to extreme heat, a massive drag on productivity, 1.5 million Australians at risk of coastal flooding and a potential half trillion dollar hit to property values by 20250 – and that’s just the good news’, Looking down on dire predictions.
‘I see the latest report on looming climate change has some pretty dire predictions – like a future of four times the length of heatwaves, up to five times as many deaths due to extreme heat, a massive drag on productivity, 1.5 million Australians at risk of coastal flooding and a potential half trillion dollar hit to property values by 20250 – and that’s just the good news’, Looking down on dire predictions.
Marching with the Nazis – as un-Australian as it gets
'I’m still shocked by the marches and rallies around the country opposing immigration. Everyone involved says mass immigration, but it’s clear in practice they mean most immigration – and definitely all immigration by people who aren’t white, or as I like to say, ‘pink’. Here I am travelling through my own homeland once again and, at times, it seems like a foreign country – not because of immigrants but because of those who have grown up here. Those taking part in these marches probably have genuine grievances, but they have picked the wrong target to blame and, in the process, have been steered into becoming in effect neo-Nazi fellow travellers. We are (almost) all immigrants here, only just starting to genuinely come to grips with this country', Marching with the Nazis – as un-Australian as it gets.
Self-imposed lockdown – hanging around home
'For all their faults and disadvantages there were some positive sides to the pandemic lockdowns. As I often say, ‘good times’ – maybe my memory isn’t what it was. I realise that I planned and prepared for so long to move to an apartment and now I am here I keep discovering more and more things I like about it. I could stay home and read and write and never leave it, just popping down to the shops when I need supplies – perhaps it’s a case of self-imposed lockdown', Self-imposed lockdown.
Essen, trinken, tanzen – aber nicht rauchen
‘From time to time my posts on ‘travelling light’ include references to restaurants we have eaten at or enjoyable places we have stayed. However, most of my regular writing about food, produce, restaurants and places we have stayed is on one of my blogs, tableland, which I describe as: ‘Food and cooking land to table – the daily routine of living in the high country, on the edge of the vast Pacific, just up from Sydney, just down from Mount Kosciuszko’, Essen, trinken, tanzen – aber nicht rauchen.
‘From time to time my posts on ‘travelling light’ include references to restaurants we have eaten at or enjoyable places we have stayed. However, most of my regular writing about food, produce, restaurants and places we have stayed is on one of my blogs, tableland, which I describe as: ‘Food and cooking land to table – the daily routine of living in the high country, on the edge of the vast Pacific, just up from Sydney, just down from Mount Kosciuszko’, Essen, trinken, tanzen – aber nicht rauchen.
Cooking minestrone in an art gallery – pineapple fruit cake, hot soup and art on a cold day
‘In winter my mind turns to food, but since it is never turned away from art, cooking and looking manage to fill in the cooler months – or maybe that’s all months. I haven’t made hand-made pasta for a while but I have made sushi and sashimi – though only once in recent memory – as I resurrect all my food traditions. Cooking, eating and cruising around art exhibitions – that’s winter for me’, Cooking minestrone in an art gallery - pineapple fruit cake, hot soup and art on a cold day
‘In winter my mind turns to food, but since it is never turned away from art, cooking and looking manage to fill in the cooler months – or maybe that’s all months. I haven’t made hand-made pasta for a while but I have made sushi and sashimi – though only once in recent memory – as I resurrect all my food traditions. Cooking, eating and cruising around art exhibitions – that’s winter for me’, Cooking minestrone in an art gallery - pineapple fruit cake, hot soup and art on a cold day
Winter markets in a creative city
'The winter we had to have (and could have hoped for) finally arrived on the Southern Tablelands. We have gone back to going to the Farmers Market every week. To add to the winter sun good news arrived. For over ten years we worked to have Canberra listed as a UNESCO Creative City of Design, part of a global network of creative cities. Finally the ACT Government announced that it intended to take the bid forward – and that it had allocated funding for it, the true sign of a government being serious. It’s always a pleasure to help initiate a worthwhile endeavour, but even more of a pleasure to look back ten years later and see that it has been a roaring success in more ways than one', Winter markets in a creative city.
Speaking in tongues
‘Where I live a statue of French maritime hero, La Pérouse, looks out over the suburb as though to say: this, too, could have been France. For a period it seemed everyone who went to school in Australia studied French. Perhaps it was a belated attempt to acknowledge how much better everything would have been if the French had got here first. As I like to say whenever I’m in France, ‘j’ai étudié le Français pendant six ans à l’école’ and I would like to have had more opportunity to use that knowledge', Speaking in tongues.Looking down on birds
'While the world unravels and some gleefully repeat the mistakes of the past, life goes on in gardens everywhere. I remember that in the Roman Empire, if a change of regime occurred, soldiers, recognising that they were also farmers, would often retire for a time to their farm - until circumstances and duty called them back. Some wit commented that what is happening now is like the fall of the Roman Empire, but with wi-fi', Looking down on birds.
Back in the days when we travelled
'Back in the days when we travelled, I used to post news of my trips to Facebook, so my friends could follow my exploits overseas. For a long time it has been apparent that Facebook has issues, so back in 2019 I set up this blog 'Travelling light' to replace my Facebook posts. However, in the end I decided to stay with Facebook, so this blog was never used', Back in the days when we travelled.
Travelling light by being still
'As I've said repeatedly, I don't have any problem with flying, it's landing and taking off I don't like – and all the logistics in-between. I have few problems with lounging around for hours and on a flight, you get to sit still while people bring you food and drink. How much better does it get?', Travelling light by being still.
Abandoning the world of work
'When I left full-time work over ten years ago, I was asked what I intended to do. Once I no longer had distractions, like work – fun though it was at the time – it was clear that I would definitely have some time on my hands. I replied that I planned to keep up with my friends and to travel – when I wasn't gardening, cooking, reading or writing. It sounded like a fine plan at the time and as things panned out, it was a fine plan', Abandoning the world of work.